Thu, Apr 25, 2024
A A A
Welcome Guest
Free Trial RSS pod
Get FREE trial access to our award winning publications
Industry Updates

Finnfund opens its first regional office in Nairobi, Kenya

Thursday, February 10, 2022
Opalesque Industry Update - The Finnish development financier and impact investor Finnfund will open its first regional office in Nairobi, Kenya, in May 2022. Finnfund seeks to build a sustainable future and generate lasting impact by investing in businesses in developing countries that solve global development challenges. The opening of the Nairobi office will strengthen the updated strategic goals.

The newly released strategy places a strong emphasis on Africa, with half of Finnfund's upcoming investments in Africa. Local presence is seen as a key factor for growing the volume of investments in the region.

"Africa is the place to be for European development financiers. It is a continent where jobs and investments are very much needed, and at the same time, it is the new frontier, where opportunities are abound, and life is getting better for millions of people. Some of our best and most impactful investments are in East Africa, and we intend to make many more such investments in the coming years," says Jaakko Kangasniemi, the CEO of Finnfund.

At the start, 2-3 investment professionals will be deployed in the Nairobi office.

"The regional office will play a central role in strengthening our position in the East African market. The location supports and streamlines the follow-up of the regional market and existing projects and collaboration with co-investors," says the head of Nairobi office Johanna Raehalme.

Finnfund invests 200-250 million euros in 20-30 companies throughout developing countries each year. Finnfund places special emphasis on sectors that are critical to sustainable development, namely: renewable energy, sustainable forestry, sustainable agriculture, financial institutions, and digital infrastructure and solutions. Today, Finnfund's investments and commitments total about 1.070 billion euros. The company currently has 90 employees.

What do you think?

   Use "anonymous" as my name    |   Alert me via email on new comments   |   
Previous Opalesque Exclusives                                  
Previous Other Voices                                               
Access Alternative Market Briefing

 



  • Top Forwarded
  • Top Tracked
  • Top Searched
  1. KKR raises $6.4bn for the largest pan-Asia infrastructure fund[more]

    Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: The New York-based global investment firm KKR has raised a record $6.4bn for its second Asia-focused infrastructure fund, underlining investors' continued appetite for private markets. According to a media release from the alternative assets manager, the figure top

  2. Bucking the trend, top hedge fund makes plans for a second SPAC[more]

    From Institutional Investor: SPACs aren't dead. At least not to the folks at Cormorant Asset Management. The life sciences firm, whose hedge fund topped its peers in 2023, is confident it will match the success of its first blank-check company. Last week, the life sciences and biopharma speciali

  3. Benefit Street Partners closes fifth fund on $4.7 billion[more]

    Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Benefit Street Partners has closed its fifth flagship direct lending vehicle, BSP Debt Fund V, with $4.7 billion of investable capital across the strategy. Benefit Street invests primarily in privately originated, floating rate, senior secured loans. The fun

  4. 4 hedge fund themes that are working in 2024[more]

    From The Street: A poor earnings report from Tesla (TSLA) has not hurt the indexes on Thursday. The decline in Tesla stock, which is losing its position in the Magnificent Seven pantheon, is more than offset by strong earnings from IBM (IBM) and ServiceNow (NOW) . In addition, the much higher-t

  5. Opalesque Exclusive: A global macro fund eyes opportunities in bonds[more]

    Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York for New Managers: Munich-based ThirdYear Capital rebounded in 2023, following a tough year for global macro. The firm's flagship ART Global Macro strategy finished the year up 1