In 2024, both the Latin America and Africa sub-funds expanded into new markets and strengthened their footprint in existing ones:

• In Latin America, our first investments in Brazil is an important milestone that will deliver impact in one of the world’s most biodiverse countries by financing sustainable agriculture.  In neighboring Colombia, we deepened our engagement by making our first green bond investment, advancing sustainable tourism initiatives. It is a reminder of the incredible economic opportunities that sustainability can provide. 

• Across Africa, our portfolio continued its dynamic expansion with inaugural investments in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

   

• Our Advisory & Capacity Building team remains at the heart of our mission. Our work with Family Bank in Kenya is one example of how we help investees channeling more financing towards green investments, by supporting the further development of their environmental and social risk management systems, in combination with our second long term loan.

   

• We also finalized our groundbreaking Biodiversity Indicator, built on a comprehensive framework for reporting how our investments contribute to reduce pressure on biodiversity by the businesses that we support. Starting in 2025, this pioneering tool will significantly enhance how we measure, report, and amplify our impact.

Our progress gives us every reason to look ahead with renewed purpose and optimism. We must stay on course because our efforts today will help shape a more sustainable and biodiverse tomorrow. 

We remain deeply grateful to our investors for their continued confidence and support, which make this journey possible.

Michael Evers , Board Chair 

Diego Stapff (Fund Advisor)

Through private debt instruments, we direct financing to businesses that promote sustainable practices in Latin America and the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa. The eco.business Fund supports sectors such as sustainable agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and tourism. Its activities contribute to a broad range of SDGs, which have been mapped at the target level, with 6 SDGs identified as core to the fund’s mission.

We build on the following international standards and applicable regulations, among others:

• Operating Principles for Impact Management
• Client Protection Principles
• IFC Performance Standards
• Fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization
• International Bill of Human Rights
• Disclosure in line with requirements stipulated by Article 9 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

Finance in Motion, the eco.business Fund’s Advisor, has been recognized as a 'Practice Leader' by BlueMark since 2022. In 2023, its impact management system was rated 'advanced'—the highest possible—across all eight dimensions of the Impact Principles. 

Read Finance in Motion’s Disclosure Statement on alignment with the Operating Principles for Impact management at the link below.

Measuring positive impact helps us monitor progress towards our impact objective and informs the strategy. We monitor our impact based on key indicators, in line with the eco.business Fund’s Theory of Change which reflects:

• Direct impact on investees and their sectors, for example, by strengthening financial institutions’ capacity to support businesses committed to sustainable practices.

• Indirect impact through investees’ clients, for example, by fostering sustainable resource use, enhancing climate resilience and biodiversity, and supporting livelihoods in sectors such as agriculture, forestry, and tourism. 
   

  Systematic impact measurement and management is integrated in eco.business Fund’s investment lifecycle. We assess the potential impact of each investment with the Impact Scoring Tool at the due diligence stage, regularly monitor it during the investment period and assess the final impact at exit. Our data management system enables end-to-end tracking of financing to the final client, capturing key indicators such as use of proceeds, gender, and economic sector. This data informs the Fund’s impact measurement, portfolio management and strategy. 

The eco.business Fund places a priority on effectively managing – i.e., avoiding, minimizing, and mitigating –  potential environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and negative impacts associated with its investments. To this end, the fund maintains and continuously improves its environmental and social management system (ESMS). For example, in 2024 the Fund updated its ESG Policy, including its commitments to contributing to the vision of the Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework and to climate change risk management.   

E&S risks are considered throughout the investment process. E&S screening and thorough E&S due diligence processes are key tools for identifying potentially significant E&S risks and for assessing the capacity and commitment of the Fund’s investees to address and mitigate against them. E&S undertakings are also included in the financing documents with the partners institutions, as well as eco.business Fund’s E&S exclusion list. Once capital is deployed, the Fund monitors the E&S performance and compliance of its partner institutions at least on an annual basis. The Fund also engages with them to strengthen their E&S capacity where required.