Blended finance

A group of institutional investors has provided capital for high-impact, UN SDG-aligned loans to local companies and projects across Latin America, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe

WFP BRIDGE, a newly launched funding mechanism, is now ready for capital from public and private investors interested in supporting SDG 2 – zero hunger.

We meet with the newly appointed managing director of FMO Investment Management, the investment arm of Dutch development bank FMO, to explore his vision for co-investment opportunities.

The fund will provide growth capital and expertise for companies in consumer-driven sectors, while seeking to maximise impact, promote gender diversity and ensure sustainable growth. 

The $122m project provides much needed green energy to Djibouti, which relies on fossil fuel imports to supply ailing power stations, and would have been near-impossible to build without using blended finance.

Legatum is the largest private investor in the $100m SDG Outcomes Fund developed by UBS Optimus Foundation and Bridges Outcomes Partnerships. CEO Mark Stoleson explains why they are backing this blended finance structure.

A risk sharing backstop facility supported by the UK government is running alongside credit guarantees provided by Nigeria’s InfraCredit to make local investment in rural mobile networks more attractive.   

Investments aim to facilitate the adoption of climate-positive technologies by smaller Indian companies, mitigating carbon emissions in one of the world’s largest and most rapidly developing economies. 

CFM, a venture co-owned by FMO, has taken a 32% stake in Release, a Norwegian-owned developer of modular solar energy and battery storage solutions for mines and utilities in off-grid or poorly connected areas of Africa.   

British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, is backing the first fund dedicated to development impact bonds in lower and middle-income countries.