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Dear all,
What a year! Despite the political and economic turmoil, Finnfund has continued investing in innovative businesses and, among others, support job creation, climate action, and gender equality together with our partners. I am looking forward to the next year and all the inspiring opportunities it may bring.
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We are currently finalizing our new strategy, and I can already promise, that we strive to keep people and the planet at the core of every investment decision also in the future.
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As part of the strategy work, we asked our stakeholders – including many of you – to provide feedback and input. I wish to thank you for your valuable contribution. Your feedback has been and will be extremely valuable to us.
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As you may read in the latest CFO Insight, our first three quarters of the year were marked by stable growth. We have made many exciting investment decisions, and I am also pleased to say that despite the growing unrest in many parts of the world, our outlook for the rest of the year remains cautiously optimistic.
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Mobilisation of private capital has been one of our strategic goals. We are soon taking important steps in this regard, as we are launching Finnfund Digital Access Impact Fund as well as moving forward with our new Planetary Boundaries Investing Framework. Stay tuned!
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On behalf of the Finnfund team, I would like to use this opportunity to thank you and wish you a happy holiday season and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.
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Jaakko Kangasniemi
CEO, Managing Director, Finnfund
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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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Investment decisions and disbursements in Q3/2024
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Finnfund invests in an energy tech company that helps Africa’s power sector distribute electricity more efficiently
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”The solutions by BPS have an impact on over 50 million consumers and businesses” says Finnfund’s Investment Manager Ari Nironen. Read more
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Finnfund and Swedfund invest in Siddhartha Bank to strengthen Nepal’s financial inclusion and financing to renewable energy
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Finnfund and Swedfund complete their first direct investment within the Nepalese banking sector by providing a loan of 10 million US dollar each to Siddhartha Bank. Read more
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The first three quarters of the year have been marked by stable growth. At the end of Q3, the Finnfund portfolio value reached EUR 744 million, with an increase of EUR 22 million (+3%) from the end of last year. Read more
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UNICEF and Finnfund collaborate on Child-lens investing
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Child-lens investing is a novel approach that encourages investors to intentionally integrate child-related considerations, advancing positive outcomes for children while minimizing harm. Read more
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Survey: Finnfund valued as a partner – expertise and added value through cooperation
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Professional, responsible, innovative, reliable, and pragmatic. These are some of the characteristics attributed to Finnfund in a recent stakeholder survey, which surveyed, for example, Finnfund’s brand and the images associated with it. Read more
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Stronger US dollar under Trump 2.0 – what are the impacts on emerging and developing markets?
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Donald Trump made a political comeback by being re-elected as the 47th President of the US. This has sparked our interests around how risks and opportunities to investing in emerging and developing economies could evolve once he takes office, writes Tangeni Shatiwa, our Economist. Read more
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BLOG – "The risk of not investing. That is how one could summarise the linkage between digital access and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Over two thirds of the SDG targets can be directly enhanced by digital technologies. And failing to fully harness digital for development threatens to increase existing divides," writes Kaisa Alavuotunki, Director of Impact and Sustainability, and Juho Uusihakala, Senior Development Impact Adviser.
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"As we are writing this, Finnfund establishing a new fund, that contributes to closing the gaps to make access to the internet universal and meaningful, especially in the emerging markets where the opportunities for improvements are the biggest, and the needs for socio-economic development the greatest."
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Climate change mitigation and adaptation and resilience are an integral piece of Finnfund’s work. The Climate and Energy Statement, adopted in 2021, underlines our commitment to the Paris Agreement and outlines objectives related to portfolio management, the investment process, and measurement of the portfolio’s carbon footprint. The statement is built upon three key targets. One of them is to make 1 billion euros worth of new investments in climate finance by 2030. The target underlines our commitment in contributing to the vast need for mitigation and adaptation finance.
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In 2023, Finnfund made investment decisions worth 105 million euros in climate change mitigation and/or adaptation and resilience projects. We are glad to say, that Finnfund is currently on track to meet its commitment to make one billion euros worth of new investments in climate finance by 2030
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Besides Finnfund’s own climate finance targets, Finnfund’s investments are also a key part of Finland’s climate-related official development assistance. Last year, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland published an Evaluation of Finland’s Inter[1]national Climate Finance 2016–2022. In this independent evaluation, Finnfund’s approach to climate mainstreaming and Paris alignment was recognised as a strong example of best practice.
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Learn more about our approach and the results from our Annual Report that also includes our latest TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) report.
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Would you like to know more?
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Finnfund is a Finnish development financier and impact investor. We build a sustainable future and generate lasting impact by investing in businesses that solve global development challenges. We invest 200–250 million euros in 20–30 companies in developing countries each year. Our focus sectors include renewable energy, sustainable forestry, sustainable agriculture, financial institutions, and digital infrastructure and solutions. Today Finnfund’s investments, commitments, and investment decisions total about 1.23 billion euros, half of them in Africa. The company has 97 employees based in Helsinki and Nairobi. For more information, please visit www.finnfund.fi
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