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"First impact investor providing loans in Guinea..."

Impact investing is about to come to Guinea. "Investing here takes more time, patience, and understanding, but the resilience of people in Guinea is truly inspiring,” says Sjoerd Melsert, Senior Investment Manager at CIM.  

Clean Energy in West Africa White Paper

Clean Energy in West Africa explained: we have just released a white paper sharing the latest industry research insights, in-house expertise, and first-hand experience with investments in the clean energy sector in West Africa.  

MFIs forum in Sierra Leone: resilience through partnerships

The managing directors of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Sierra Leone recently gathered to discuss financial inclusion developments in the country. The meeting was initiated by Cordaid Investment Management (CIM) to promote dialogue among industry key players – the MFIs, CIM and the development institution UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).  

Visit to Mali: "a robust pipeline for WABFF"

"Great to see many resilient businesses in Mali addressing social and environmental challenges in the region. We are building a robust pipeline of potential investees for the West Africa Bright Future Fund. During my stay, I visited quite an impactful MFI and resilient SMEs operating in Agriculture and Clean energy sectors," says Sjoerd Melsert, Senior Investment Manager.  

CIM quarter highlights December 2022

Portfolio overview and impact highlights for the last quarter of 2022  

When the WABFF is a success, other investors will follow

PART 2: CIM's Investment Manager based in Freetown, Archibald Shodeke, talks about the lessons learned towards launching the West Africa Bright Future Fund (WABFF), the importance of in-house expertise and local presence, and the critical components to succeeding in the fragile environment.  

Open call for SMEs in West Africa

We are looking for impactful partners in Mali, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.  

Investors' thought revolves around risk, which makes them overlook enormous opportunities in Sierra Leone

PART 1: CIM's Investment Manager based in Freetown, Archibald Shodeke, talks about biases surrounding investments in Africa, opportunities of investing in Sierra Leone and how we realize them in the newly launched West Africa Bright Future Fund (WABFF).  

Portfolio Highlights: Ecuador

Learn about CIM's partner MFIs in Ecuador  

We are off to travel the world.. NOT

But here are our favourite destinations to inspire you for great adventures in 2023  

And… Action! West Africa Bright Future Fund goes live

It is now official. All papers are signed - West Africa Bright Future Fund (WABFF) is launched. We hope that this long and careful journey towards the launch, the dedication of the whole team, the confidence and trust of our partners and external investors will result in a brighter and more sustainable future for people in the fragile states of Mali, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.  

CIM quarter highlights September 2022

Portfolio overview and impact highlights for the past quarter.  

Portfolio Highlights: Latin America

CIM's partner MFIs in Latin America are showing remarkable growth  

Pioneering investments in turbulent markets

In the spotlight with Daniela Luppi, Finance and Risk Manager at Cordaid Investment Management  

Watching the World Cup but not looking away

We join our colleagues from Cordaid in a commitment to catalyzing positive social change in Qatar through football diplomacy. Cordaid's inspiring campaign produced mourning bands with the names of migrant workers who died during the 2022 World Cup preparations.  

New milestone for the industry - over 1 trillion USD allocated to impact investing strategies

Despite the significant challenges of our time, the size of the impact investing market grew to USD 1.164 trillion in assets under management, according to the Global Impact Investing Network's report.  

Value-based impact investing is gathering momentum

Dedicated to unlocking faith-based investors' capital for positive social impact, Cordaid Investment Management has signed the Catholic Impact Investing Pledge. Faith-based impact investing is gaining momentum, and we urge religiously and spiritually driven investors to join the movement.  

25 Years of Impact Reunion

One of the highlights of our 25th Anniversary celebrations was a get-together with the team members who worked in Cordaid Investments over the years.  

Are we in Compliance?

As the impact investing industry matures, we, asset managers, must take the time to understand better the legal and compliance challenges of investing in emerging and, especially, fragile countries.  

Team strategy week: energized and inspired for 2023

The Cordaid Investment Management team just came back from the annual strategy week. This was an intense and rewarding week with the team getaway to the North Sea, brainstorming sessions and workshops under the October sun, and in our headquarters in the Hague.  

Just one week away: 25 years of Impact Webinar

25 years of impact with Cordaid Investments is a milestone for the whole industry as well. We were at the dawn of impact investing, and now we are looking to celebrate the 25th anniversary with Global Webinar. Join us!  

Speaker Announcement: 25 years of impact with Cordaid Investments

How do impact investors catalyze much-needed finance to the most underserved markets of Africa? Heather Bateman will guide us through the partnership between the DFC and CIM and the key development impacts it attained.  

Investing in fragile settings: How to make it work?

The learning session, held in The Hague on September 21, 2022, dived into the specifics of doing business and investing in fragile settings in Sudan, South Sudan, and Somaliland.  

