Press release -
Swedfund invests in resource efficiency in India and Bangladesh
Over the past year Swedfund has assessed a number of investment opportunities in the resource efficiency space in order to broaden Swedfund’s scope within climate and further align Swedfund’s mission with the Paris Agreement. Swedfund, as one of several European development finance institutions, has now invested in South Asia Growth Fund II (SAGF II), a fund which will back businesses promoting energy and water efficiency improvements mainly in India but also in Bangladesh.
There is a significant potential for resource efficiency improvements in the region: businesses and individuals are underserved in terms of basic utilities, such as electricity and water, and acute shortages of supply spur a need for investments. At the same time, the regulatory and institutional frameworks for such investments is improving in order to facilitate the mobilization of capital to the sectors, but capital remains scarce.
- From a Swedfund perspective this gives us an opportunity to bridge the resource efficiency financing gap and be additional by investing to increase access to clean water, sanitation and renewable energy, says CEO Maria Håkansson.
The fund has now reached its first close at 130 million dollars, of which Swedfund accounts for 15 million dollars.
The SAGF II fund will invest in businesses promoting cleaner sources of energy, energy efficiency and water and sanitation improvements. The bulk of the funds will go towards India, though the entity will also invest in companies in Bangladesh (up to a maximum of 20% of the Fund).
Topics
Categories
About Swedfund
Swedfund is Sweden’s development finance institution (DFI) with the mission to fight poverty by investing in sustainable businesses. The goal is to contribute to sustainable and inclusive growth, fight climate change and work for the economic empowerment of women. We invest to create decent jobs, generate renewable energy and improve access to healthcare.
As a state-owned company, Swedfund is managed by the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation. The operations are financed partly through capital injections for which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible and through reflows from the own portfolio. Swedfund was founded in 1979 and has since the start made more than 240 investments in more than 60 countries.
