Scalable enterprises
Growing sustainable scalable enterprises drives industrialization, economic growth and job creation.
Renewable Energy
Financial Inclusion
Scalable Enterprises
Green Infrastructure
Why invest in scalable enterprises?
A country’s development and growth depend on successful businesses. Scalable and large enterprises play a particularly important role, being engines for growth and job creation. On average they are more productive, make stronger contributions to professionalizing supply chains, recruit more staff, pay higher wages, and generate more government revenues.
There are few large companies in Sub Saharan Africa, especially in the poorest countries. Hence, we focus on identifying and investing in businesses that have the potential to scale. We also want to reach businesses in the SME and start-up segment, and we do that through fund investments.
To guide our efforts and clarify how our investments contribute to long-term development, Norfund has developed two separate theories of change for investments through funds and in the agribusiness and manufacturing value chain. These were updated in 2024. These theories of change outline the problem we aim to address, the inputs we provide and the steps through which long-term impact is achieved.
Our ambitions
In our strategy 2023-2026, our defined ambitions for agriculture & manufacturing are:
- 3 billion NOK additional revenues generated
- 10,000 new direct jobs created
And our defined ambitions for funds are:
- 16 billion NOK additional revenues generated
- 70,000 new direct jobs created
Agribusiness and manufacturing
Our direct investments are focused on opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa. We seek to partner with strong industrial or financial partners.
Agribusiness
The agribusiness sector is vital for economic growth and job creation in Africa. More than half of Sub Saharan Africa’s population works in agriculture, yet Africa does not produce enough food to feed the continent. Norfund’s investments in the agribusiness value chain drive productivity, create jobs, link smallholder farmers to markets and increase production.
Manufacturing
Africa today has a small manufacturing industry. Few countries have successfully developed without a strong manufacturing base. In Africa, one third of food, beverages, and similar processed goods are imported, but a large share of these products could be manufactured locally. Manufacturing in Africa therefore has tremendous potential as an enabler of economic growth and job creation.
Fund investments
Through fund investments, Norfund reaches more companies and other business areas than we could on our own. Investing in private equity funds contributes to building and developing local businesses as well as contributing to more professional and efficient business practices.
Local fund managers provides entrepreneurs with access to risk capital and create value through active ownership, efficiency initiatives, indu