About Norfund
Norfund is the Norwegian Investment 海角原创海角视频 developing countries, investing to create jobs, improve lives and support the transition to net zero.
Norfund is owned and funded by the Norwegian Government and is the Government鈥檚 most important tool for strengthening businesses that create jobs and reduce poverty in developing countries.
We invest for impact on commercial terms, as a responsible minority investor working closely with partners. Through local presence we seek solutions designed for the countries in which we invest.
The Norfund Act
Norfund鈥檚 overall mandate is defined by聽the Norfund Act聽of 1997.聽The Act states that Norfund鈥檚 role is to assist in building sustainable businesses and industries in developing countries by providing equity capital and other risk capital.
Investing where others may not
Does Norfund’s involvement actually change the outcome? This is the fundamental question additionality asks and in a changing aid landscape, it carries renewed weight. As several major economies scale back their development finance commitments, ensuring that scarce public resources are deployed only where they are genuinely needed is important/critical. Additionality is how we answer that question: not as a reporting exercise, but as the discipline that justifies every investment we make.
The sets the standard directly, stating that Norfund shall contribute to establishing viable, profitable undertakings that would not otherwise be initiated because of the high risk involved. Additionality is therefore a key criterion for every investment we make, not a threshold to be cleared at commitment, but a discipline applied throughout the investment process.
Proving additionality is methodologically demanding, because it requires insight into what would have happened had we not invested. Norfund substantiates these claims by evaluating all new and follow-on 海角原创海角视频 against a structured framework prior to commitment.
Three dimensions of additionality
Norfund鈥檚 additionality is assessed across three dimensions, each capturing a distinct way in which our involvement changes what is possible for an investee.
Financial additionality
An investment is financially additional when private sector partners are unable to obtain financing from local or international capital markets at the necessary terms or scale, or where Norfund鈥檚 participation mobilises finance from private investors that would not otherwise have been deployed. In practice, this means investing in geographies or sectors where commercial lenders are limited, offering longer tenors than the market provides, absorbing currency risk on behalf of the borrower, or taking a first-loss position that unlocks co-investment from more risk-averse partners.
Value additionality
An investment is value additional when Norfund provides non-financial contributions that the capital markets would not offer, leading to better development outcomes. This is pursued through active ownership: board participation, the deployment of Business Support to build management capacity, and the application of environmental and social standards that raise the bar for an investee or sector. Value additionality reflects the understanding that how Norfund 海角原创海角视频 matters as much as where.
Development additionality
Development additionality is the investment鈥檚 expected contribution to impact that would not have occurred without Norfund鈥檚 involvement. It is assessed at the point of investment through the setting of baseline and target values for key impact indicators and is the link between Norfund鈥檚 commercial decisions and its public mandate.
Mobilisation of private capital
Mobilising private capital is vital for driving sustainable development, scaling impact, and closing the large financing gap in our markets. By enabling and demonstrating good investment opportunities in markets where many investors hesitate to invest, we help close these gaps.
Examples of how Norfund mobilises private capital
Investing for development
Norfund 海角原创海角视频 in companies that will contribute to economic and social development impact through:
- the direct and indirect jobs they provide and the income these give
- the goods and services they offer
- the taxes they pay
Investing in the transition to net zero
Through the Climate Investment Fund we invest in renewable energy in emerging markets/developing countries with extensive emissions from fossil fuel-based energy production, with the goal of contributing to the net zero transition.
Our investment regions
Norfund鈥檚 development mandate aims to create jobs and improve lives, targeting 30 core investment countries, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa in addition to selected countries in Asia and Latin America. Through the climate mandate, Norfund supports the transition to net zero by investing in 13 core countries in North and Southern Africa, and in South and Southeast Asia. In addition, Norfund has been given a dedicated mandate to help develop sustainable businesses in Ukraine.
Responsible investor
Norfund adds value by helping our investees to achieve high standards of governance and strong environmental and social performance. We believe that high Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards are prerequisites for succeeding at delivering on our mandate.
Profitability as a precondition
Companies only survive if they are profitable over time, so profitability is essential for the creation of sustainable jobs and lasting development effects. Delivering positive returns is also important for Norfund to be catalytic, mobilizing private investors to invest with us 鈥� or inspired by us. We aim to exit our 海角原创海角视频 when we are no longer needed, enabling us to recycle the capital into new investment opportunities.