• The BlueOrchard-managed InsuResilience Investment Fund Private Equity II (IIF II) recently closed an investment into Fido, a digital financial services platform offering credit to individuals and MSMEs in Ghana and Uganda. The investment is part of a USD 20 million funding round that included FMO, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank.
  • Fido offers instant credit through a digital app that uses AI-based proprietary credit scoring, offering access to financial products for underserved individuals and MSMEs in Ghana and Uganda.  
  • Fido has reached more than one million clients.   
  • Building upon the achievements of its predecessor strategy, IIF II places significant focus on leveraging technology along the value chain to enhance the affordability and accessibility of climate insurance, extending technical assistance and premium support to partner companies, with the goal of fostering climate change adaptation in regions most affected by climate change.  

Fido offers instant credit via a digital app that uses internally developed artificial intelligence (AI) learning models to create proprietary credit scores. The scores are then used to provide the individuals and businesses with appropriate levels of credit that would otherwise not be available to them from banks or traditional MSME lenders.  

Many individuals and MSMEs in Africa do not have access to credit and financial services due to a lack of credit history, unstructured documentation, informal income and small lending needs. Fido caters to this underserved segment by using proprietary risk models based on alternative data and automated document processing. These capabilities have allowed them to already reach more than one million clients in Ghana and Uganda.  

In addition, and critical to the IIF II strategy, Fido embeds insurance within all of its loans. With the support of IIF II, Fido will work to expand its insurance offering to include products that cover climate-related risk with a focus on property coverage for individuals and flood coverage for small businesses. The IIF II investment and the broader funding round are intended to help Fido leverage its resources to introduce new financial inclusion products and expand its reach into new geographies.  

The African continent alone experienced over 2,000[1] major disaster events during the last three decades, with most of them being extreme weather and climate-induced disasters such as food insecurity, droughts, floods, flash floods, landslides, storms, and cyclones.

According to the World Bank’s research from 2020, when considering poverty among the flood–exposed population, the risks are larger in Sub-Saharan Africa. At least 71 million people there are estimated to live in both extreme poverty (using the USD 1.9 per day definition) and significant flood risk, making them particularly vulnerable to prolonged adverse impact on livelihoods and well-being.  

“Fido is at the forefront of driving financial inclusion through their platform that uses artificial intelligence and proprietary credit scoring. Their fully digital capabilities allow them to serve a part of the market that has historically been neglected and remains highly underpenetrated. The Fido team has extensive experience in technology and scaling start-ups and is strongly aligned with our mission. We are excited to partner with them to help grow their business,” Richard Hardy, Private Equity Investment Director Africa at BlueOrchard. 

IIF II will appoint a representative to the Board of Directors of Fido and will work closely with Fido leadership to strengthen corporate governance, expand services into new countries, develop a climate insurance offering, and accelerate development of their technological capabilities. Through its Technical Assistance Facility, IIF II aims to support Fido in designing initiatives focused on launching new insurance products and improving financial literacy among the target demographic.  

IIF II, building upon the achievements of its predecessor, places a significant emphasis on leveraging technology to enhance the affordability and accessibility of climate insurance. The goal is to establish a robust ecosystem to facilitate access to climate insurance. This fund, operating as a public-private partnership, stands out as a recognized example of effective climate change adaptation strategy.  Additionally, the fund extends technical assistance and premium support to its partner companies. It provides growth capital, focusing on market-rate returns, while private investors benefit from risk mitigation measures such as first-loss protection. The fund is an initiative of German KfW on behalf of BMZ. 

 “Receiving this investment from FMO and the BlueOrchard-managed climate insurance private equity fund is a testament to the strength of our business, the exceptional capability of our team, and the tremendous market opportunity that lies ahead. With the support of FMO and the fund, who bring unparalleled knowledge of the market and our industry, we are well-positioned to accelerate our growth trajectory, deepen our market penetration across Africa, and solidify our position as an industry leader,” CEO of Fido, Alon Eitan.

[1] Source: “African floods”, IFRC, May 2021

-ends- 

For further information, please contact:  
Clara Scholz, Communications & Marketing Manager
+41 43 8837332
clara.scholz@blueorchard.com 

About BlueOrchard Finance Ltd
BlueOrchard is a leading global impact investment manager and member of the Schroders Group. As a pioneer of impact investing, the firm is dedicated to generating lasting positive impact for communities and the environment, while aiming at providing attractive returns to investors. BlueOrchard was founded in 2001, by initiative of the UN, as the first commercial manager of microfinance debt investments worldwide. Today, the firm offers impact investment solutions across asset classes, connecting millions of entrepreneurs in emerging and frontier markets with investors with the aim to make impact investment solutions accessible to all and to advance the conscious use of capital. Being a professional investment manager and expert in innovative blended finance mandates, BlueOrchard has a sophisticated international investor base and is a trusted partner of leading global development finance institutions. To date, BlueOrchard has invested over USD 11 billion across more than 100 countries. As of December 2023, BlueOrchard supported over 300 million people in emerging and frontier markets with its investments. For additional information, please visit: www.blueorchard.com. 

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