Profit with purpose: how the SDGs can uncover opportunity in emerging markets

SDG-driven investment needs are creating attractive opportunities in emerging-market debt, particularly where essential services and commercial growth reinforce each other.

• Emerging and developing economies represent around 45% of global GDP but receive a disproportionately small share of global financial assets.
• The OECD and UNCTAD estimate that an additional US$4.3 trillion per year is needed to meet the SDGs by 2030, with more than half directed to the energy transition.
• Brazil’s Sabesp issued its first blue bond to finance wastewater infrastructure, sewage treatment and social tariffs benefiting around 965,000 families, while exceeding its 2025 targets for new water and sewage connections.
• Uzbekistan’s SQB issued a US$500 million sustainability bond supporting renewable energy, efficiency and infrastructure projects, including more than 800,000 smart meters.
• Auna operates healthcare assets and plans across Peru, Colombia and Mexico, serving around 1.4 million members; its Trecca partnership in Lima could expand outpatient capacity to up to three million beneficiaries annually.

Takeaway: Investors can use the SDGs to identify emerging-market companies addressing unmet demand in water, energy and healthcare, although the examples are illustrative rather than investment recommendations.