IDCOL is going to support Ricardo-AEA Limited, an UK-based international energy and environmental consulting firm in a project that will enable businesses in Bangladesh to access finance to invest in new electric vehicles. Ricardo has received funding for the project from the UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) under its UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions) Green Recovery Challenge Fund (GRCF).

UK PACT is a capacity building program under the UK’s International Climate Finance portfolio. The GRCF program was set up in January 2020 under which projects in countries across Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia will be supported to accelerate their low-carbon transition.

In this project experts from Ricardo, IDCOL and other Bangladeshi organizations such as LightCastle Partners and Policy Exchange will scope scalable inclusive business models and an enabling financing ecosystem for individual transport providers / SMEs / cooperatives with an aim for electric vehicle uptake in Bangladesh.

IDCOL will support Ricardo in conducting the demands and need assessment surveys among the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and evaluate the current finance options before developing a financing product for banks and financial institutions in Bangladesh. The project will also support organizations in developing business cases and make funding applications to banks.