eco.business Fund Supports End-Clients at Green Week Berlin
State Secretary Kitschelt visits exhibitors at international food fair
The eco.business Fund presented three of its end-borrowers at this year’s International Green Week in Berlin, and prominent visitors to the booth included State Secretary Dr. Friedrich Kitschelt from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The Green Week event features the latest advances in the agriculture and food industries, and the eco.business Fund was invited to showcase its partners at the stand of the German Development Bank KfW in the BMZ hall. The eco.business Fund supports business practices that contribute to the preservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of natural resources, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Its local lending partners selected clients that implement business practices for meeting these goals. Three fund end-borrowers presented their products at the Green Week:
Alimentos Prosalud, a seafood producer that works with Banco Davivienda in Costa Rica, delighted visitors with a taste of their leading tuna brand, Tonnino, sustainably sourced from fishing zones in South America.
Tejemet, an end-borrower of El Salvador’s Banco Hipotecario, is a certified coffee processing company selling green coffee to roasters in Europe. It used the opportunity to visit potential clients and establish contact with a compost technology supplier and a company introducing solar panels in El Salvador.
Terrafertil, a manufacturer of healthy snacks, works with Banco Pichincha in Ecuador. Antonio Forero, the Director of Agribusiness Operations, was keen to explain to German consumers the benefits of consuming physalis, or goldenberry, a typical Andean fruit cultivated by small growers in Ecuador and Colombia.
BMZ State Secretary Dr. Friedrich Kitschelt met with eco.business Fund Advisor, who explained how the fund is making a difference in the impact investment environment in Latin America.
The fair offered an excellent opportunity to learn more about the operations of end-borrowers in the regions the fund serves and about the challenges facing sustainable businesses in terms of certifications, regulations, and climate change.
For the three end-borrowers, the fair provided a great chance to promote their products in Germany and meet with Sylvia Wisniwski, Managing Director of fund advisor Finance in Motion. Wisniwski was on hand to present the eco.business Fund to the general public.
About the eco.business Fund
The eco.business Fund is spearheading the promotion of business practices that contribute to the preservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of natural resources, and climate change mitigation and adaptation through private enterprises. By providing financing for business practices that conserve nature and foster biodiversity, the fund seeks investments with both financial and environmental returns. The fund mainly provides loans to qualified local financial institutions that lend the money to eligible borrowers, which include holders of recognized certifications or those making improvements in line with conservation and biodiversity goals. The fund supports sustainable operations in the sectors of agriculture, fishery, forestry and eco-tourism.
The eco.business Fund leverages contributions from donors, multilateral organizations, and development finance institutions with funding from private investors to maximize outreach and impact. Seed capital was provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, with German Development Bank KfW acting as main sponsor. Finance in Motion, a leading impact investing company, is also an investor.
Operating hand-in-hand with the eco.business Fund, the eco.business Development Facility provides high-impact technical assistance at the sector level to local lending institutions and final borrowers.
For more information please visit www.ecobusiness.fund and follow us on Twitter @ecobusinessfund.