MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: OoEB, BNP Paribas, SPF, SPOV, vdk Invest $76m in Incofin’s agRIF Fund for Smallholder Farmers, Other Rural Entrepreneurs

A group of investors recently committed to loan a total of USD 76 million to agRIF, the successor to the first and second Rural Investment Funds (RIF I and RIF II) of Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management. Launched in 2015, agRIF is intended to generate market-rate returns from investments in small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises as well as funders of small-scale farmers and rural micro- and small enterprises.

The first-time investors in agRIF include the Austrian government’s development bank Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB), which loaned the fund USD 15 million, and the France-based banking group BNP Paribas, which invested USD 11 million.

Wilfried Remans, the head of corporate social responsibility and public affairs at Belgium’s BNP Paribas Fortis, said agRIF, “has a unique balanced impact thesis around financial inclusion and the agricultural value chain. Incofin has a strong capacity to innovate for the people at the bottom of the pyramid, with a particular focus on rural areas…”.

The repeat investors in agRIF include Belgium’s vdk bank and two Dutch pension funds, Spoorweg Pensioenfonds (SPF) and Stichting Pensioenfonds Openbaar Vervoer (SPOV). The sizes of these firm’s investments in agRIF and the names of any other investors participating in this funding round remain confidential.

Incofin is a for-profit firm that was founded in 2001 and seeks “to promote inclusive progress.” As of January 2020, it has 320 investees in 66 countries, mostly working in financial inclusion and agriculture. Incofin’s portfolio is valued at USD 1 billion and comprises the following funds: agRIF, BRS Microfinance Coop Fund, Fairtrade Access Fund, Fonds pour l’Inclusion Financière en République Démocratique Congo (FPM), Incofin CVSO, Invest in Visions, Rural Impulse Fund (RIF) II, Volksvermogen and a loan portfolio of vdk bank.

Sources and Additional Resources

Incofin press release
http://www.incofin.com/incofin-secures-usd-76-million-in-commitments-for-its-agrif-fund/

BNP Paribas Group homepage
https://group.bnpparibas

OeEB homepage
https://www.oe-eb.at

SPF homepage
https://spoorwegpensioenfonds.nl

SPOV homepage
http://www.spov.nl

Vdk bank homepage
https://www.vdk.be

Additional MicroCapital coverage of Incofin
https://www.microcapital.org/?s=Incofin

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