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Incofin invests in Financiera FDL, a Nicaraguan microfinance institution, allowing smallholder farmers to build resilience to climate shocks.

Smallholder farmers in Nicaragua, like many others in the Global South, sit at the “sharp end” of the climate crisis. They are the most cut off from resources, yet need them most. The stakes can mean the difference between good livelihoods and poverty.    

They face significant barriers to the adaptation measures necessary to become climate resilient. They need access to labor, capital, and technical knowledge – a challenge particularly acute for farms in remote areas. Farmers often struggle to find a financial institution that can provide a loan to upgrade technology and the know-how to guide implementation. Without financial inclusion and training, smallholder farmers may continue with practices that are environmentally unsustainable and exposed to climate risks.  

Nicaragua faces unique climatic risks due to its geographical position and socioeconomic factors. In rural areas, for example, deforestation sets off a chain reaction of soil degradation, pollution, impact on water resources and other negative effects, all of which reach smallholder farmers. Overall, institutional resources to mitigate climate disaster risks and promote adaptation are scarce in Nicaragua. The majority of Nicaraguan smallholder farmers remain vulnerable to these challenges. 

Recent investments from Incofin, through a new fund called the Incofin Climate-Smart Microfinance Fund, empower farmers to build climate resilience. The fund’s investment thesis makes an important distinction between its scope and that of other funds in the market: “Most climate financing to developing nations is going towards large projects that aim to reduce carbon emissions, overshadowing projects necessary for building the socioeconomic resilience of those hit hardest by climate change to enable them to overcome the burdens of growing food, dwindling resources, and recurring disasters.” 

Climate resilience investments have the potential to impact farmers quickly, unlocking crucial ways farmers can protect their farms and their livelihoods. The enabler of these improvements is, in this case, microfinance.    

Microfinance 

For farmers, microfinance institutions (MFIs) step in where traditional financial partners cannot. MFIs provide financial services that let farmers make urgent improvements essential to functioning in a climate-uncertain world – everything from adaptation to climate-related disaster management.    

Financiera FDL is the largest regulated MFI in Nicaragua. Founded in 1993, they operate 38 branches in the country, with a mission to serve micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Because they have solid and resilient credit metrics – and because they know the on-the-ground needs of Nicaraguan farmers through deep experience – they were in a strong position to promote green finance tailored to climate mitigation and adaptation. 

FDL’s mission for financial inclusion has shown results. They have reached 45.000 clients, of whom 76% are rural and 51% are women; 28% of FDL’s gross loan portfolio is concentrated in small-to-medium farmers, creating impact by addressing the concerns and intersectionality of variables such as financial inclusion, gender, climate change, rurality, and migration. 

FDL has a suite of green financial products that help smallholder farmers. Their climate-smart offerings can be divided along the lines of financial and non-financial services:  

  • Financial: Green loans for sustainable agriculture, including water conservation, crop diversification, drip irrigation system, agroforestry, biodiversity conservation, and soil amelioration. 
  • Non-financial: Technical assistance on sustainable farming practices to improve yield, adapt to climate change, and protect biodiversity. 

For this case, we’ll focus on the offerings connected to FDL’s “Green Finance in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation” project, launched in 2024. Three-year goals of the project include:  

  • Expand the coverage of clients with technical training by increasing the number of clients by 50% in 2024 and 25% in 2025 and 2026 for a total of 7,809 in three years. 
  • 6.248 producers adopt measures to adapt to climate change. 80% of clients with technical assistance adopt at least 1 climate-smart practice. 
  • At least 70% of all producers who adopt climate smart practices improve productivity. 
  • Create a green portfolio including green products with environmental incentives starting with a placed amount of USD 2.4M  
  • Use of clean energy in 3 branches of the network. 

  

Incofin’s investment  

Incofin launched Incofin Climate-Smart Microfinance Fund (ICMF) in early 2024, concurrent with FDL’s project. However, Incofin already had a longstanding investment relationship with FDL.  

ICMF aims to strengthen end-clients’ resilience to climate change impacts through financial and non-financial products that build their adaptive capacity, strengthen their ability to manage climate-related disasters, transition to new livelihoods, and/or drive mitigation. ICMF is an SFDR Article 9 Fund, with robust measurement systems; we track social, gender and climate impact indicators and aim to improve resilience to climate change of 1.5 million people in emerging markets in 5 years. 