Speaker Announcement: 25 years of impact with Cordaid Investments

Equitable access to opportunities for people is the key to a sustainable economy. What can we do to facilitate systemic social change and build an equal world? Tune into the conversation about the future of investing in social causes with our keynote speaker Tynesia Boyea-Robinson.  

Speaker Announcement: 25 years of impact with Cordaid Investments

Rethinking Microfinance? Tune into the conversation about the future of impact investing with Jonathan Morduch, a co-author of “Portfolios of the Poor” and professor at New York University, known for his work in assessing microfinance's impact since the movement's early years.  

CIM quarter highlights June 2022

Portfolio overview and impact highlights for the past quarter.  

“Local expertise is a key driver of success in West Africa…”

Sjoerd has just returned from a business trip to Mali where he could meet the investees in person. Having extensive experience over the past 15 years in financing many companies in Africa, Sjoerd joined CIM five months ago. With Mariam Niangado, our Mali-based investment manager, they strategized with investees and developed a solid pipeline of sustainable businesses in the region.  

With the trade embargo lifted, Malian enterprises are ready to scale

The lifting of severe economic sanctions offers the Malian economy a much-needed relief after a half-year trade embargo that paralyzed many sustainable businesses in the country.  

"Blended finance is a superpower"

“Blended finance is like a superpower that enables capital flow to Africa’s most underserved markets” – discover how innovative financial instruments, including first-loss grants and credit guarantees, allow for mobilizing private capital flows to fragile countries.  

Meet the West Africa Bright Future Fund IC members

The external Investment Committee of West Africa Bright Future Fund – our new fund that finances agriculture, clean energy, and waste management in Mali, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, and Guinee – has assembled in person for the first time.  

Livelihoods of Congolese entrepreneurs

DRC has the third-largest impoverished population in the world, and poverty is increasing due to the impacts of COVID-19. Against all odds, small-scale entrepreneurs in the DRC are navigating the precarity of day-to-day lives and have ambitious business plans.  

Call for proposals: piloting impact survey in Mali and Sierra Leone

Cordaid Investment Management is looking for a consultant to conduct a pilot impact survey in Mali and Sierra Leone.  

Blended finance talk: tune into the podcast featuring Hann Verheijen

How can the blended finance approach benefit impact investors? Learn about innovative finance tools and practices in the latest episode of Just for a change podcast Blended Finance: when to use what instrument when?, featuring managing director of Cordaid Investment Management.  

Les Orangers’ Grand Opening: CIM’s investee makes Malian national news

After a series of obstacles and delays caused by COVID and political unrest in Mali, a new high-quality medical care facility has opened its doors at the end of February. Most importantly, it is going to be affordable for low-income populations who often struggle to access healthcare.  

Faces of microfinance: saving groups for women in the DRC

Fueled by social biases, discriminatory laws, practices, and disproportionate household responsibilities, gender inequality limits women’s life choices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Decades of armed conflict in the eastern DRC region Kivu have made the villages unsafe for women and their children. They had to largely abandon farming and move to rural areas with few job opportunities for females. Usually, that means engaging in small-scale trade or cooking meals for sale. The necessity of caring for families pushes women to create their own opportunities.  

Enabling Bolivian women to start their first business

In the last eight years, poverty in Bolivia has decreased significantly; however, the current recession threatens to reverse all the progress if the support structures for the vulnerable populations are not there. A period of stable economic growth linked to high oil and gas prices was first interrupted by commodities depreciation and then by the Covid-19 crisis. As a result, the country’s economy is facing recession and over a million people risk going into poverty.  

Faces of microfinance: stories and dreams of small-scale entrepreneurs in DRC

73% of the Congolese population lives on less than $1.90 a day, according to World Bank data of 2018. In the conflict-affected eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kivu struggles with even higher unemployment rates than the country’s average. In a situation like this, many people have no other option but to open their micro-business and hope it would be enough to sustain their families.  

Investments in fragile countries do offer returns

CIM's Managing Director, Hann Verheijen, talks about the development of impact investing, challenges of SME financing, and the refinement of CIM's approach to creating impact .  

Promoting growth sectors and entrepreneurship in Sierra Leone

Two of CIM’s Investment Managers based in Freetown, Lorisa Canillas and Archibald Shodeke, talk about the investment landscape in Sierra Leone, and the difficulties and opportunities of investing in MFIs and SMEs in the region.  

Only impact-first investors are able to make the shift in Mali

CIM’s Investment Manager in Mali, Mariam Niangado, talks about the local investment climate, challenges and opportunities of different sectors, and the transformational impact that our investments have.  

Claiming impact? Research is key

Fund Manager of WABFF, Brenda Pennell, talks about the research project, the importance of looking at downstream outcomes, and the challenges of measuring impact in fragile environments.  

