Who We Are

Our aim is to mobilise capital, especially domestic private capital, to provide long-term financing for Africa’s development needs and create systemic change in the financial markets.

Based in Nairobi, our team of financial sector experts works alongside governments, business leaders, regulators and policymakers to design and build ambitious programmes that make financial markets work better for everyone.

We support market development through policy and regulatory reform, thought leadership and capacity support. Our investment arm, FSD Africa Investments, provides early-stage, risk-bearing, catalytic and patient capital to innovative commercial organisations to stimulate capital flows in support of green economic growth, benefiting people and planet. Established in 2012, FSD Africa is incorporated as a non-profit company limited by guarantee in Kenya. It is funded by UK aid from the UK government.

Our Purpose

Our purpose is to make finance work for Africa’s future. We help to strengthen the continent’s financial system so that it’s better able to support green economic development and address the challenges of climate change, poverty, population growth, and unsustainable debt.

Our aim is to create a sustainable future for Africa’s people and environment.

Our Values

To mould sustainable financial systems, enabling them to work more inclusively across Africa.

Change agent

Our initiatives are designed to change the way financial systems work. This means challenging conventional ways of doing things, and we are comfortable with that.

Committed to a sustainable future

We look for long-term solutions that integrate environmental and socioeconomic outcomes. We know that true sustainability depends on being intelligent and honest in the way we reconcile environmental and economic goals which sometimes conflict.

Partnership-driven

We know we don't always have all the answers. Working in a genuinely collaborative way, in which different points of view are respected and supported, will produce better outcomes for everyone.

Professionalism

We hold ourselves and our service providers to high standards. We place great emphasis on technical excellence, responsiveness, rigorous analysis and generally on providing a great service to our partners.

Our people

We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion, and to giving the people who work for us the opportunities they need to become leaders in their field, professionally stronger and with a sense of fulfilment at being able to satisfy their passion for Africa's development in a tangible way.

We commit ourselves to a diverse workforce, and exceptional talent to make finance work for Africa’s future

Our Team

Our Strategy

Download our strategy document

Africa needs a resilient and innovative financial system more than ever. Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) face a $3 trillion gap in financing the sustainable development goals leaving millions without access to basic services or economic opportunity and fuelling growing social unrest. Meanwhile, the current system is failing the continent: private capital is inaccessible, domestic markets are underdeveloped, and sovereign debt levels are unsustainable.

Our catalytic interventions over the next five years (2025-30) will respond to these challenges by accelerating private investment, especially in the green economy.

We will focus on areas where our interventions will have the most impact: the transition to renewable energy; adapting to climate change; developing carbon markets; financing for small and growing businesses; sovereign debt management; and women’s empowerment.

As a result of our interventions we aim to attract an additional £10bn of private capital into Africa’s green economy, create or support 200,000 jobs and provide improved access to basic services for 80m people.