The launch of ICMF was informed by our track record in both climate-smart and financial inclusion-focused investments. We have invested more than USD 3.5 bn in financial inclusion through more than 1.500 transactions across 61 countries. Part of our recipe for success is strong capabilities on the ground, where our investees are located; sourcing, structuring, and monitoring takes place in proximity to them, as is the case in Nicaragua.   

ICMF applies a climate lens to the entire investment process: eligibility, due diligence and monitoring, a methodology also applied to other longstanding funds, featured in our 2024 Impact Report.  

Financial inclusion is driven by the fund’s sustainable debt investments in MFIs. The fund targets micro, small and medium enterprises, and low-income households, located in emerging economies. Smallholder farmers in Nicaragua cross these categories. Goals of ICMF include:  

  • Benefit at least 50 micro-finance institutions with direct support and capacity-building initiatives 
  • Increase the climate resilience of at least 200.000 households, with special focus on women as drivers of climate resilience 
  • Generate mitigation co-benefits from a more efficient use of resources and ecosystem protection 
  • Establish a knowledge centre to finance global courses, white-papers, market studies, impact surveys, and more.  

The last point touches on something that sets ICMF apart: technical assistance. Climate-smart financial solutions need to be accompanied with education and awareness-building, access to information, expert technical advice, and comprehensive planning to guarantee their effectiveness. This fits with the second pillar of FDL’s climate-focused offering and their proven track record for technical assistance. So far, FDL has trained over 6.000 farmers, making them not just an investee but an on-the-ground partner aligned with ICMF’s goals.  

Training and access to knowledge resources makes a difference for farmers. To show this principle in action, consider a coffee farmer’s story.  

  

Otilio  

Otilio Sánchez lives in a mountainous region of Nicaragua – 1.300 meters above sea level. During the peak coffee harvest season, one of the main issues Otilio faced was the drying process. Before the investment, Otilio lacked the infrastructure and the know-how to store and process coffee pulp and wastewater. Drying coffee wasn’t yet a part of his operations, and this bore a cost at the market.  

“One of the key objectives of implementing climate-smart practices was to promote diversified agroforestry systems, reduce negative environmental impacts, and improve waste management from wet coffee processing,” said Cecilia Delgado, Senior Investment Manager, Incofin Investment Management, a key stakeholder in the FDL investment. “Another goal was to minimize economic losses caused by delivering wet coffee due to the lack of proper drying conditions.”  

A transformation in knowledge, capabilities, and problem-solving was necessary for Otilio’s farm. The improvements he made, thanks to FDL’s support, addressed critical needs and enabled better decision-making, encouraging Otilio to invest in infrastructure upgrades for his wet processing facility. Otilio now benefits from: 

  • Lower production costs for dried coffee in less time, maximizing profits at the collection center. 
  • Improved infrastructure for processing raw materials, such as coffee pulp, which is now composted and reused in coffee plantations. 
  • Reduced environmental risks, minimizing contamination on farms and protecting water sources. 

All of this allows Otilio to diversify — he’s now growing oranges and lemons in addition to coffee — and invests in better farm management practices and technology. 

Next steps

By launching ICMF, Incofin has made a conscious decision to place climate finance at the core of our business. To quote our 2024 Impact Report, “The pursuit of climate justice necessitates a re-evaluation of climate finance. It requires a more equitable distribution of resources, with a stronger emphasis on grassroots resilience building. Financial institutions, with their capacity to drive change, are well-positioned to lead the way.”  

Otilio’s story typifies early successes of ICMF’s investments. The fund is only one year old, but shows promising results so far. And its portfolio is expanding: in December 2024, ICMF added a new investment in Vietnam. According to the fund’s stakeholders, “The pipeline is well diversified and supports the fund’s impact mission in empowering communities to adapt, build resilience, and mitigate the impact of climate change. Potential new investments include opportunities in India, Guatemala and Ecuador.” That means more access to finance for smallholder farmers and other SMEs across the globe.  

 

15/04/2025
 by Ben DeVries

This case study was first featured on Impact Europe’s website here.  

 

Qul Fruit Wall empowers farmers at every link of Kashmir’s agricultural value chain – and keeps scaling up thanks to an investment from Incofin’s India Progress Fund. 