Financing Kenya's private sector recovery

Kenya has a remarkably active private sector, primarily consisting of small informal businesses with less than five employees. According to the latest World Bank report, there are 7.4 million micro, small and medium enterprises in the country, many of which need additional finance to recover from the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Vacancy alert: Investment Committee members for the West Africa Bright Future Fund

The West Africa Bright Future Fund invests in job creation, sustainable economic development, and a better environment. Growth capital for SMEs and MFIs in agriculture, clean energy and waste management creates a brighter future for women and youth in fragile West Africa. The Fund will be launched in early 2022.  

Investors, we can’t wait on policymakers anymore

Scientists have warned us: not reacting fast enough is the same as failing. We lost too much time discussing wherever it is even necessary to “phase out” fossil fuels.  

Modernizing the Malian poultry sector

Cordaid Investment Management’s disbursement to SOSAF contributes to development of poultry sector in Mali, allowing local production to compete with imports and make the eggs and chicken more affordable for the population. Founder of SOSAF, young entrepreneur Mohamed Sanogo is committed to level up hygiene and safety standards in the sector.  

Connecting faith and finance to unlock the capital for deeper impact

Aligning capital with moral values holds immense potential to help the world achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and fight climate change. Hann Verheijen, Managing Director at Cordaid Investment Management, discussed challenges and opportunities for raising the level of faith-based impact investing at the Oxford Faith-Aligned Impact Finance project (OxFAIF) conference on November 20th.  

Welcome, Julie! A finance and legal assistant joins our team

We are excited to welcome Julie Nzambi - Finance and Legal Assistant - to the team. Passionate about women's empowerment, Julie believes that through impact investing we can fight gender inequalities, especially in fragile countries where women suffer from extreme societal injustice.  

Best SME Financier of the year

Cordaid Investment Management wins the Africa Global Funds Awards for outstanding efforts to support the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in fragile contexts.  

Reducing inequality in Guatemala

The recent disbursement to microfinance institution Adisa is aimed to increase the resilience of rural and indigenous communities. They are most affected by poverty and inequality in Guatemala, even more so due to the COVID-19 crisis.  

Bringing SME and MFI partners together

Determined to foster investees’ collaboration, Cordaid Investment Management’s team in Sierra Leone brought together an SME and several MFIs to work for mutual benefit and higher social impact.  

Promoting financial inclusion in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania

Cordaid Investment Management has recently disbursed a new loan to Soluti Finance, a dedicated microfinance fund supporting microfinance institutions in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. CIM is reaching over 1.6 million entrepreneurs in East Africa each year by investing in wholesale lenders like Soluti Finance.  

Strengthening the recycling market in Mali

Through our new partnership with DGB Plastique Mali SARL, Cordaid Investment Management supports the rise of the recycling market in Mali, which is still in its infancy but has a lot of growth potential.  

Contributing to road safety in West Africa

Africa has the biggest number of road traffic deaths in the world. According to the World Health Organization report, with 26.6 deaths per 100,000 people, the fatality rate is nearly three times that of Europe. Many of these accidents involve heavy trucks used for transportation - they are too old and do not comply with safety regulations.  

Reaching out to indigenous communities in Guatemala

Thousands of indigenous households in Guatemala are overlooked by the traditional banking system and big microfinance institutions. Low levels of education and literacy, unstable income and lack of suitable financial instruments make those communities especially vulnerable.  

Fighting poverty and inequality in Ecuador

Cordaid Investment Management has provided FACES, a microfinance institution in Ecuador with a strong social and environmental focus, with the 4th loan marking six years of impactful partnership.  

Talking strategies with Malian entrepreneurs

Our Senior Investment Manager Brenda Pennell just came back from a three-week trip business to Mali. Together with Mariam Niangado, our new colleague in West Africa, they had a chance to reconnect and talk strategies with local entrepreneurs that Cordaid Investment Management supports with investments.  

New partnership in Mali unlocks clean energy access in rural communities

In a world where 760 million people don't have access to electricity and 6.5 million people die from air pollution every year, investments in clean, affordable energy in low-income countries is a necessity.  

Supporting framers and entrepreneurs in Nicaragua

Cordaid Investment Management has recently disbursed the third loan to Fundenuse SA, an MFI in Nicaragua with a strong social mission to support micro and small entrepreneurs.  

Easy Solar, 5 years of energy and impact

This month Cordaid Investment Management is celebrating the 5th anniversary of Easy Solar and a five-year partnership that brought light and clean energy to many off-grid communities of Sierra Leone.  

7 years of serving vulnerable populations in Honduras

Cordaid Investment Management has provided their fourth loan to Ahsetfin, partner MFI in Honduras, marking 7 years of a fruitful partnership. Despite the COVID-19 crisis, Ahsetfin has shown a solid financial and social performance, while supporting their clients with grace periods on capital and interest in those challenging times.  

Major investment program in West Africa

West Africa is grappling with challenges of unprecedented magnitude. Despite the extremely difficult conditions.  

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