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 2020, we committed $1.57 billion (£1.22 billion) and we increased our portfolio to $7.1 billion (£5.2 billion).
Our portfolio size
2016
$4760m
2017
$5303m
2018
$5552m
2019
$6200m
2020
$7100m
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 2020, we had direct and indirect investments in almost 1,200 businesses – including 681 in Africa and 410 in our target countries in Asia.
Top 10 countries we are invested in
India
25%
Nigeria
7.5%
Kenya
5.3%
Cote d Ivoire
4.3%
Egypt
4%
South Africa
3.8%
Morocco
3.6%
Cameroon
3.1%
Bangladesh
3.1%
Uganda
2.1%
Regional breakdown of our portfolio
Africa
60%
South Asia
31%
Rest of World
9%
Regional breakdown of our 2020 commitments
Africa
68%
South Asia
10%
Pan-region (Africa + South Asia)
22%
Country breakdown of our portfolio
| Country | Portfolio value (USDm) | Country | Portfolio value (USDm) |
| India | 1,765.1 | Gabon | 49.0 |
| Africa Region | 779.4 | Ethiopia | 35.7 |
| Nigeria | 529.5 | Mozambique | 28.7 |
| Global – MIC | 450.6 | Malawi | 27.1 |
| Kenya | 371.9 | Algeria | 23.0 |
| Cote d Ivoire | 306.1 | Tunisia | 22.7 |
| Egypt | 285.0 | Brazil | 22.6 |
| South Africa | 270.3 | Congo (Democratic Republic) | 21.6 |
| Morocco | 252.6 | Asia Region | 17.3 |
| Cameroon | 216.9 | Senegal | 12.2 |
| Bangladesh | 215.0 | Madagascar | 11.1 |
| East Africa Region | 160.4 | Philippines | 8.2 |
| Uganda | 146.7 | Vietnam | 6.9 |
| Ghana | 142.8 | Namibia | 6.5 |
| Zambia | 134.1 | Mali | 6.5 |
| Pakistan | 126.0 | Mauritius | 6.2 |
| China | 121.5 | Afghanistan | 5.9 |
| Myanmar | 96.2 | Rwanda | 5.4 |
| Zimbabwe | 85.2 | Indonesia | 2.6 |
| West Africa Region | 84.4 | Sierra Leone | 0.9 |
| Tanzania | 74.8 | Niger | 0.6 |
How we invest in sectors
Our priority sectors are financial services, infrastructure and climate, health, manufacturing, technology and telecoms, food and agriculture, construction and real estate, and education. However, we continue to invest outside these sectors, largely in the most challenging regions, as new investment supporting any sector helps to underpin the private sector, and create jobs and livelihoods for people.
Sector breakdown of our portfolio
Financial services
30%
Infrastructure
27%
Manufacturing
7%
Health
4%
Food and agriculture
4%
Construction and real estate
3%
Education
2%
Other
23%
Sector breakdown of our 2020 commitments
Financial services
60%
Health
14%
Infrastructure
13%
Food and agriculture
5%
Other
4%
Manufacturing
2%
Construction and real estate
2%
Education
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
37%
Intermediated equity
35%
Debt
24%
Guarantees
3%
Product breakdown of our 2020 commitments
Direct equity
30%
Intermediated equity
16%
Debt
32%
Guarantees
22%
The impact of our investments
In 2020, our portfolio of businesses in Africa and South Asia provided direct jobs for 951,930 people (in full-time equivalents). Of these workers, 33,890 were new hires.