 

An apple grows in Kashmir   

It took sun, rain and good soil to grow this apple. Snowmelt from the Himalayas feeds the river Jhelum, so the mountains also had their role. The tree where the apple grew was one among many, planted densely in the orchard; it gathered nutrients and expressed them in what’s hanging at the end of the stem.  

There is a way to pick this apple without bruising it, a way to pack it to save space but do no damage, a way to store it for crispness. There is a right time to bring the apple to the market. There is a way to get the right price, to ward away those who would interfere unnecessarily. These are ways that must be learned. 

The apple is a Royal Gala – Shameema’s favourite. She grew this apple.    

  

Shameema   

“I have no father. I have no brother,” Shameema told me. We’d been speaking through an interpreter, but here Shameema switched to English to make sure she was understood. Her smile, ever-present during our call, had vanished. 

No father, no brother: it’s just Shameema running the family farm. It is culturally uncommon for women to run farms in Kashmir. As the provider for her family, Shameema used to struggle to balance a second job with farm work. And in the past, the farm’s main aim was to grow enough for the family’s personal consumption. 

But Shameema saw potential in her hectares. She’d heard about a new practice of high-density orchard planting. At the time, her mother was sceptical. “When the planters from Qul first came to set us up,” Shameema said, “she wouldn’t even serve them tea!”  

To not serve tea, in the culture of Kashmir, meant serious distrust. And perhaps there was good reason to doubt a new horticultural practice that went against generations of how it’s been done in the region of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). But there was also good reason to trust the people from Qul Fruit Wall (Qul), the enterprise promoting high-density orchards. Qul had strong roots in the region.    

Khuram   

“If you understand the culture, if you understand people, then you know you can create an impact.”     

The person behind Qul – its founder and CEO – is Khuram Mir. On our call, he wore his long hair pulled back and spoke excitedly, peppering his stories with an equal measure of hard numbers and anecdotes from farmers he knows. 

Born in the fruit-growing region of J&K to an orchardist father, Khuram left for Purdue University in the U.S. to study systems engineering and operations research; after that, he launched a career in tech. Apples weren’t front of mind. But systems always were. 

While still in his twenties, Khuram knew he wanted to apply what he knew about systems to improving people’s lives. He thought of this when he started doing volunteer work for a food aid program in Africa; a more efficient way to deliver food means fewer people starve. A mentor steered him away from Africa. Why not go to a community you know?   

Khuram quit his job in the U.S. and returned to Kashmir.   

 

 

 

Kashmir   

The region of Jammu and Kashmir sits at the foot of the Himalayas; the temperate climate is just right for growing apples. Apple farming, in fact, supports the livelihood of roughly half the population.  

In 2014, however, the fruit-growing value chain in J&K was underdeveloped. Storage infrastructure was lacking. Metaphorically and literally, ‘low-hanging fruit’ was left to rot on the ground. Intermediaries in the market took a big bite out of farmers’ profits. For example, Khuram recalled a time when his father showed him the receipts from apple trading. He was shocked to find the number of commissions and middlemen involved – “they even tacked on phone charges” – and recognised quickly that this was not an efficient system, let alone one that empowered farmers.    

“India is a trading country,” Khuram told the Harvard Business Review in a case study from 2014, covering the early progress of the company that would become Qul.[1] “Adding value does not come naturally to us. As an agri-entrepreneur, I want to transform the 50-year-old traditional agriculture supply chain into a farmer empowering value chain.”   

This goal, while ten years old today, still holds as a mission for Qul. Since then, Qul has grown into an agtech enterprise that serves farmers from tree to market, including orchard installation, storage and digital supply chain integration with national markets. Today, five thousand farmers in the Kashmir valley have seen their livelihoods improve thanks to Qul’s services. To keep that number increasing, however, requires additional support.   

  

Incofin’s support  

In early 2024, Incofin, the Belgium-based impact investor, announced their equity investment in Qul: €5.6 million, alongside a €1.1 million investment from Fiedlin, an Indian growth capital platform for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).   

