Investment companies & funds
Through fund investments, BIO reaches far more SMEs while ensuring stronger governance, diversification, and climate-aligned impact.
BIO also signed 6 investments in investment companies & funds in 2025, totalling €46.6M.
Example - REBUF
In 2025, BIO committed €5.1 M to the Rebuild Ukraine Fund (REBUF). Launched by Dragon Capital, REBUF provides critical capital to small, medium, and larger enterprises operating under wartime conditions, with a focus on consumer goods and services in key sectors such as healthcare, agribusiness, construction materials, retail, and technology. REBUF aims to raise $250 M to preserve jobs and support long-term growth. BIO partnered with the EBRD, IFC, and Norfund in this effort. The investment agreement was signed in January 2026, for a value of $6 M (approximately €5.10 M).
"A sustainable future does not pit the economy against the environment: it relies on their balance. I was profoundly inspired by seeing this principle in action during my visit to Ecoa Burn in Kenya. We can be proud that BIO, as an instrument of Belgian Development Cooperation, is a financial partner to such a high-potential project. This is how we promote sustainable development and contribute tangibly to the Sustainable Development Goals."
- Jean-Luc Crucke, Belgian Minister of Mobility, Climate and Ecological Transition, responsible for Sustainable Development
BIO invests in Ecoa Burn in Kenya through its investment in the Spark+ Africa Fund.
Example – Lendable MSME Fintech Credit Fund
In 2025, BIO approved a €301,724 grant through the BDSF in the Lendable MSME Fintech Credit Fund in which BIO has invested $9 M in equity. This grant will be used to strengthen gender equality, environmental and social (E&S) management, and client protection practices (CPP) within the fund’s portfolio of companies. Specifically, the fund will help develop a gender lens investment framework, enhance E&S due diligence tools, and implement customer-centric standards to ensure responsible lending to underbanked MSMEs in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
The SDG Frontier Fund
The SDG Frontier Fund, a Belgian fund-of-funds established by BIO in 2019, invests in private equity and venture capital funds across Africa and Asia. It brings together 14 Belgian institutional and private investors with the dual objective of generating measurable social and environmental impact alongside competitive financial returns. By backing local fund managers, the fund seeks to channel capital to high-growth SMEs in developing markets. More information on the SDG Frontier Fund is available here.
In 2025, the SDG Frontier Fund demonstrated resilience, posting a positive net income of €1.4 million driven by successful exits and also showing good performance in terms of valuation. Deployment of the portfolio continued to accelerate in 2025 as several portfolio funds were still in investment phase, with the fund reaching 65% investment ratio at year end. The first half of the year was characterized by continued portfolio expansion and one significant exit, while the second half shifted toward cash returns, with a couple of exits generating solid multiples. However, performance was tempered by foreign exchange headwinds, particularly the depreciation of the USD and to a lesser extent of the Indian Rupee, and mixed results across African portfolio funds. Despite these challenges, the fund continued to deploy capital where opportunities aligned, bringing the total number of indirectly supported companies to 139, well above the initial target of 100.
Looking ahead, the fund is fully committed and getting closer to its full deployment and harvesting phase. Performance will now depend on the successful execution of exits in the portfolio, while navigating volatility in emerging markets.
The SDG Frontier Fund is an example of BIO’s role as an anchor investor whereby BIO helps to de-risk high-development projects. The approved investment projects of 2024 mobilised €55 M in private sector co-investment.