Team Europe
In terms of partnerships, BIO also increasingly develops its activities as part of Team Europe and together with other members of the Association of European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) which represents the 15 European bilateral development finance institutions. This does not only mean co-investing together with other EDFI members – in 2025, 55% of BIO’s investments were done jointly with other EDFI members – but also participating in the important work EDFI is doing in terms of knowledge exchange and capacity building amongst its members, as well as representing the interest of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) at the European level. 2025 has been an interesting year in that sense, with a continued search to define ‘European Interest’ in European external action policies, pushed by the EU’s Global Gateway Initiative.
If we respect the boundaries between profit and development, between European interests and local priorities, and between the roles of each actor, Global Gateway will not just build infrastructure—it will build trust, create jobs, and become a model for responsible global cooperation.
Example – Coris Holding
In 2025, BIO invested €20 million in Coris Holding as part of a €100 million capital increase led by Mediterrania Capital Partners, alongside FMO, British International Investment, and Impact Fund Denmark. This Team Europe operation strengthens a leading West African banking group, boosting its capital base to support growth across the WAEMU region. It expands SME, retail, and mesofinance services where banking access is below 30%, helping Coris reach millions of unbanked clients and grow its €1 billion SME portfolio. The partnership also improves governance and environmental and social systems, showcasing how joint European development finance drives impact in underserved African markets. BIO’s investment in Coris Holding is expected to contribute to its strategic impact targets related to job creation (1), SME Finance (2) and LDCs (4). You can find more info on the investment here.
EFSD+ Guarantees
In 2025, under the EU’s Global Gateway initiative, the EDFI Management Company (EDFI MC) was entrusted with administering a portfolio of EFSD+ guarantee programmes totalling €1.39 billion. Through these guarantees, EDFI MC allocates risk cover to eligible European Development Finance Institutions—including BIO—enabling them to invest in high-impact projects that would otherwise be too risky to finance. BIO considers the guarantees that are provided under the TGVC (Transforming Global Value Chain), Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (MSME) and RET (Renewable Energy Transition) guarantee windows for its investments in SMEs, financial institutions and in renewable energy. In 2025, two of its investments in African SMEs – Foods’Co in Ivory Coast and Limbua in Kenya – were covered by these guarantees, allowing BIO to take more/increased risk in terms of invested funds. The guarantees provided under the EFSD+ program are also linked with Technical Assistance (TA) programmes for which BIO received funding at the end of 2025. This funding also allowed BIO to increase its capacities in the Impact and Sustainability department. More on EFSD+ Guarantees here.