The investment represents a milestone not just for Qul but for the region. Back in 2014, Khuram pointed out that the political uncertainty in J&K was a top concern for outside investors, resulting in “very little development in the private sector.”[2] Incofin’s investment represents a shift in that paradigm. Qul is “the first private sector enterprise to receive global institutional capital in Kashmir,” according to Incofin stakeholders, who also commented:   

“The transaction not only opens the door for more foreign institutional capital in an untapped region of Jammu and Kashmir but puts the spotlight on the tremendous potential of its horticulture industry which supports the livelihood of half of its population.”   

Those livelihoods are still under pressure, said Rahul Rai, Partner at Incofin India. Rahul enumerated the main challenges for J&K’s agricultural sector:     

  • Outdated farming practices, resulting in inefficient usage of land and water  
  • Lack of processing, logistics, warehousing and cold storage infrastructure, resulting in wastages   
  • Unorganised systems with multiple levels of intermediaries 
  • Lack of access to finance and technology    

Fixing each part of the system requires more than just capital. Fortunately, Rahul and the rest of the Incofin team bring a deep-seated knowledge of the impact investing landscape in India, necessary to empower Qul to do their work, and in turn empower more farmers. That know-how comes together in the India Progress Fund.   

  

India Progress Fund   

Incofin invested in Qul through their private equity investment vehicle, the India Progress Fund (IPF). The two pillars of IPF are financial inclusion and the agri-food value chain; investments support “promising entrepreneurs to increase their chances of success through patient capital, mentoring and access to a global network.”   

At the launch of IPF in 2021, Incofin saw a large market- and impact potential in India. Incofin’s earlier funds had built a strong track record in India over fifteen years, including successful investments at an early stage in Fusion Microfinance and Annapurna Finance, which developed into leaders in the microfinance sector in India. At the time of writing, IPF has provided access to finance to 90,100 people, including 47,800 “new to credit” borrowers, and impacted 2.2 million farmers through its investments. This track record marks Incofin as a pioneering impact player in India. 

Qul checked both boxes of the fund’s pillars: agricultural value chain and financial inclusion. Qul had already shown they were profitable and scaling. Rahul and other Incofin stakeholders were also impressed with Khuram’s strong leadership and experienced management team. But to dig further into the ‘why’ behind the investment, it’s first necessary to take a closer look at what Qul does and how they do it.  

Why Qul  

True to its name, which means the “universe of trees,” Qul aims to create value for farmers at every link of the chain: orchard installation and management; integrated cold chain; and marketing and distribution. The high-density orchards Qul installs, as Shameema described earlier, let farmers produce more with less work and less use of natural resources. Cold chain storage enables fruit that was wasted in the past to come to market at the right time and across the year. Qul’s technological innovation, overarching all links in the chain, includes everything from controlled atmospheric storage to misters. 

According to Mursaleen Hyder, Qul’s Digital Transformation & Business Processes Lead, most of this innovation is farmer-driven: about 70% comes from farmer feedback, 30% from Qul’s internal research and development department.  The overall effect is an integrated value chain for J&K’s fruit farmers that puts their livelihoods first while promoting sustainable practices, such as less wastage and less water use.  

Farmers experience the tangible positive impact of Qul when they join this value chain. For example, without the high-density planting Qul pioneered in the region, Shameema’s farm would have struggled to achieve the scale necessary to bring apples to market; Shameema would have remained excluded from the market and would need to work second jobs to support her family. Throughout their journey, Qul has added many such farmer-centric services, with just as many stories like Shameema’s. The latest investment from Incofin promises yet more positive impact, with ambitious targets to match.      

  

Potential & targets   

Targeted impact, from Incofin’s perspective, connects to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):   

SDG 1 – No poverty: 4-6x increase in net income for farmers; increase in farmer internal rate of return (IRR) from 11% to 27%.  

SDG 2 – No hunger: Increased yield per hectare from 15-20 metric tonnes per hectare to 60-80.   

SDG 12 – Responsible production and consumption: 70% reduced water use; 80% reduced agri-chemical use.   

SDG 15 – Life on land: 60% reduced land usage through high-density planting.   

In addition, the investment in Qul has the potential to add 25,000 metric tons of controlled atmospheric storage, aiding post-harvest infrastructure; and reduce farmers’ barriers to entering the market, via Qul’s nurseries and high-density planting.   

