British International Investment, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor,  had committed £1.09bn to African companies in 2024 to create jobs, reduce aid dependency and combat the climate emergency. 

The sum was nearly 40% more than its 2023 total of £725m, despite the difficult investment environment caused by macroeconomic headwinds. 

Diana Layfield, Chair of BII, said: “In a constrained financial environment, BII’s ability to put capital to work repeatedly to secure development impact, while also delivering a financial return for the UK taxpayer, is particularly valuable. In an increasingly unpredictable geopolitical environment, our investments – which support emerging economies to grow, create jobs, and develop sustainable infrastructure to mitigate climate change and its impacts – are critically important.”

BII’s total net assets increased to £9.9 billion (£8.5bn in 2023) while post-tax profits improved to £213.3m compared with a £44m loss in 2023. 

According to the BII’s Annual Review, about 62% of investments were made in African companies while businesses in Asia received 36% (£626m).

Commitments to companies with operations in both continents received £29m. 

In total, BII invested $903m (£708m) in climate finance in 2024 – 41% of its overall commitments for the year.

This compares with just $104m (£80m in 2020.

The company’s climate finance assets now make up over 26% of its entire portfolio, up from just over 15% in 2020.

Over the last three years, BII has invested over $2bn in climate finance.

Based on all direct renewable energy investments in BII’s 2023 portfolio, 1.5 million tons of CO2e emissions were avoided on an attributed basis, a 54% year-on-year increase.

This was driven by a growing renewable asset base in the portfolio and increases in the amount of renewable power produced.

BII also made £499m of gender finance commitments in 2024 and £880m of commitments to the poorer and most fragile countries across the regions where it invests. 

Chris Chijiutomi, Managing Director and Head of Africa at BII, said: “BII is a trusted and long-term partner to African nations and the continent’s world class community of entrepreneurs and business leaders. Our 2024 investment performance demonstrates our unwavering commitment to supporting African companies at a time when investment to create quality jobs, reduce aid dependency and meet the challenge of the climate emergency has never been more vital.”