Blue Orchard Covid-19 Emerging and Frontier Markets MSME Support Fund

Overview

About

BlueOrchard is a leading global impact investment manager that is dedicated to generating lasting positive impact for communities and the environment, while aiming to provide attractive returns to investors. BlueOrchard’s Covid-19 Emerging and Frontier Markets MSME Support Fund is a facility set up to address the liquidity and solvency challenges faced by MFIs due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Investment Details

Name

Blue Orchard Covid-19 Emerging and Frontier Markets MSME Support Fund

Tagline

Providing solutions to the liquidity and solvency challenges of inclusive financial services institutions caused by volatility in financial markets

Sector

Financial Markets

Location

Kenya, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Botswana

In portfolio since

2020

Our role

Committed capital: £7.2 M Instrument:  Junior Limited Partnership Interest

Our investment

  • FSDAi made an exceptional Covid-19 response investment in BlueOrchard to support MFIs to access liquidity during the pandemic and provide a rapid response to poor households and micro and small businesses impacted by the fallout of COVID-19.
  • FSDAi provided high-risk capital by investing in Junior Limited Partnership Interests acting as a first loss buffer to the Senior Limited Partnership Interests (part of the AfrAsia sub-fund that lends to African and Asian MFIs). This approach not only secured investors’ commitment to the fund but also ensured that Africa received a fair share of the fund’s investment. The Fund raised $235.78 Million as at October 2022.

Purpose and target market

  • Our investment permitted financial institutions in emerging and frontier markets access to emergency liquidity to manage the impact of Covid-19 on their operations and portfolios and avert insolvency.
  • Our investment provides a “test and learn” to the relevance of a liquidity facility to permit MFIs to navigate financial market volatility.
  • BlueOrchard has enabled MFIs to continue to lend, MSMEs and informal businesses to remain operational and preserve revenue across sectors, and employees and poor households to stabilize incomes during and after the Covid-19 crisis.
“The BlueOrchard’s Covid-19 Emerging and Frontier Markets MSME Support Fund is a key facility that will help mitigating some of the challenges of the pandemic. We thank the FSD Africa Investments team for supporting our efforts to provide vital financing to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa. We are proud that we have successfully brought together a renowned group of public and private actors to pave the way for recovery and preserve vital jobs across sectors.” Philipp Mueller, Chief Executive Officer BlueOrchard Finance Ltd

Impact to date

4 M MSME reached by MFIs in the Sub-fund’s portfolio who continued to operate and provide support through the COVID pandemic

4,510 Jobs created

92% Women served by the fund, spread across mostly peri-urban and rural areas

Investee contacts

BlueOrchard Finance S.A.,
9th Floor – Unit 22, Pine Tree Plaza,
Kaburu Drive, off Ngong Rd,
Nairobi, Kenya

+254 745 237 750

info.nairobi@blueorchard.com

FSD Africa contact

Riverside Green Suites (Palm Suite),
Riverside Drive,
Nairobi, Kenya

FSDAi-info@fsdafrica.org

Updated: September, 2023