Regarding financial inclusion, Incofin stakeholders write that Qul “demonstrates a farmer-centric value system by collaborating with small and marginal farmers to strengthen their entrepreneurial capabilities.” According to Rahul, access to finance was a “key-bottleneck in the agri-food sector,” and so the investment puts a particular emphasis on bringing small and marginal farmers a proven and affordable way to join the value chain.   

Market know-how informs support, as summed up by Aditya Bhandari, Regional Director and Partner at Incofin:  

“Incofin has first-hand practical rural market experience. Success from microfinance shall be carried forward to the large unmet missing middle. IPF shall back entrepreneurs aiming to challenge the status quo, in the process to transform from informal to formal market setup.”  

The ambitious targets of the investment reflect high hopes for empowering J&K’s farmers – hopes shared by Khuram:   

“Our mission is to transform lives and improve livelihood by at least quadrupling in 5 years the apple yield from the current levels of 12 metric tonnes per hectare. Qul has plans to scale up its operations with this impact capital raised, which is socially aware and environmentally conscious, and intends to take this model to 30,000 farmers in the next few years.” Qul currently reaches 8,500 farmers.   

“If Qul succeeds in achieving its goals,” according to Incofin stakeholders, “it will have enabled savings of 32 billion litres of water, direct employment of 3,500 youth in the Kashmir valley and sustainable farming in over 6,000 hectares of land.”  

Judging from IPF’s previous investments, there is a sense that this investment could also have a catalytic effect. According to Rahul, “IPF has drawn the attention of private investors to underinvested sectors, like farmer-owned companies and geographies like the Kashmir valley, thereby crowding in capital and creating an impact far beyond the immediate impact delivered by its portfolio companies.”  

  

Measuring dignity  

For more than ten years, Qul has gone against the prevailing social norms of J&K by empowering women farmers like Shameema and striving for gender parity within their organisation. “Out of five major decision makers in my team,” said Khuram, “three are women. It has been a journey for me, because Kashmir is a very conservative society. They were not open for women to come to work. We changed that entirely.”  

Khuram had to fight for this change. Facing vocal opposition from conservative members of the community, Khuram remained undiscouraged; he stood up for his hiring practices, convening a meeting between opposing community organisations, his team and other stakeholders. He ultimately won over the sceptics.   

Gender remains a complex issue in the progressive culture of Qul, but the way Khuram has navigated these waters has inspired confidence from Incofin. After all, Incofin applies a gender lens throughout a great share of their portfolio and wants to see Qul achieve progress in this regard.  

Dignity is hard to measure. But it’s also one of the most important metrics in this story. Shameema spoke about getting respect from the wider community – she still wants more. Javed, another farmer, said he no longer needs to compel others to work in the orchard – his barometer for whether the work is seen as dignified. 

Shameema and Javed were very vocal in their support for Qul – and Khuram in particular. Farmers have his phone number, and there’s even a new program where he has open hours at engagement centres where farmers can visit and share whatever’s on their mind – from complaints to a cup of tea. The outpouring of support for Khuram and Qul among the farmers I spoke with was so strong, it made me feel a tinge of regret that Incofin’s team was much more unknown to them. Maybe that’s to be expected: Incofin drives change behind the scenes. And while maybe a farmer wouldn’t call them up, that doesn’t diminish the impact they made in this community. They are helping to scale a way of living that’s easier for farmers – and make Kashmir a place where dignity grows. 

Footnotes: 

[1] Alvarez, Jose B.; Raina, Anjali; Chawla, Rachna. “HN Agri Serve: Growing Prosperity” Harvard Business Review, 2014. 

[2] Ibid 

21/01/2025

In Pakistan, where historical cultural practices and customs can result in systemic discrimination against women, there are exemplary microfinance institutions supporting women´s progress across social and economic lines. Since 1996, the Kashf Foundation (KF) has provided financial services to low-income families and microentrepreneurs, supporting their clients—especially women—to become active agents of social and economic change. In fact, 99% of KF’s clients are women.

Access to financial products and services empowers these individuals, and the foundation complements these offerings with research and awareness campaigns including financial education, training, mobility solutions (“Women on Wheels”), day-care facilities, parental leave policies, and interactive social theatre to raise awareness and media campaigns.

For example, “Not without my mother-in-law” is a unique program where the family of female staff members is provided orientation, invited to the workplace and introduced to their peer staff members to address potential reluctance and misunderstanding linked to active women in the workplace.

