1 Corporate information

FMO was incorporated in 1970 as a public limited company with 51% of shares held by the Dutch Government and 49% held by commercial banks, state unions and other members of the private sector. The company is located at Anna van Saksenlaan 71, The Hague, The Netherlands and is registered under ID 27078545 in the Chamber of Commerce. FMO finances activities in developing countries to stimulate private sector development. In addition, FMO provides services in relation to government funds and programs.

Financing and investing activities

FMO is the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank. We support sustainable private sector growth in developing and emerging markets by investing in ambitious entrepreneurs. We specialize in sectors where our contribution can have the highest long-term impact: financial institutions, energy and agribusiness.

FMO’s main activity consists of providing loans, guarantees and equity capital to the private sector in developing countries. Furthermore FMO offers institutional investors access to its expertise in responsible emerging market investing through its subsidiary FMO Investment Management B.V.

A minor part of the investment financing is guaranteed by the Dutch State under the Faciliteit Opkomende Markten (FOM), in which FMO itself participates as a 5% to 20% risk partner. Any losses to be claimed under the guarantee are reported under ‘Other receivables’.

We arrange syndicated loans by bringing together investors – commercial banks and other development finance institutions (DFIs) - with FMO structuring the financing. This enables us to provide our clients with increased access to finance and more diversified lending, while giving our financial partners efficient opportunities to enter new markets.

FMO also supports Dutch investments in emerging markets. Apart from focusing on Dutch companies, including SME’s investing abroad, FMO supports companies seeking trade finance for their exports to our markets when commercial financial products are not available.

Commercial fund management

FMO's subsidiary, FMO Investment Management B.V. (FMO IM), provides investment advice for third party investment funds, which are invested in FMO’s transactions in emerging and developing markets. Through these funds FMO IM offers investors access to our expertise in responsible emerging market investing.

Services in relation to government and public funding

Apart from financing activities from its own resources, FMO provides loans, guarantees and equity capital from government funds, within the conditions and objectives of those funds. The funds consist of subsidies provided by the Dutch Government under the General Administrative Law Act regarding MASSIF, Access to Energy Fund (AEF), Building Prospects (BP), Capacity Development Program (CD), and Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD). In addition, funding is provided by the UK Government for Mobilizing Finance for Forests (MFF).

FMO incurs a risk in MASSIF as it has an equity share of 2.17% (2020: 2.17%). With respect to the remaining interest in MASSIF and the full risk in the other government funds, FMO has a contractual right and obligation to settle the results arising from the funds’ activities with the Dutch State. The economic risks related to these funds are predominantly taken by the Dutch government and FMO has limited power over policy issues regarding these funds. FMO receives remuneration fees for managing these funds. Therefore, with the exception of FMO’s equity share in MASSIF, the funds’ assets, results and liabilities are not included in the annual accounts. 

In 2016, the EDFI Management Company (of which FMO is one of the shareholders together with the other EDFIs) has been established in Brussels to manage European Commission (EC) funding for the Electri-FI global facility. In 2018 the Agri-FI investment facility as well as the Electri-FI Country Windows investment facility have been added. FMO, as accredited entity for the EC, acts as delegatee (contractee) for the EC and has sub-delegated all operational activities related to Electri-FI/Agri-FI and Electri-FI Country Windows to the EDFIMC.

In 2016, FMO was accredited with Green Climate Fund (GCF) and capitalizes on FMO’s experience in mobilizing and enabling the private sector in developing countries towards low-emission and climate-resilient investments.  In that context, FMO has received funds from the EU, USAID and the Dutch Government with the purpose to invest directly in Climate Investor One, a facility raised by FMO and managed by Climate Fund Managers (CFM). Climate Investor One (CIO) is a blended finance, capital-recycling facility mandated with delivering renewable energy infrastructure projects in emerging markets through its contribution to each phase of a projects lifecycle. 

In December 2018, the EC approved up to €75 million in guarantees and signed the contract for risk sharing facility NASIRA. The facility uses guarantees to allow banks to on-lend to underserved entrepreneurs within the European neighborhood and Sub-Saharan Africa. It targets portfolios consisting of loans of young, female and migrant entrepreneurs including refugees, returnees and internally displaced people. The goal of these guarantees is to allow local banks to provide loans to groups they perceive as too risky. Risk sharing reduces the perceived and real risks of lending to vulnerable and underserved parts of the population and enables financing for people who want to grow their business. Following the COVID - 19 pandemic, the EC together with FMO scaled up the NASIRA financial guarantee to support small COVID-19 affected entrepreneurs in Africa and EU Neighborhood. The measures are a joint response and include a top-up of €25 million from the European Fund for Sustainable Development and an expansion in scope to support COVID-19 affected entrepreneurs.

In November 2019, FMO and the European Commission (EC) signed the guarantee agreement for the FMO Ventures Program. The EC has provided €40 million in guarantees to FMO’s innovative early-stage investment program. FMO Ventures Program contributes to FMO’s ambition to further strengthen the focus on early-stage investments that deploy an innovative, technology-enabled business model. The program aims to invest a total of €200 million in both fund and direct investments in Africa, the European Neighborhood and Asia (excluding China). The direct investments focus on start and scale-ups in AgriTech, Energy Access, and FinTech. Next to equity investments, the Program also has a dedicated technical assistance program, for which the EC has provided €6.5 million, that seek to support investees of FMO Ventures Program and promote the development of local Venture Capital ecosystems in emerging markets in general.

In 2021, Mobilising Finance for Forests (MFF) was established by the United Kingdom (UK) government as a blended finance investment program to combat deforestation and other environmentally unsustainable land use practices contributing to global climate change. Through MFF, FMO have been appointed by the UK government to invest up to £150 million across a mix of investment funds and direct investments in selected tropical forest regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.