Investor

ALTERFIN

Belgium

Alterfin invests in microcredit institutions and associations of fair trade producers in Africa Asia and Latin America. The cooperative society Alterfin was founded in 1994 and is a form of cooperation between North South organisations financial institutions social organisations some companies and over 5000 private individuals.

Type: Investment Fund Manager

Geography: Asia

Impact: Access to Financial Services

Investor

Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN)

Mauritius

The Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN) is a 10 year innovative agriculture focused investment fund that provides tailored capital and technical assistance solutions to commercially viable small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and Intermediaries across the agricultural sector in Nigeria using quasi equity equity and debt instruments to structure investments. The Fund invests in such enterprises as part of its mission to catalyze agriculture led inclusive economic growth in Nigeria and increase the amount of commercial capital available for agriculture in the country.

Type: Investment Fund Manager

Geography: Nigeria

Impact: Access to Financial Services

Investor

Lending for African Farming (LAFCo)

The Lending for African Farming Company (LAFCo) is an open-ended facility to provide working capital loans to the small and mid-sized businesses that supply and buy from Africa smallholder farmers. LAFCo aims to stimulate inclusive economic growth in the African agriculture sector by connecting smallholder farmers to formal markets and thereby reducing poverty and enhancing food security in rural poor areas.

Type: Investment Fund Manager

Geography: Africa

Impact: Access to Financial Services

Investor

Lion Mountains Agrico Ltd

Sierra Leone

Lion Mountains Agrico Ltd has been founded to develop the extraordinary agricultural prospects of Sierra Leone with readily available land of the highest quality and plentiful rainfall the country offers a very attractive natural endowment with excellent commercial potential. With a focus on mechanised production and processing of rice and other crops Lion Mountains works in partnership with three chiefdoms in Bo District and aims to turn Sierra Leone into an agricultural powerhouse. Lion Mountains is a Phoenix Africa company.

Type: Corporate

Geography: Sierra Leone

Impact: Agricultural Productivity

Investor

Livelihoods Fund

France

Livelihoods Fund collects money which is directly invested in community programs to generate long term sustainability. In return carbon credits are the payment for investors on risky investment with long term limited return.

Type: Investment Fund Manager

Geography: Global

Impact: Access to Financial Services

Investor

Malawi 2020 Tea Revitalization Program

The Malawi tea industry has lost its competitive position as a profitable tea growing country. A combination of poor quality tea, very low prices and heavily seasonal production has led to declining gross margins and an inability for most producers to reinvest sufficient cash back into their business. Capital investment is required to replace aging and lower yielding tea bushes, to upgrade outdated factory machinery, and to invest in irrigation equipment to extend the season. However, the cost of local finance and lack of cash generation from current production hinder the required injection of capital. Furthermore, the producers have been under heavy pressure to pay a living wage to 50,000 tea workers and a living income to 15,000 smallholders. To address the issue of low wages a strong supply chain partnership was formed in which over 20 organizations have committed themselves to work together to achieve a competitive, profitable Malawian tea industry where workers can earn a living wage and smallholders are thriving, by 2020.

Type: Accelerator/Incubator

Geography: Malawi

Impact: Capacity Building

Investor

Nisaba Fund

Switzerland

The Nisaba Fund is a private equity fund co-managed by Bamboo Finance and Louis Dreyfus that will invest in strengthening market access by linking small-scale producers to end-consumers and in building local capacity and value creation notably through post-harvest handling & storage, and processing solutions. The fund aims to increase capacity, promote more equitable value chain diversification, create local value addition, foster innovation, streamline distribution for smallholders & their communities and generally improve food security in Africa.

Type: Investment Fund Manager

Geography: Africa

Impact: Access to Financial Services

Investor

Oikocredit USA

United States of America

Oikocredit is a worldwide financial cooperative that promotes global justice by empowering disadvantaged people with credit. As a social investor Oikocredit's work is guided by the principle of empowering people to improve their livelihoods. Oikocredit offers a triple return to its investors social environmental and financial. In addition to earning a modest return investors are secure in the knowledge that their money is being used to improve livelihoods promote fair trade and respect the planet's natural resources.

Type: Other Capital Providers

Geography: United States of America

Impact: Access to Financial Services

Investor

Root Capital

United States of America

FF REVIEW A social investment fund that grows rural prosperity in poor environmentally vulnerable places in Africa and Latin America. Root Capital seeks to maximize the positive social and environmental impact of their work through a three pronged strategy finance advise and catalyze.

Type: Fund

Geography: Africa

Impact: Access to Financial Services

Investor

Triodos Investment Management BV

Netherlands

Triodos Investment Management a wholly owned subsidiary of Triodos Bank manages 18 sustainable investment funds with a total value of EUR 2.5 billion at year end 2013. The funds span a broad range of sectors including Energy and Climate Emerging Markets Arts and Culture and Sustainable Real Estate. They include some funds open to private investors and others suitable for institutions charitable foundations family offices and private wealth managers.

Type: Investment Fund Manager

Geography: Global

Impact: Access to Education