By Patrik Bredbacka, Team Finland Adviser, Finnfund

Does doing something twice count as a tradition? I would like to think so. This October marked the second time that Finnfund and Finnpartnership arranged a seminar to share information about the vast business opportunities in Africa, and the network of helping hands available for Finnish companies. Lively discussions, 150+ participants and positive feedback testify to the value of bringing people together to interact and collaborate.

This year, one of the speakers was the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Ville Tavio. He pointed out that Finnish companies often excel in the sectors where there is a lot of demand in Africa. I would like to argue that the same goes for emerging markets generally – Finnish companies have the products, expertise and passion needed to solve many global challenges. Simultaneously, these markets can often provide immense market opportunities since many of them are undergoing periods of considerable economic and population growth.

For Finnish companies entering or growing in emerging markets, many financing opportunities provided by the Team Finland network are available. At Finnfund, we have a long history of investing in projects where Finnish companies are involved, and we are always interested in hearing about new projects by Finnish companies that fit our investment criteria.

Finnfund can, for example, invest in a Finnish-owned company with business in a developing country. One of our recent investments is a joint venture in Thailand with Solar Finland, a company that has manufactured solar panels in Salo, Finland, for over 40 years. These sustainable, high-quality solar panels are now being produced at Salotech Thailand with Finnish know-how at its core.

Finnish companies can also act as technology suppliers in Finnfund’s investments. One of our investees, Maarifa Education Group in Sub-Saharan Africa, has partnered with Claned, a Finnish EdTech company. Claned’s distance-learning platform is used by Maarifa’s teachers and students, enabling the universities to offer transformative academic programs and expand access to thousands of students in Africa.

While Finnfund’s investment portfolio covers many sectors from agriculture to healthcare, more than 25% of our investments are in the forestry sector or digital solutions. Finnish companies are among the global market leaders in these industries, and there is a continuous flow of new Finnish innovations. Finnfund’s investments create a growing demand for Finnish companies that can offer solutions that fit our target countries. Recently signed EU guarantees will enable us to increase our investments in digitality even further.

Want to see whether Finnfund could be a part of your project? Great - first, check out our investment criteria. If these seem to fit your project’s maturity, scale and needs, check out our page for Finnish companies, and get in touch with me.

Oh, and will the tradition of arranging an inspirational seminar in October continue in 2024? Maybe, but in the meantime, you can watch the recording from this year’s seminar here https://finnfund.videosync.fi/2023-kasvua-afrikasta.

Emerging markets offer opportunities for growth