Key data
Our portfolio
Making a financial return means we can recycle the money into new investments, to create jobs and pay taxes beyond our involvement. In 2023, we made £1.31 billion of gross new commitments and we increased our portfolio to £7.3 billion ($9.2 billion).
Our portfolio size
2019
£4736m
2020
£5222m
2021
£6011m
2022
£6888m
2023
£7319m
How we invest in regions
The countries we invest in each have unique opportunities and needs. We invest in countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. At the end of 2023, we had direct and indirect investments in more than 1,500 businesses – including 812 in Africa and 730 in our target countries in Asia.
Top 10 countries we are invested in
India
26%
Egypt
8%
Nigeria
8%
South Africa
7%
Kenya
5%
Morocco
4%
Bangladesh
4%
Zimbabwe
3%
Uganda
2%
Ethiopia
2%
Regional breakdown of our portfolio
Africa
60%
Asia
34%
Rest of world
5%
Regional breakdown of our 2023 commitments
Africa
61%
Asia
20%
Other (This includes investments that span both Africa and Asia, as well as investment in other countries beyond these regions)
19%
Country breakdown of our portfolio
| Country | 2023 closing valuation ($m) | Number of companies |
| India | 2,379.5 | 567 |
| Egypt | 707.5 | 70 |
| Nigeria | 699.5 | 120 |
| South Africa | 603.8 | 67 |
| Kenya | 425.7 | 111 |
| Morocco | 327.2 | 36 |
| Bangladesh | 325.3 | 18 |
| Zimbabwe | 288.5 | 19 |
| Uganda | 194.9 | 37 |
| Ethiopia | 178.0 | 20 |
| Pakistan | 173.1 | 46 |
| Ghana | 130.3 | 37 |
| Cameroon | 112.6 | 11 |
| Senegal | 110.2 | 13 |
| Cote d’Ivoire | 107.8 | 23 |
| Zambia | 86.8 | 13 |
| Nepal | 79.4 | 10 |
| Gabon | 68.7 | 6 |
| Tanzania | 64.8 | 23 |
| Mauritius | 56.9 | 12 |
| Sri Lanka | 39.0 | 4 |
| Mozambique | 32.5 | 7 |
| China | 29.7 | 29 |
| Tunisia | 28.5 | 13 |
| Malawi | 26.0 | 8 |
| Cambodia | 25.0 | 6 |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | 22.2 | 20 |
| Mali | 21.8 | 6 |
| Myanmar | 21.7 | 11 |
| Vietnam | 20.4 | 11 |
| Burkina Faso | 19.3 | 4 |
| Madagascar | 15.9 | 7 |
| Sierra Leone | 14.8 | 13 |
| Singapore | 13.3 | 4 |
| Namibia | 9.5 | 4 |
| Philippines | 2.5 | 6 |
| Rwanda | 0.7 | 6 |
| Other countries with 3 or less investments | 206.3 |
How we invest in sectors
A focus on, and expertise in, key economic sectors is central to our approach to making successful investments. We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the SDGs. These sectors range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity; to sectors that are powerful job creators or sectors that are critical for improving access to basic goods and services; to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and enterprises that need it.
Sector breakdown of our portfolio
Financial services
30%
Infrastructure
29%
Technology and telecoms
10%
Health
9%
Food and agriculture
8%
Manufacturing
7%
Other
4%
Construction and real estate
3%
Education
1%
Sector breakdown of our 2023 commitments
Financial services
46%
Infrastructure
33%
Food and agriculture
10%
Other
6%
Technology and telecoms
2%
Manufacturing
1%
Education
1%
Health
1%
Construction and real estate
0%
How we invest in different product types
We provide the flexible long-term investment that many businesses in developing countries need to grow. This capital is provided in different ways, through direct equity, intermediated equity, debt and trade finance.
Product breakdown of our portfolio
Direct equity
35%
Intermediated equity
33%
Debt
30%
Guarantees
1%
Product breakdown of our 2023 commitments
Intermediated equity
39%
Debt
34%
Direct equity
20%
Guarantees
8%
The impact of our investments
In 2023, our portfolio of businesses in Africa and Asia provided direct jobs for over 1 million people (in full-time equivalents). Of these workers, 84,619 were new hires.