Direct jobs supported at the start of the year by our investee companies
2016
604,870
2017
671,150
2018
820,040
2019
833,660
2020
951,930
Additional jobs supported at end of year
2016
43,950
2017
62,820
2018
32,090
2019
42,130
2020
33,890
Direct jobs supported by our investee companies by country in 2020
| Country | Jobs | Country | Jobs |
| India | 544,934 | Mozambique | 4,749 |
| South Africa | 49,732 | Uganda | 4,562 |
| Africa Region | 49,668 | Myanmar | 3,851 |
| Nigeria | 44,952 | Malawi | 3,498 |
| Kenya | 36,530 | Algeria | 3,202 |
| Egypt | 30,548 | Madagascar | 1,803 |
| Pakistan | 27,454 | Namibia | 1,597 |
| Bangladesh | 22,906 | Congo (Democratic Republic) | 1,593 |
| Cote d Ivoire | 20,244 | Gabon | 1,415 |
| Morocco | 17,059 | Zambia | 1,081 |
| Tunisia | 12,109 | Rwanda | 513 |
| Ghana | 11,758 | Senegal | 358 |
| Tanzania | 9,660 | Sierra Leone | 284 |
| Africa: West Africa | 8,214 | Mali | 130 |
| Zimbabwe | 7,552 | Afghanistan | 104 |
| Cameroon | 7,066 | Mauritius | 68 |
| Ethiopia | 5,400 |
Direct jobs supported by our investee companies by region in 2020
Africa
36.5%
South and South East Asia
63.5%
Direct jobs supported by our investee companies by sector in 2020
Agribusiness and food
9.1%
Consumer services
15.6%
Education
3.8%
Financials
30.7%
Healthcare
9%
Industrials
21.1%
Communications
4.7%
Infastructure
5.7%
Real estate
0.2%
Other
0.1%
0
Direct jobs supported by our investee companies by gender in 2020
Women
28%
Men
72%
Private sector capital our investments have helped mobilise: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Method
2016
$1107m
2017
$690m
2018
$576m
2019
$876m
2020
$555m
Private sector capital our investments have helped mobilise: Multilateral Development Bank Method
2016
$1033m
2017
$593m
2018
$570m
2019
$917m
2020
$559m
Taxes paid by our investee companies
2016
$4.1bn
2017
$3.5bn
2018
$3.24bn
2019
$3.31bn
2020
$2.22bn
Taxes paid by our investee companies by sector
Agribusiness and food
4.13%
Consumer Services
3.79%
Education
0.23%
Financials
42.6%
Healthcare
3.8%
Industrials
9.9%
Communications and IT
23.9%
Infrastructure
11.2%
Real estate
0.2%
Other
0.3%
Taxes paid by our investee companies by country in 2020
| Country | Taxes paid US$ | Country | Taxes paid US$ |
| Nigeria | 695,801,753 | Myanmar | 4,832,506.46 |
| India | 599,888,352.4 | Tunisia | 4,407,587.614 |
| Africa Region | 226,224,904.9 | Ethiopia | 4,194,082.343 |
| Tanzania | 10,8291,608.8 | Senegal | 3,828,006 |
| Morocco | 102,035,333.7 | Zambia | 3,235,629 |
| Pakistan | 98,697,732.65 | Algeria | 1,833,462.947 |
| Cameroon | 61,629,579.25 | Rwanda | 1,556,275 |
| Egypt | 45,546,581.78 | Malawi | 1,345,188.136 |
| South Africa | 44,496,242.74 | Madagascar | 1,311,338.457 |
| Cote d Ivoire | 28110913.24 | Mauritius | 428,363 |
| Ghana | 25,817,799.88 | Afghanistan | 192,472 |
| Kenya | 22,859,071.28 | Mozambique | 93,221 |
| Gabon | 15,882,324.85 | Mali | 19,873 |
| Bangladesh | 14,091,417.47 | Congo (Democratic Republic) | 5,676 |
| Africa: West Africa | 5,792,295.712 | Sierra Leone | 0 |
| Uganda | 5,236,423.703 |
Gigawatt hours of electricity produced by our investments
2016
69,272
2017
46,311
2018
48,724
2019
57,000
2020
55,000
Loans supplied by our investee companies
2016
$140.3bn
2017
$115.4bn
2018
$89.6bn
2019
$89.7bn
2020
$108.7bn
Publications
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