Digital infrastructure and solutions

Building digital infrastructure and developing digital solutions can contribute to solving many global challenges.

Infrastructure investments are needed to enable access to basic mobile services and more affordable and higher speed internet connections across Finnfund’s target regions. This contributes to inclusive growth: World Bank estimates that a 10% increase in mobile internet penetration translates to 2.5% increase in GDP.

Digital solutions increase productivity and improve access to products and services, thus promoting and accelerating the achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. An increase in digital connectivity supports economic growth and facilitates inclusive access to critical services in finance, education and health, and provides possibilities for small businesses to connect with global value chains.

Digital technology also presents an opportunity to narrow gender gaps by enhancing access to welfare services, identification and financial services and information. This can increase privacy, bargaining power, household welfare and female labour force participation.

At the end of 2023, Finnfund’s investments (portfolio and commitments) in this sector were worth 63 million euros, representing approximately 6% of our portfolio. By end 2022, Finnfund’s investees had constructed or modernised 8,900 teletower sites in Sub-Saharan Africa and built 550 kilometres of fibre cable. This helped bring the internet within the reach of over 30 million people. Read more in our annual report.

Investments with impact in Africa, Asia and Latin America

We invest in profitable and high impact businesses within the emerging markets digital value chain, focusing on rural connectivity, access to data and digital solutions that increase productivity and improve access to products and services. We tailor our financing to the needs of each investee. The financing can be in the form of equity, mezzanine financing or debt.

Our digital infrastructure focus areas include

• Connecting the unconnected: Rural connectivity solutions in areas where there is currently no or very limited connections available.
• Improving access to data: Investments in backhaul infrastructure such as fibre. Making data better and more affordable and providing high development impacts.
• Infrastructure development: Cellular towers, telecom-energy solutions (T-Esco), data centres.

Our digital solutions investments focus on

• Increasing productivity
• Improving access to products and services.

Main segments include fintech, e-logistics, e-commerce, healthtech, agtech and edutech.

Examples of investments