Direct jobs supported at the start of the year by our investee companies
2019
833,660
2020
918,040
2021
916,050
2022
904,110
2023
997,751
Additional jobs supported at end of year
2019
42,130
2020
33,890
2021
22,310
2022
54,090
2023
84,619
Direct jobs supported by our investee companies by country in 2023
| Country | Jobs |
| India | 475,627 |
| Egypt | 91,414 |
| Nigeria | 62,968 |
| Morocco | 49,772 |
| Pakistan | 45,342 |
| South Africa | 44,737 |
| Kenya | 41,209 |
| Ethiopia | 34,296 |
| Africa (Global/Not country specific) | 34,180 |
| Bangladesh | 24,735 |
| Tanzania | 19,251 |
| Ghana | 16,948 |
| Global | 15,345 |
| Tunisia | 13,926 |
| Zimbabwe | 13,505 |
| Zambia | 12,899 |
| Nepal | 11,416 |
| East Africa (Not country specific) | 11,213 |
| Cote d’Ivoire | 9,002 |
| Cameroon | 8,730 |
| Myanmar | 6,983 |
| Mauritius | 5,439 |
| West Africa (Not country specific) | 4,647 |
| Uganda | 4,060 |
| Sri Lanka | 3,433 |
| Angola | 2,900 |
| Senegal | 2,362 |
| Somalia | 2,015 |
| Burkina Faso | 1,900 |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | 1,705 |
| Namibia | 1,636 |
| Mozambique | 1,439 |
| Algeria | 1,301 |
| Mali | 1,169 |
| Sierra Leone | 932 |
| Malawi | 753 |
| Madagascar | 657 |
| Rwanda | 652 |
| Eswatini | 627 |
| Gabon | 490 |
| Cape Verde | 215 |
| Jordan | 177 |
| Burundi | 162 |
| Cambodia | 81 |
| Chad | 65 |
| Niger | 37 |
| Guinea | 20 |
Direct jobs supported by our investee companies by region in 2023
Africa
46%
Asia
52%
Rest of world
1%
Direct jobs supported by our investee companies by sector
Financial services
36.7%
Food and agriculture
15.4%
Health
10.5%
Technology and telecoms
10.3%
Manufacturing
10%
Consumer services
9.3%
Infrastructure
5.2%
Education
1.8%
Construction and real estate
0.5%
Other
0.2%
Direct jobs supported by our investee companies by gender in 2023
Women
26%
Men
74%
Private sector capital our investments have helped mobilise: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Method
2019
$876m
2020
$555m
2021
$2064m
2022
$1376m
2023
$929m
Private sector capital our investments have helped mobilise: Multilateral Development Bank Method
2019
$917m
2020
$559m
2021
$2085m
2022
$1434m
2023
$938m
Taxes paid by our investee companies
2019
$3.31bn
2020
$2.22bn
2021
$1.51bn
2022
$1.79bn
2023
$2.42bn
Taxes paid by our investee companies by sector
Financial services
66.5%
Infrastructure
11.11%
Health
6.87%
Technology and telecoms
5.37%
Food and agriculture
5.06%
Manufacturing
2.57%
Consumer services
1.84%
Education
0.65%
Construction and real estate
0.01%
Taxes paid by our investee companies by country in 2023
| Country | Taxes paid $ |
| Africa (Non Country Specific) | 62,635,347 |
| Algeria | 12,706,234 |
| Bangladesh | 69,165 |
| Burkina Faso | 768,315 |
| Cambodia | 220,811 |
| Cameroon | 34,780,623 |
| Cape Verde | 1,630,000 |
| Cote d’Ivoire | 32,709,227 |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | 106,380 |
| East Africa (Non Country Specific) | 399,488 |
| Egypt | 609,634,311 |
| Ghana | 14,800,327 |
| Global | 11,814,726 |
| India | 882,155,891 |
| Kenya | 91,615,820 |
| Malawi | 690,835 |
| Mali | 2,434,784 |
| Morocco | 105,027,906 |
| Myanmar | 6,326,085 |
| Nepal | 54,444,221 |
| Niger | 1,924 |
| Nigeria | 230,327,459 |
| Pakistan | 1,363,636 |
| Senegal | 54,816,131 |
| South Africa | 39,721,410 |
| Tanzania | 44,267,177 |
| Tunisia | 18,315,932 |
| Uganda | 26,001,402 |
| West Africa (Non Country Specific) | 2,448,409 |
| Zambia | 47,588,382 |
| Zimbabwe | 38,941,610 |
Customers reached by our financial services portfolio
2019
93m
2020
124m
2021
132m
2022
121m
2023
135m
Loans supplied by our investee companies
2019
$89.7bn
2020
$108.7bn
2021
$99.8bn
2022
$86.1bn
2023
$105.8bn
Gigawatt hours of electricity produced by our investments
2019
56,955
2020
55,352
2021
58,040
2022
49,873
2023
59,231
Farmers reached by our investee companies
2019
1,843,210
2020
1,514,540
2021
1,878,810
2022
9,994,850
2023
13,165,320
Patients served by our investee companies
2019
12,328,280
2020
14,453,620
2021
11,647,620
2022
12,898,077
2023
12,232,760
Learners reached by our investee companies
2019
477,500
2020
802,290
2021
1,782,810
2022
3,046,090
2023
4,254,050
Supporting countries most in need
As part of our Impact Score, we rank all the countries we invest in from ‘Alpha’ to ‘Delta’ according to their GDP per capita, fragility measures and poverty gap. Alpha is the most in need and Delta the least. A detailed breakdown of our approach to country segmentation is available in our Impact Score.
Commitments to countries most in need in 2023
Alpha
£286.93m
Beta
£365.45m
Gamma
£522.1m
Delta
£114.85m
Non-BII geography (Ukraine)
£19.8m
Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals
For each investment we make, we link the expected impact of the investment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The chart shows the value of our 2023 commitments aimed at addressing each Sustainable Development Goal. Please note that some individual commitments target multiple SDGs, which means the sum of the commitments shown on this chart is greater than our total 2023 commitment figure. Click here to see a larger version of the chart below.
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