Letter from the Management Board
The year 2025 began in a climate of global uncertainty, a defining feature that persisted throughout the year. Conflicts intensified, geopolitical tensions rose, and global alliances continued to shift. Yet despite this turbulence, many of FMO’s customers made steady progress and their perseverance enabled FMO to continue supporting inclusive and sustainable prosperity across its markets
The strengths of partnerships
Against this backdrop, public funds played a pivotal role in mobilizing capital. Through the mandates we manage on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), the European Commission (EC), and the UK government, FMO worked closely with public partners, project developers, NGOs and complementary impact investors to deploy catalytic finance to underserved markets and customer segments. This has become even more critical amid declining global Official Development Assistance (ODA) flows, and growing demand from investment teams for higher-risk-tolerant capital - complementing FMO’s own risk-tolerant funding. Our publicly funded programs such as Access to Energy Fund (AEF), Building Prospects (BP), Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD), MASSIF, Mobilising Finance for Forests (MFF), Nasira, and FMO Ventures Program continued to support investments in challenging markets and expanded access to finance for, amongst others, youth, women, smallholder farmers, and early-stage innovators - groups that remain disproportionately excluded from traditional banking systems.
In parallel, FMO advanced market creation and pipeline development through several donor‑funded Market Creation programs. The MASSIF Market Creation Pilot (MASSIF‑MCP), supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, addressed upstream constraints in fragile and underserved markets by strengthening ecosystems, enhancing investment readiness, and developing investable pipelines in sectors critical to inclusive and sustainable growth. Through catalytic early‑stage support, MASSIF‑MCP enabled FMO to engage earlier in the investment lifecycle and support MSMEs and emerging sectors. Complementing this, FMO implemented the Investing in Young Businesses in Africa – Market Creation Programs (IYBA MCP for Sub‑Saharan Africa and Central Africa), funded by the European Union through DG INTPA. These programs focused on strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems, improving investment readiness, and building pipelines for early‑stage and youth‑led enterprises. In addition, FMO supported market creation in South Asia through the Invest in Nepal program, which also aims to strengthen the enabling environment and investment pipelines for early‑stage enterprises.
Across our public fund portfolio, 2025 saw continued progress in governance, reporting, and compliance, alongside closer alignment with evolving donor frameworks. Annual program reports were reviewed and approved through established EC and MoFA processes, with audits continuing to support transparency and oversight. In parallel, FMO’s expanding engagement with new and scaled European Commission instruments under EFSD+ and Team Europe reinforced our role as a trusted partner in blended finance.
Building Prospects continued to work towards its main objective of stimulating private sector development and job creation by investing in the agribusiness value chain, clean energy, and infrastructure. This year, we continued to build a diversified portfolio of debt and equity investments across sectors, while prioritizing an increasing focus towards food and agriculture.
Looking ahead
The increasingly volatile geopolitical environment – now also including the escalating conflict in the Middle East – alongside high fluctuations in FX-rates, and the influence of AI, is reshaping the context in which FMO operates. Within that environment, we are undertaking a midterm review of our 2030 Strategy: Pioneer–Develop–Scale. Not because our ambitions have changed, but because we consider it prudent, especially in light of the pace and scale of global transformation, to reflect and ensure our strategic direction remains both relevant and resilient.
While 2026 is bringing its share of challenges, it also calls for clarity of purpose and continued commitment. We will remain focused on maximizing our impact, strengthening our partnerships, and supporting markets and customers to navigate uncertainty. As we reflect on the past year and look ahead to the challenges before us, we acknowledge that our achievements would not have been possible without our partners. We extend our sincere gratitude for their trust and collaboration throughout the year and remain fully committed to delivering the impact and reliability they expect from us.
The Hague, 23 April 2026
On behalf of the Management Board (in their capacity as manager of the Fund):
Franca Vossen, Chief Risk Officer
Huib-Jan de Ruijter, Co-Chief Investment Officer
Michael Jongeneel, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Finance & Operations Officer a.i.