Finnfund blog
Finnfund blog consists of articles by our experts and guest stars on various themes around development finance, developing countries and sustainable investing aiming to find solutions to global challenges.
Digitalisation, healthcare and climate risk are key topics in inclusive insurance
Last year, Finnfund made its first investment in the insurance sector by providing a USD 7.5 million loan to Softlogic Life Insurance PLC in Sri Lanka. I remember participating the onsite Due Diligence the last week of February 2020 very well, as it turned out to be my last business trip for a while. The […]
Read moreApril 9, 2021
Managing environmental and social risks is a key part of impact investing
There is a lot of buzz about sustainable finance, responsible investment, sustainable investment, ESG investing, impact investing and environmental and social impacts of investments. All this is diverse terminology aimed at communicating the positive changes and developments an investment can have. Depending on the perspective, slightly different things are meant by the different terms. As […]
Read moreFebruary 25, 2021
Searching for a meaningful job attracts job seekers to impact investing
Lately, I have encountered many news and studies about the growing trend of people, especially the younger generation, wanting to have a meaningful job and how many organisations put a lot of effort into helping their employees fully understand the importance of their work. As an HR manager, I have read hundreds of job applications […]
Read moreFebruary 2, 2021
Seeking significant positive impacts in addition to financial return
OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I is the first global emerging markets impact fund in Finland. The fund targets significant positive impacts on, for instance, climate change, food security, gender equality and the availability of financing. As someone who has been keeping a close eye on the global impact investment market, I foresee substantial growth […]
Read moreJanuary 27, 2021
The fascinating (and long) journey of our human rights approach
Building a human rights due diligence approach for a development financier like Finnfund is a long and fascinating journey. It’s not only about building systems and developing processes but about building people and changing the thinking. It has also been a journey for me. This blog is not about me, but given that I have […]
Read moreJanuary 22, 2021
2020: Lessons learned, challenges tackled
When I stepped off the plane in Nairobi on 3 February, I felt something was wrong. I’ve been to Nairobi more times than I can count, but never has the airport been so empty. I was on my way to the first Cheetah’s Roundtable event where Africa’s most promising, fast-growing agribusiness companies (the “Cheetahs”) would […]
Read moreDecember 21, 2020
Climate change adaptation = investment?
Climate change adaptation in private sector financing – but how do you define adaptation and make it an investment case? Despite all the available information and commitments made for climate change mitigation, the outcomes and trends do not look very promising. Our window to remain below 1.5oC, or even 2oC global temperature increases is becoming […]
Read moreDecember 4, 2020
COVID-19 underlines the need for accessible healthcare
I was invited as one of the panelists to attend a webinar about healthcare investments in Africa. The main question there was how the ongoing pandemic has reshaped the healthcare investment landscape. Some things may have changed during this very exceptional year but in my opinion, most things have not. We are a long-term impact […]
Read moreDecember 1, 2020
The youth has found their voice – next, they need opportunities
“This is a message to the government,” starts Bobi Wine his song Freedom. Besides from being a popular reggae artist, Ugandan Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, is the number one challenger to the 76-year–old Yoweri Museveni in Uganda’s upcoming presidential election in January. Long-ruling Museveni has such a great power across his country’s institutions that Mr. Kyagulanyi has a slim chance of winning but his achievements in mobilizing the Ugandan youth are […]
Read moreNovember 30, 2020
Beyond avoided emissions, DFIs seek carbon removals
For quite some time, it has been acknowledged that global CO2 emissions need to be reduced to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change. Today, many companies, development finance institutions (DFIs) and other investors operating in developing countries are increasingly interested in tracking their CO2 emissions and taking action to reduce them. However, lack of […]
Read moreNovember 12, 2020