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Dear all,
I am proud to share with you our Annual Report 2024. For Finnfund, 2024 was a year of rethinking. We revisited our strategy while reaffirming our development mission.
Enhancing Finnish value added within our investments, promoting investments that mitigate climate change or foster adaptation, or that protect biodiversity, and ensuring that our investments promote gender equality are the key themes of our updated strategy. We intend to emphasise three key areas: digitalisation; climate and nature; and local growth, decent jobs and livelihoods. The new strategy also commits us to supporting Ukraine’s reconstruction.
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In our updated strategy, we recognise the budgetary pressures faced by the government. Our ambition is to maximise impact while limiting reliance on government funding. For this to happen, we need to be successful in our investments, both financially and in terms of sustainability and impact. Finnfund’s goal is to foster sustainable development not only by investing our own resources in impactful, profitable, and sustainable businesses, but also by providing investment opportunities for institutional investors. In 2024, we continued broadening our funding base through bond issuances, and the bonds we issued in early 2025 already go a long way to achieving this for the next few years.
The outlook for 2025 in the developing and emerging markets is somewhat cloudier now than it was a year ago. Recognising the challenges, we have raised the bar for our riskiest investments, and we have further developed our risk management and portfolio monitoring. Some of our investee companies will face challenges due to predicted economic and political turmoil, but most of them are making great progress. In most countries and most sectors, well-managed businesses will have positive impacts, allowing more and more people to live happier, healthier, and more productive lives. Thank you to all our customers, staff members, and other stakeholders for your support.
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Jaakko Kangasniemi
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P.S. We wish you find this quarterly newsletter useful. Should you wish to receive this newsletter in the future but have not yet joined our subscribers, please click here. You can unsubscribe at any time.
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ANNUAL REPORT – Finnfund has published its Annual Report 2024. The report collates key information about Finnfund’s financial performance, sustainability, and impact. The Annual Report also collates the latest information (for 2023) about the impact and sustainability of Finnfund’s investment activities at the portfolio level.
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In 2023, the companies funded, in part, by Finnfund, for example:
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- supported a total of 304,000 jobs, of which 40% are for women,
- generated a total of 9,600 gigawatts of energy,
- cooperated with 6.5 million smallholders, 79% of whom were women,
- 303,000 tCO₂ of emission sequestered and 126,000 tCO₂ of emissions avoided
- 9.1 million micro and SME loans provided, and
- provided digital services and infrastructure to 203 million people.
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Finnfund’s investment portfolio grew from 831 million euros to 887 million euros. At the end of the year, the company’s investments, commitments and investment decisions totalled about 1.3 billion euros.
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Finnfund continued active investing in developing countries. In 2024, Finnfund made a total of 26 investment decisions, totalling 226 million euros. Of this, 124 million euros were allocated to climate change mitigation and/or adaptation and resilience projects.
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Investment decisions and disbursements in Q1/2025
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CFO Insights into Q1 2025
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“We have started 2025 by adjusting our pipeline to focus more on cash-flow-generating investments. In Q1, Finnfund made only four new investment decisions, with a total value of EUR 10 million. Within the quarter, our portfolio grew by EUR 2 million from the year-end of 2024, reaching EUR 780 million," says Finnfund's Chief Financial Officer Olli Sinnemaa Read more
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Unlocking economic growth through digital infrastructure
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“Emerging and frontier markets often face persistent challenges in the digital sector, with individuals and businesses lacking access to essential digital services. These challenges are particularly pronounced in rural and underserved areas, where the absence of affordable infrastructure hampers economic and social development," says Finnfund's Head of Digital Infrastructure and Solutions Kuutti Kilpeläinen Read more
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Finnfund’s economist Tangeni Shatiwa: Investors finding their way back to the Kenyan market
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“Overall, we believe that Kenya’s improved external position will support investor confidence and strengthen its ability to access international financing. This is already evidenced by strong investor demand observed in its recent USD 1.5 billion Eurobond issuance in February – its second issuance since the beginning of last year,” describes Finnfund´s economist Tangeni Shatiwa. Read more
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Finnfund’s Chief Economist Kristiina Karjanlahti: “Developing Asia remains the growth engine of the global economy – despite the shock caused by tariffs”
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“Last autumn, the economic outlook for emerging markets in Africa and Asia was positive for the first time in a long while, as interest rate cuts began, and the financial market revived. A few more years to recover from the shock years and enjoy stable growth would have been beneficial, especially for many more indebted economies, so the threat of tariffs came at a sensitive time,” says Chief Economist Kristiina Karjanlahti. Read more
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Finnfund invests in Amartha, improving access to finance for women in rural Indonesia
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Development Finance Institutions Swedfund, Finnfund, and the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), have jointly provided a loan of 55 million US dollars to Amartha, an Indonesian microfinance fintech company, to drive financial inclusion for women entrepreneurs. Read more
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Finnfund’s investment portfolio reaches EUR 887 million – more focus on advancing digitalisation, mobilisation of private capital, and Finnish added value
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Finnfund has published its Annual Report 2024. In 2024, Finnfund’s investment portfolio grew from EUR 830 million to EUR 887 million. At the end of the year, the investment portfolio, commitments, and investment decisions totalled 1.3 billion euros. Read more
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At Finnfund we are committed to strengthening the well-being and diversity of nature and to mitigating possible nature and biodiversity risks and detrimental impacts in our investment activities.
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“Climate and nature driving Finnfund’s investments” is one of the three key strategic objectives of Finnfund’s updated strategy 2024-2027. The aim is that half of the new investments are in climate and nature. Investors and companies play a crucial role in tackling climate change and enhancing biodiversity through their own activities. This can also create new business opportunities, as there is demand for innovative solutions as well as new products and services,” says Anne Valto, Senior Development Impact Adviser.
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Would you like to know more?
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Finnfund is a Finnish development financier and impact investor. Finnfund builds a sustainable future and generates lasting impact by investing in businesses that solve global development challenges with Finnish added value. Each year, we invest 200–250 million euros in 20–30 companies in developing countries. Our focus is particularly on digital infrastructure and solutions, clean energy, forestry, agriculture, and on providing funding for small and medium-sized enterprises through financial institutions. Today, Finnfund’s investments, commitments, and investment decisions total about 1.3 billion euros. The company has about 100 employees based in Helsinki and Nairobi. For more information, please visit www.finnfund.fi
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