Corporate information
The 2024 financial statements of Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (hereafter referred to as ‘FMO’ or ‘the company’) were prepared by the members of the Management Board and signed by all members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board on March 24, 2025 and will be submitted for adoption by the General Meeting of Shareholders on April 23, 2025.
Certain disclosures in the ‘Risk Management’ chapter are also an integral part of the ‘Consolidated Financial Statements’ and contain audited information. The audited parts concern risk disclosures of financial instruments (IFRS 7) and capital disclosures (IAS 1). The audited section of the ‘Risk Management’ chapter runs from its introductory section through the ‘Capital adequacy’ sub-section until the end of the ‘Financial risk’ sub-section of the ‘Risk Management’ chapter of this annual report.”
FMO was incorporated in 1970 as a public limited company with 51 percent of shares held by the Dutch Government and 49 percent held by commercial banks, state unions and other members of the private sector. The company is located at Anna van Saksenlaan 71, 2593 HW 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 entrepreneurs. We specialize in sectors where our contribution can have the highest long-term impact: financial institutions, energy and agribusiness, food and water.
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 markets investing through its subsidiary FMO Investment Management B.V..
We arrange syndicated loans to mobilize funds, by bringing together investors – commercial banks and other development finance institutions (DFIs) - with FMO for structuring these transactions. This enables us to provide our customers with increased access to finance and more diversified lending, while giving our financial partners efficient opportunities to enter new markets.
Commercial fund management
FMO's subsidiary, FMO Investment Management B.V. (FMO IM), works with third party investment funds, which participate in FMO’s transactions in emerging market and developing economies. 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 funding, within the conditions and objectives stipulated in the agreements. The Dutch Government funding consists of subsidies provided under the General Administrative Law Act regarding MASSIF, Access to Energy Fund (AEF), Building Prospects and Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD). In addition, funding is provided by both the UK and Dutch Governments for the Mobilising Finance for Forests (MFF) program.
In 2024 FMO in conjunction with the European Commission (EC) and the Dutch Government established the DFCD Aya program which expanded on the existing DFCD program. This initiative resulted in FMO providing a loan commitment of €240 million to the program, of which €105 million is covered by financial guarantee from the EC. As a result of this financial interest, and taking into account the control FMO exercises over part of the program, FMO now consolidates the Land Use Facility part of DFCD for financial reporting purposes. See "Group accounting and consolidation" section.
FMO incurs a risk in MASSIF as it has an equity share of 2.16 percent (2023: 2.16 percent). In addition, the subsidy agreements for certain public fund programs contain provisions for FMO to return at least 75 percent of the subsidy amounts on the end dates of the respective programs. With respect to the remaining interest in MASSIF, and the full risk in the other government programs, FMO has a contractual right and obligation to settle the results arising from the programs’ activities with the Dutch Government. The economic risks related to these funds are predominantly taken by the Dutch Government, and FMO has limited control over policy issues regarding these funds. FMO receives a remuneration fee for managing these funds. Therefore, with the exception of FMO’s equity share in MASSIF and the consolidation of the DFCD Land Use Facility, the funds' assets, liabilities and results are not included in the financial statements.
The European Development Financial Institutions (EDFI) Management Company (of which FMO is one of the shareholders together with the other EDFIs) was established in Brussels to manage European Commission (EC) funding for the Electri-FI global facility, the Agri-FI investment facility and the Electri-FI Country facility. FMO, as accredited entity for the EC, acts as the delegate (contractee) for the EC and has sub-delegated all operational activities related to these facilities to the EDFI Management Company. FMO receives a fee for facilitating these activities.
FMO is accredited by 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. FMO has received funds from the EU, USAID and the Dutch Government to invest directly in Climate Investor One (CIO), a facility raised by FMO and managed by Climate Fund Managers (CFM). CIO and the follow up Climate Investor Two (CI2) are blended finance, capital-recycling facilities mandated with delivering renewable energy infrastructure projects in emerging markets that contribute to each phase of a project's lifecycle. FMO receives a fee for facilitating these activities.
The EC and FMO have an agreement for the risk sharing facility NASIRA for an amount of €100 million. The facility uses guarantees to allow banks to on-lend to under-served entrepreneurs within the European Neighborhood and Sub-Saharan Africa. The guarantees are split into a loss-sharing hierarchy that is allocated between the issuing bank, the EC and FMO. The goal of these guarantees is to allow local banks to provide loans to groups they perceive as too risky.
The EC has provided €40 million in guarantees to the FMO Ventures Program, which aims to invest €200 million in both fund and direct investments in Africa, the European Neighborhood and Asia (excluding China). In addition to equity investments, the program will also have a dedicated technical assistance program, for which the EC is providing €6.5 million, to support investees of FMO Ventures Program and promote the development of local venture capital ecosystems. In 2024 the Ventures 2 Program was initiated which expands the program by an additional €200 million however does not make use of a guarantee from the EC.
Mobilising Finance for Forests (MFF) was established by the 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 has been appointed by the UK government to invest up to €172.5 million across a mix of investment funds and direct investments in tropical forest regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In 2024 the Dutch Government participated in the program by providing a €32.4 million commitment to MFF.