Departments
BIO organises its investments into four clusters: Enterprises, Financial Institutions, Infrastructure, and Investment Companies & Funds. These clusters reflect BIO’s focus on supporting SMEs, strengthening access to finance, enabling essential infrastructure, and reaching businesses active on those themes through specialised funds.
In 2025, performance evolved in line with strategic priorities: Enterprise and Investment Companies and Funds activities continued to grow, Financial Institutions remained stable, and Infrastructure faced a more challenging pipeline, while still playing a key role in BIO’s mandate.
This part of the annual report dives deeper into BIO’s investments for each of the four clusters, highlighting the relevance of the departmental focus and giving more details on the investments as well as additional support provided through the Business Development Support Facility.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in driving economic growth by creating jobs, reducing poverty, and strengthening local economies and expertise.
As a Development Finance Institution, BIO supports a more resilient financial sector.
Adequate access to energy, water, telecoms, and transport infrastructure is a basic service to the population. It is also indispensable for economic growth and a sustainable private sector.
Investing in funds is an important way for BIO to build a well-balanced portfolio, give entrepreneurs the long-term capital they need, and support the growth of strong, sustainable business models for the SMEs they back — a key driver of economic growth in developing countries.