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.
How investing in digital infrastructure and solutions helps reduce the gender gap
Finnfund’s Digital Infrastructure and Solutions team was established only a couple of years ago, but we have a great spirit of getting things done and we have achieved a lot already during our first years of operation. We have identified three needs or issues that our investments seek to solve: 1) access to basic mobile […]
Read moreNovember 29, 2023
Placing contract farming in the service of development, food security, and equality
The 2022 Global Report on Food Crises[1] estimates that at least one in five Africans goes to bed hungry, and an estimated 140 million people in Africa face acute food insecurity. The Horn of Africa, in particular, is again suffering from persistent drought, and countries dependent on imported wheat and sunflower oil are suffering as prices […]
Read moreNovember 6, 2023
CFO insight into Q2 2023
Finnfund continued active origination of new investment opportunities in the second quarter of 2023. During the quarter, eighteen new investment decisions were made worth EUR 171 million. The portfolio value was EUR 700 million, representing an increase of EUR 2 million from the year-end 2022. Inflationary pressures have continued to raise the USD and EUR […]
Read moreAugust 29, 2023
Regardless of the dark clouds over Kenyan economy, the banking sector is performing relatively well
Finnfund’s strategy places a strong emphasis on Africa, with half of the investments in the continent. Kenya is one of the important markets in East Africa and that is why we opened a regional office in Nairobi in 2022. The Kenyan economy is experiencing challenging times and Finnfund’s Economist Nea Tiililä took a closer look […]
Read moreAugust 14, 2023
CFO insight into 2022 and Q1: Positive result – positive outlook
Our Annual Report 2022 has been published, and I am happy to say that despite the global and local economic and political challenges, the year was a successful one. The project preparation targets for 2022 – 230 million euros and 22 projects – were clearly exceeded: a total of 28 new projects totalling 246 million […]
Read moreMay 31, 2023
Terhi Koipijärvi: Strategic thinking over administration
What is most important in Board work? How to draw the line between operational and strategic thinking? How to avoid getting bogged down in administration? What is it like to serve on the Board of the largest forestry company in East Africa? “Thank you for your faith in me, what an intriguing company!”, replied I […]
Read moreJanuary 30, 2023
We got a deal from Montreal COP15 – then what?
I had the privilege to attend Montreal COP 15 as a member of the Finnish delegation. The trip was an enlightening experience, and all my respect goes to the negotiators who have been pushing for the agreement for years in preparation, and finally, in the final stages for weeks with very little sleep – and […]
Read moreDecember 20, 2022
We need ambitious targets for nature and biodiversity
In the middle of Finnish winter, birds are swarming around the feeding place in my garden but many species that were frequent visitors 20 years ago are not around. To be honest, I’m not a winter –person and I’m dreaming of my childhood springs, how blooming apple trees spread their scent in the garden, and […]
Read moreDecember 12, 2022
CFO insight into Q3: Towards the end of the year
The third quarter of the year was marked by finalisation of Finnfund’s first Sustainability Bond Framework, launched at the beginning of October and followed by an issuance of a EUR 75 million sustainability bond. In addition, Finnfund’s investments continued to grow also in the third quarter of 2022, reaching a portfolio value of 707 million euros, […]
Read moreNovember 30, 2022
Supporting alignment with the Paris Agreement through investing in carbon removals
Sustainable nature-based solutions provide a ready, proven and economically feasible solution for carbon removal, writes Marko Berglund, our Senior Impact Adviser. The growing need for carbon removals The IPCC says it loud and clear: limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C will require rapid, deep and immediate cuts in emissions in all sectors of the economy. […]
Read moreNovember 25, 2022