Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, infrastructure finance with a published equity cap

The mandate, and the two kinds of financing

AIIB's Articles of Agreement let it provide or facilitate financing to any member, to an agency or political subdivision of a member, to any entity or enterprise operating in the territory of a member, and to international or regional agencies concerned with the economic development of Asia. Prospective members become eligible only once they are members.

The Articles permit financing in several forms, including making loans, investing in the equity capital of an enterprise, and guaranteeing loans as primary or secondary obligor. AIIB may also underwrite or participate in underwriting securities.

Operationally AIIB divides this into sovereign-backed financing and nonsovereign-backed financing, and it states that it can invest in equity funds and platforms. That last clause is the one a fund manager is looking for, and it is a fund-level route rather than a direct one.

The equity ceiling, and what it constrains

AIIB's Operational Policy on Financing states that the Bank's equity investment may not exceed 30 percent of the company's ownership holdings, with a narrow exceptions clause following it. That is a limit on ownership share, not a cheque size, and it puts AIIB firmly in the minority-investor category alongside the other institutions in this set.

No standard ticket is publicly stated. AIIB does not publish a typical investment size for direct equity, for fund commitments, or for loans on the pages cited here, and this page does not build one from a project example.

The preparation advance is a sovereign instrument, not a private one

AIIB's policy allows a Preparation Advance to finance preparatory activities, and caps the aggregate principal amount of all approved advances for a project at the lesser of 10 percent of the total estimated financing for the project and $10 million equivalent. Granting one does not oblige AIIB to finance the project.

The scope matters more than the numbers. The policy places preparation advances in its sovereign-backed annex and defines them as advances for a project to be supported by sovereign-backed financing. A private-sector sponsor should not plan around them as an available product.

No concessional terms, with one narrow exception

AIIB states plainly that it does not offer financing under concessional terms. That distinguishes it from institutions in this set that run blended finance windows with donor money, and it is worth knowing before proposing a structure that depends on below-market capital.

The exception is a grant facility rather than concessional financing. The AIIB Project Preparation Special Fund provides grants for project preparation in eligible member countries, usable only where the project has been considered for AIIB financing. For private-sector projects, AIIB expects sponsors to fund preparation costs themselves, and Fund resources reach a nonsovereign-backed project only where a compelling case is made.

What this means for a manager preparing to approach AIIB

The general development finance readiness layer applies, and the DFI pathway guide covers it. What is specific to AIIB is sector fit and the shape of the ask.

• Test sector fit first. AIIB's centre of gravity is infrastructure, connectivity, and productive-sector investment, so a generalist technology fund has a harder additionality case here than at a private-sector-development institution.
• Ask about the equity funds and platforms route explicitly, since that is the published fund-level door rather than a company-by-company one.
• Model a minority position, given the 30 percent ownership ceiling on direct equity.
• Do not build a structure that needs concessional capital from AIIB, because AIIB says it does not provide it.
• Fund your own preparation costs on a private-sector proposal, which is AIIB's stated expectation.