Maldives is one of the smallest, lowest-lying and most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. To address this, the government is focused on sustainable land reclamation as a key development strategy. This project builds on that by adding resilient utility infrastructure and housing to reclaimed land in Greater Male Region. The utility component delivers climate-resilient power (renewable-focused), water (desalination), sewerage, digital monitoring, and resilience standards like elevation and flood protection. The housing component addresses the shortage of safe, affordable homes for middle- and lower-income households through a development plan and construction standards. A first phase of pilot units and a revolving fund would help households to buy homes, with repayments recycled to future buyers. The financing structure focuses on blending grants, sponsor equity, concessional debt, and guaranteed private senior debt, keeping costs affordable.
Project overview
Investment opportunity
Investment types sought
Project status
Development stage
Pre-feasibility
Additional project information
- Lead agency
- Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy
Expected impact
Economic & development benefits
- The project turns reclaimed land into productive, income-generating urban development
- Reliable power, water, sewerage, and digital infrastructure lower the cost of doing business and support new commercial and residential activity in Greater Male Region
- The blended finance structure brings in private institutional capital alongside government and concessional funds, easing pressure on public budgets while building a track record other Small Island Developing States can replicate
- Local implementation partners such as STELCO and MWSC gain experience delivering climate-resilient infrastructure at scale
- The housing component adds further economic value by unlocking new, affordable homes, supporting construction jobs, and enabling local contractors to build capacity
- The revolving fund keeps capital recycling within the housing sector over time, extending the development impact well beyond the initial construction phase, rather than being a one-time injection of funding
Climate & resilience benefits
- Maldives is among the world's most climate-vulnerable countries, with 80% of its land below one metre in elevation and rising exposure to sea-level rise, storm surge, and erosion
- This project builds climate resilience directly into new infrastructure and housing rather than retrofitting it later
- Utility systems follow mandatory standards, including elevated siting above projected 2075 sea level scenarios, flood protection, corrosion-resistant materials, and redundancy so services continue during climate shocks
- Renewable-focused power reduces reliance on diesel imports and lowers emissions
- Digital monitoring gives early warning of storms and environmental stress
- Housing on reclaimed land follows the same guidelines, ensuring homes are disaster-resilient from the outset, unlike much of the existing housing stock
- Together, these measures extend infrastructure life, reduce lifecycle costs, and strengthen long-term climate adaptation
Contact
Contact team
For more information about this project, please contact the Commonwealth Investment Platform team.