And, since Pakistan has been disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change, with 14% of the population internally displaced due to severe floods, Kashf Foundation has designed financial and non-financial products intended to facilitate climate adaptation and resilience.

In response to the severe flooding that affected Pakistan in 2022, Incofin provided Kashf Foundation with a grant to support their relief campaign, which funded the distribution of 1,260 relief packages supporting around 6,000 individuals including 1,000 women micro-entrepreneurs and their families in fulfilling their basic needs in dry food, sanitation, and hygiene.

Learn more about agRIF, and Incofin CVSO, our funds investing in Kashf Foundation.

17/01/2025

We are proud to share that our investee Bank Arvand has won a 60 Decibels Social Impact Award for ranking top 3 out of all 32 Asian financial service providers surveyed in the 2024 Microfinance Index.

The MFI Index is the world’s largest financial inclusion index grounded in customer voice, surveying 36,000+ clients of financial service providers in 45 different countries. Winning this award is testament to the outstanding work and dedication of the Bank Arvand team.

Across the world, having access to credit, savings accounts, and other financial services is essential to foster economic development. In Tajikistan, where less than half of the adult population has an account with a formal financial institution, there is a clear gap within the financial services sector. Since its foundation in 2002, Bank Arvand has provided high-quality financial services to entrepreneurs and individuals—particularly women— in Tajikistan thus advancing social and economic growth while expanding opportunities for the people of Tajikistan.

Arvand’s purpose is to create and offer financial products catered toward micro borrowers, rural communities, and individuals who wouldn’t typically have access to financial services.

For the past 13 years, Arvand has worked closely with Incofin, first as a lender, and later in 2014 as an equity investor, to make a difference in the lives of more than 83,000 clients whose average loan amount is just USD 1,675. 

From day one, Arvand’s business practices have included a very visible, gender-forward approach. This is especially important for the country´s many female-headed households that are more likely to have lower incomes than equivalent households with a man at the helm. 43% of Arvand’s borrowers are women—one of the highest rates in Tajikistan—and over 75% of customers are rural, while another 76% are low-income (making less than USD 5 per day).

The company is proud to have been one of the first financial institutions in Tajikistan to adhere to ESG strategies, and to design a Green Finance loan. For example, the bank offers home improvement loans with an energy-efficient component, performs energy efficiency assessments for SME borrowers, and conducts energy efficiency trainings for and promotes green initiatives in rural communities. In line with its strategy to grow its environmentally responsible portfolio to 30% by 2027, Arvand is also extending its green and energy efficiency loan options, such as eco-smart agri loans in 2024, and offering energy-efficient equipment and transport leasing by 2026.

Looking to the future, Bank Arvand aims to continue as a pioneer and trendsetter. It is dedicated to promoting environmental solutions, while increasing access to finance in rural areas with a focus on green and climate finance, especially among women and youth.

Antwerp, 4 December 2024 – Incofin Investment Management is pleased to announce the appointment of Serkan Alhan to the company’s Management Board, effective 1 January 2025, subject to the non-objection of the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority. Serkan’s extensive experience and deep commitment to Incofin’s mission make him a valuable addition to the board, as the company continues to drive impact through its investments. 

Serkan joined Incofin in May 2018 as Chief Legal Officer and was promoted to Partner & General Counsel in January 2022. Over the years, he has been leading the legal team and the compliance function, while actively supporting the fund development activities of Incofin. In his new role as Managing Partner, Serkan will be responsible for the legal team, the compliance function, the risk and ESG team, and the impact team.  

With a career spanning over 15 years, Serkan brings a wealth of experience in legal, regulatory, compliance and fund management matters, alongside an understanding of the challenges and opportunities in impact investing. Prior to joining Incofin, he practiced as a lawyer specializing in banking and finance. Serkan holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Antwerp (2008), an LL.M degree from the University of Chicago (2009), and an Executive MBA from Antwerp Management School (2023). 

This change follows a thoughtful transition within the management team. Dina Pons, a dedicated member of the Management Board, has chosen to step down from her role to switch to a part-time position.  In this new capacity, she will focus fully on Incofin’s venture into safe drinking water — a sector of growing importance for global equity and sustainability. Dina’s contributions to the board have been instrumental in shaping Incofin’s strategic direction, and the company is grateful for her ongoing commitment to its latest fund – the Water Access Acceleration Fund – in her role as Fund Manager. 

