Investment Fund for Developing Countries (''Investeringsfonden for Udviklingslande'') (IFU), is a Development Financial Institution owned by the

Government of Denmark The Cabinet of Denmark ( da, regering) has been the chief executive body and the government of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1848. The Cabinet is led by the Prime Minister. There are around 25 members of the Cabinet, known as "ministers", all of w ...

. IFU is a self-governing, state-owned fund, whose objective is to promote economic and social development in developing countries. The Fund provides risk capital and advice to companies wanting to do business in parts of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Investments are made on commercial terms in the form of loans and equity, with the purpose of contribution to economic and social development in the investment countries and support the attainment of the

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...

Location

The headquarters and main offices of IFU are located at Fredericiagade 27, 1310 Copenhagen K, Denmark. The geographical coordinates of the company headquarters are:55°41'08.9"N, 12°35'24.5"E (Latitude:55.685806; Longitude:12.590139). IFU also maintains regional offices in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe. As of August 2020, IFU maintained regional offices in these cities: 1. Copenhagen 2. Accra 3.

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Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city prope ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

10.

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. (Near bottom of reference page).

Overview

IFU was founded in 1967, as an independent government-owned fund offering advisory services and risk capital to companies wishing to do business in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed Industrial sector, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is al ...

and

emerging market An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or were ...

s. In addition to investing its own money, IFU acts as a fund manager. As of August 2020, IFU had co-invested in over 1,300 companies in more than 100 countries. The investment portfolio totals DKK:209 billion (€29.07 billion), to which IFU as contributed DKK:23 billion (€3.09 billion). Before 31 December 2016, IFU’s involvement was tied to the participation of a Danish company or the existence of a Danish interest. That requirement was dropped in December 2016. IFU does not provide business grants or development aid. Over time the investments have returned good results to the countries hosting the investments, the Danish companies and to IFU. In the 2014 to 2019 time period, gross yields on invested share capital averaged in excess of 12 percent annually.

Ownership

Investment Fund for Developing Countries is 100 percent owned by the government of Denmark.

Governance

''Michael Rasmussen'' serves as the chairman of the company. Effective 1 January 2019, ''Torben Huss'' is the chief executive officer of Investment Fund for Developing Countries.

Recent investments

IFU is an equity investor in

Lake Turkana Wind Power Station Lake Turkana Wind Power Project (LTWP) is a wind farm in Kenya. It is located in Loiyangalani District, in Marsabit County, approximately by road north of Nairobi, Kenya's capital city. The wind farm covers and has a capacity of 310 MW, ...

, a 310 megawatts power plant, that is Africa’s largest wind farm. It supplies approximately 15 percent of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

's electricity needs. IFU owns 9.97 percent of

DFCU Bank DFCU Bank, registered as the Development Finance Company of Uganda Bank Limited, is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is licensed by the Bank of Uganda (BoU), Uganda's central bank and national banking regulator. Overview As of December 2021, DFC ...

, the fifth-largest

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with co ...

in Uganda. The shareholding was acquired in December 2019 from the

CDC Group British International Investment, (formerly CDC Group plc, Commonwealth Development Corporation, and Colonial Development Corporation) is the development finance institution of the UK government. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ...

of the United Kingdom. In In March 2019, the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), lent KSh:1.2 billion (approx. US$11.2 million) to

Sidian Bank Sidian Bank, formerly known as K-Rep Bank, is a commercial bank in Kenya, licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the national banking regulator. Location The headquarters of Sidian Bank are located at K-Rep Centre, on Wood Avenue, in Kilimani ...

, a Kenyan commercial bank. During the next 36 months, IFU has the option to convert a portion or all of the principal into share capital in the bank. If all the principal is converted into capital, the Fund will acquire 20 percent shareholding in the bank and gain two seats on the expanded seven-person bank board. Each of the other shareholders will be diluted proportionately.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Investment management companies of Denmark Companies based in Copenhagen Development finance institutions Organizations established in 1967 Foreign relations of Denmark International development agencies Government agencies of Denmark 1967 establishments in Denmark Companies based in Copenhagen Municipality