Team Belgium
As the Belgian State’s dedicated development finance instrument, BIO works alongside the DGD, Enabel, fellow Belgian impact investors, and civil society to maximise collective impact as part of Team Belgium. Though wholly owned by the State, BIO sees itself as accountable to a wider community—engaging actively with Belgian stakeholders to advance development goals. This commitment was underscored by four site visits by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Development Cooperation Maxime Prévot, and Minister of Mobility, Climate and Ecological Transition Jean-Luc Crucke, as well as by BIO’s presentation of its annual results to the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, together with Enabel and the DGD.
BIO at the 2025 Impact Week
In November 2025, BIO co-organised the Belgian Impact Week alongside Impact Finance Belgium members Incofin, Alterfin, Kampani, and Inpulse. The aim was to bring Belgian stakeholders together for a day of discussion on development finance challenges and opportunities, with a full programme of panels exploring the Belgian ecosystem approach, diversity, food systems, and the chocolate value chain. BIO clients EA Foods and Danper—a client of the Fairtrade Access Fund, managed by Incofin and in which BIO is an investor—joined the sessions and shared their perspectives. In his keynote, EA Foods CEO Elia Timotheo delivered a powerful message: "African SMEs don’t need aid. Africa needs access—to capital, to markets, and to trust. The continent with the youngest population on earth will not wait. Let’s trust local entrepreneurs who are proving every day that scalable impact is possible." Steven Serneels echoed that message in the aftermovie: "Development finance is the frontrunner and driver of impact investing... Development finance investors were the first to know that you have to mobilise capital for the benefit of the beneficiaries." Together, their messages highlighted BIO’s core mission: investing in trust and empowering local entrepreneurs to drive change and eventually change finance from within. Watch the aftermovie here.
In 2025, BIO—as investment arm of Belgian international development cooperation—actively participated in various other meetings and platforms. These included sessions of the Platform on Agriculture and Food Security and the Belgian Coordination Platform on Decent Work. Through its engagement in these activities, BIO demonstrates its commitment to strengthen its presence within the Belgian international cooperation ecosystem. This role was further reinforced in 2025 through BIO’s investment in Kampani.
Signature of BIO’s investment in Kampani
Though celebrated in January 2026, BIO's investment in Kampani was signed in 2025. BIO invested a €2 M investment in Kampani, the Belgian impact fund supporting small-scale agricultural producers worldwide. The investment aims to strengthen the Belgian ecosystem to support private sector development in Africa and Latin America by bridging the gap between early-stage support and larger-scale financing—a "from cradle to crib" approach where NGOs, public actors, impact funds, and development finance institutions complement each other. Kampani typically invests between €100,000 and €500,000 to help agricultural cooperatives and SMEs grow and become investment-ready for larger players like BIO.