Incofin’s Management Board remains steadfast in its mission to create inclusive and impactful financial solutions. The board will continue to draw on the strengths of the company’s leadership team to uphold the principles of shared leadership and diversity. 

For media inquiries, please contact: 

Shonan Kothari 

Email: press@incofin.com 

04/12/2024
  • The investment through the Water Access Acceleration Fund, a €70 million private equity fund.
  • Investment to improve safe drinking water access in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 
  • First fund investment by the Water Sector Fund, financed by the Netherlands and managed by the EIB.

The Water Sector Fund managed by EIB Global will provide €10 million in the Water Access Acceleration Fund (W2AF), managed by Incofin, a prominent global impact investment manager. W2AF is a “water-focused” blended finance impact fund targeting sustainable and scalable solutions that improve access to safe, affordable drinking water for underserved populations, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. The new initiative will provide 20 billion litres of safe drinking water by 2030.

The €10 million anchor investment by EIB Global will secure other investments, attract more private investors to W2AF. Through the fund, EIB Global will support innovative water businesses.

Among the first partners to benefit from this equity support will be Rite Water Solutions, a company in India providing drinking water solutions and improving water quality in rural and urban areas of the country. More than 540 000 households are expected to benefit.

This support to W2AF represents the first fund investment by the Water Sector Fund, a trust fund established in partnership with the Dutch government and managed by EIB Global. With its donor financial resources, the Water Sector Fund develops drinking water projects in low- and lower-middle income countries and promotes the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

EIB Vice-President Robert de Groot remarked, “This investment showcases our joint commitment to enhancing access to safe, affordable drinking water for all. Innovative financial and technical solutions are needed. The W2AF is an excellent example, funnelling water investments to the regions that need it most and helping build the private water ecosystem in emerging markets in Africa and Asia. I extend my gratitude to the Dutch government for their vital support, making this impactful endeavour possible.”

Incofin Chairman Loïc De Cannière stated, “We thank the EIB and the Dutch Water Sector Fund for joining W2AF, together with our diverse investors from Europe and the United States. W2AF is a pioneering, first-ever equity impact fund for the drinking water sector in the Global South. Incofin aspires to make the impact of this fund a success, and an example for other investors. By doing so, it will pave the way for more water funds, helping millions of people around the world access drinkable water, which is a key Sustainable Development Goal and a fundamental human right.”

Cees Bansema, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Luxembourg, explained, “Access to safe drinking water is a human right and critical for social and economic development. This investment in W2AF shows how cooperation makes water projects more sustainable and inclusive. It is also a great example of how we can mobilise additional funding from other financiers or investors. It is a flagship operation of the Dutch-funded Water Sector Fund — combining the Netherlands’ continuous commitment to addressing global water challenges, the EIB’s extensive experience investing in water worldwide, and fund manager Incofin’s unique track record in impact investments.”

Background information

EIB Global is the EIB Group’s specialised arm devoted to increasing the impact of international partnerships and development finance outside the European Union. EIB Global is designed to foster strong, focused partnerships within Team Europe and as part of the EU Global Gateway strategy, alongside fellow development finance institutions and civil society. EIB Global brings the Group closer to local people, companies and institutions through our offices around the world.

The Water Sector Fund is an EIB-managed trust fund established in 2017 in partnership with the government of the Netherlands. It focuses on water sector projects in low- and lower-middle income countries, supporting universal access to water supply, sanitation and hygiene. The fund is open to contributions from other donors seeking to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 6: clean water and sanitation for all.

Incofin Investment Management is an impact investment fund management company for the Global South. It is headquartered in Belgium and has offices worldwide. It focuses on investments in financial inclusion, agri-food businesses, and safe water companies, with assets under management of €1.3 billion. Its investor base comprises development banks, institutional investors, family offices and private individuals.

Press contacts  

EIB: Olga Sushytska, o.sushytska@eib.org, +352 691 289 108

Website: www.eib.org/press — Press Office: +352 4379 21000 — press@eib.org

Incofin: Shonan Kothari, shonan.kothari@incofin.com, +32 489 25 08 11

Website: http://www.incofin.com/

24/04/2024