Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd (Finnfund), a sovereign wealth company has opened a regional office in Nairobi. This office is set to expand its portfolio in the local market where it has already made several investments.
The fund normally invests $226M to $280M in 20 to 30 companies throughout developing countries with its targets being privately owned businesses in areas of renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, forestry, financial institutions as well as digital infrastructure solutions.
“Africa is the place to be for European development financiers. It is a continent where jobs and investments are very much needed, and at the same time, it is the new frontier, where opportunities are abound, and life is getting better for millions of people,” Finnfund chief executive officer Jaakko Kangasniemi said in a statement.
“Some of our best and most impactful investments are in East Africa, and we intend to make many more such investments in the coming years. The regional office will play a central role in strengthening our position in the East African market. The location supports and streamlines the follow-up of the regional market and existing projects and collaboration with co-investors,” said the head of Nairobi office Johanna Raehalme.
The fund is now set to deploy two to three investment professionals at the Nairobi office to scout for opportunities. The opening of this regional office in Nairobi will strengthen the strategic goals of the company seeing that local presence is always a key factor for growing the volume of investments in the region. The newly released strategy places a strong emphasis on Africa, with half of Finnfund’s upcoming investments being in Africa.
