Norfund is a

development finance institution A development financial institution (DFI), also known as a development bank or development finance company (DFC), is a financial institution that provides risk capital for economic development projects on a non-commercial basis. , total commitme ...

established by the Norwegian

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

(parliament) in 1997 and owned by the

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Norwegian (Bokmål): ''Det kongelige utenriksdepartement''; Norwegian (Nynorsk): ''Det kongelege utanriksdepartement'') is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway. It was established on June ...

. The fund receives its investment capital from the state budget. Its head office is located in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

with local offices in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Norfund's mission is to create jobs and to improve lives by investing in businesses that drive sustainable development in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

. The investments are done on commercial terms directly in companies or through local investment funds. Norfund invest in developing countries, and has chosen a strategic focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, and selected countries in Central America and South-East Asia. Clean energy, financial services and

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...

are the three main sectors in which Norfund invests. Norfund is mainly an equity investor (normally no higher share that 35%), but the fund can also give loans. Norfund is monitoring the economic, environmental and social consequences of its investments to ensure a sustainable impact. Norfund is also part of EDFI, the Association of European Development Finance Institutions. The largest investment made by Norfund was the strategic subsidiary

SN Power SN Power is a defunct company that invests in clean, renewable energy on a commercial basis in emerging markets. SN Power was acquired by Scatec on 29th of January 2021. History The company was established in 2002. Along with Norfund, the Norwe ...

(originally established in partnership with Statkraft), a company producing hydroelectric power in developing countries. SN Power wa
sold to Scatec in 2021 for USD 1,17 billion
At the end of 2020 Norfund had committed investments totaling NOK 28.4 billion in 170 projects. In total, 377,000 persons were employed world-wide in businesses where Norfund had invested, and the companies paid NOK 16,9 billion in local taxes in 2020. The share of investments by Norfund to LDC was 39%.
Norfund's annual report 2020
. The Norwegian efforts to promote private sector development in poor countries was evaluated in 2010. The report refers to Norfund as one of the main policy instruments in development assistance towards business. A
analysis from 2020
showed that Norfund's investments in greenfield renewable energy plants avoid 8 million tons of emissions annually, equal to 1/6th of Norway's annual emissions. In July 2021, the Norwegian Government announced that it had decided to allocate NOK 10 billion over a period of five years for a new fund that will invest in renewable energy in developing countries with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and that Norfund will be given responsibility for administering the fund. On May 13, 2020, the fund revealed that it had been the victim of a

cyberattack A cyberattack is any offensive maneuver that targets computer information systems, computer networks, infrastructures, or personal computer devices. An attacker is a person or process that attempts to access data, functions, or other restricted ...

, which it referred to as "an advanced data breach", that took place on March 16, 2020. The attack resulted in US$10 million (approximately NOK 100 million), intended for a microfinance institution in

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

, being routed to an account in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. According to the fund's statement, the breach was discovered on April 30 when the fraudsters attempted a second attack. As of September 2020, the crime remained unsolved. Norfund stated that they are working together with Norway's cyber crime agency and bankers

DNB Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

to investigate the crime, and

professional services Professional services are occupations in the service sector requiring special training in the arts or sciences. Some professional services, such as architects, accountants, engineers, doctors, and lawyers require the practitioner to hold professi ...

company

PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

to investigate weaknesses in Norfund's IT security infrastructure.

References

{{authority control Private equity companies of Norway Government-owned companies of Norway 1997 establishments in Norway Financial services companies established in 1997 Companies based in Oslo Development finance institutions