Inside Infrastructure: Competing for capital – what investors really need

Governments around the world face the same fundamental challenge: how to fund the infrastructure needed to support economic growth, deliver the energy transition and meet rising public expectations. The gap between those ambitions and available public funding is widening - and it is driving an increasingly competitive global search for private capital. 

Working with the Global Infrastructure Investor Association, and our StrongerTogether partner firms Gilbert + Tobin in Australia and McCarthy Tétrault in Canada, Freshfields has authored a new report: Competing for Capital, exploring what this competition looks like in practice across ten major jurisdictions and, critically, what it means for investors. 

The report provides a practical framework for understanding how and where capital should, and will, be deployed next. For investors, it offers a structured lens through which to assess opportunity, risk and regulatory complexity across jurisdictions. For policymakers, it highlights the practical steps that can make the difference between attracting capital and losing it.

At a time when the need for infrastructure investment has never been greater, the message is clear: capital will flow: but only to those markets that can deliver credibility, visibility and certainty in practice.

If you are navigating these issues - whether as an investor, developer or policymaker - we encourage you to explore the full report and consider what “competing for capital” means in your market now.

To coincide with the launch of the report , Partners Jessamy Gallagher, Co-head of Energy and Real Assets, and Alastair Mordaunt, Antitrust, Competition and Trade sat down with GIIA Director of Corporate Affairs Simon Montague to break down what makes jurisdictions attractive to global investors, how investors evaluate the risks in each market, and ultimately what drives global investment. Listen to the podcast here.