FMO

FMO, formally Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V., is the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank based in the Netherlands. Founded in 1970 as a public private partnership, FMO is majority owned by the Dutch State, with the remaining shares held by commercial banks, trade unions and other private sector stakeholders. FMO focuses on supporting sustainable private sector growth in developing and emerging markets and has a triple A credit rating from both Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. In Africa, FMO invests in businesses and projects that contribute to private sector development, often through tailored financial instruments. Based on available funding data, FMO has participated in at least three African rounds between 2020 and 2023, all at “other” stages outside the traditional seed and series labels. These investments have focused on agri tech, fintech, and AI and analytics, with activity in Kenya, Ghana and South Africa. FMO’s disclosed African portfolio in this context includes M-KOPA in Kenya, Farmerline in Ghana, and Aerobotics in South Africa. M-KOPA provides pay as you go smartphones and essential products, Farmerline connects farmers to inputs, training, markets and finance, and Aerobotics uses artificial intelligence for fruit yield forecasting from smartphone photos. These investments align with FMO’s broader strategic focus on agribusiness, food and water, energy, and financial institutions in emerging markets, and reflect its emphasis on combining climate action with socio economic development goals.