News

Money is getting greener. The superlative in sustainable investing today is "impact investing". A growing global market that is already worth more than $700 billion.

Article originally appeared in MT Magazine in Dutch.

A group of international investors announce the successful first closing of the Incofin India Progress Fund (IPF) with USD 60 million of commitments. The fund will make private equity investments in the Indian agri food value chain and in financial inclusion for rural entrepreneurs in India. The committed capital comes from a diverse set of private and institutional investors including Korys, CDC, Proparco, the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), the SDG Frontier Fund, the King Baudouin Foundation and several Belgian family offices.

The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) agreed with SDB bank, a pioneering provider of financial services, to take up a 10% share of the bank, amounting to Rs. 925 million at Rs. 51.50 a share, via SDB bank’s Secondary Public Offering (SPO).

The impact investing group Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P) and the Belgian Investment Company for Developing countries (BIO) are pleased to announce a USD 6 million investment in XpressGas, a pioneering distributor of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in Ghana. LPG offers an efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional dirty fuels currently being used, particularly for peri-urban and rural areas.

EDFI Management Company (EDFI MC) is reinforced to boost collaboration among European Development Finance Institutions as part of the Team Europe approach.

African private equity fund manager Ascent today announced the first rolling close of its Ascent Rift Valley Fund II (ARVF II) at more than USD 100 million, significantly exceeding its initial target of USD 80 million. The final close of ARVF II, with a target of USD 120 million, is expected in December 2021.

IFC, BIO, SANAD, and Symbiotics announced a loan to KCB Bank Kenya Ltd to help the bank increase lending for climate-friendly projects and to smaller businesses, especially those owned by women.

CDC Group, Norfund, Finnfund, FinDev Canada and BIO jointly commit $82 million to Phatisa’s second food fund, a Sub-Saharan African fund aiming to create over 2,000 jobs in food and agriculture and to increase agricultural output by 3m tonnes.

An interview with Luuk Zonneveld, An-Heleen De Greef & Eric Van den Bosch on the SDG Frontier Fund, published in L'Eventail on the 10th of December 2020, written by Cédric Boitte.

This article was published in French.