The boom times may be over for emerging market businesses looking for money. After a steady rise in private investment in low- and middle-income countries, over the past several years, the trend is now reversing.
That’s especially true when it comes to private equity investments, according to Bill Sonneborn, global director of disruptive technology and funds at the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector arm.
Private investment across Asia, Latin America, Africa, Central, and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East totaled about $208 billion in 2022, a drop of 22%, according to data from the Global Private Capital Association, a membership group of investors across those regions. Although despite the decline, it was still the second-highest amount on record in terms of the amount invested.