Nordic Development Fund

During a recent visit to Green Impact Technologies in Lilongwe, Malawi, our Managing Director Satu Santala had the opportunity to meet the company’s team and witness how the business has grown and evolved in a challenging market, with EEP Africa as a key partner along that journey. 💡🌍

📈 Since 2018, Green Impact Technologies has grown from 3 employees and 3 sales agents to 30 employees and 200 sales agents in 2026. The company has also commenced operations in Zambia, while the number of customers benefitting from its services has increased from 500 to 40,000.

EEP Africa’s support has played an important role in the company’s growth journey, helping strengthen trust in the business and lower its risk rating. It has provided strategic guidance on refining the business model and expanding operations into Zambia. Through EEP Africa, NDF continues to support innovative clean energy enterprises that are building sustainable businesses and delivering impact across Africa. 🌱

Today, Green Impact Technologies is focused on expanding solar refrigeration solutions for small businesses and communities, including fishing communities, butchers, dairy producers and local shops. Their dedication and ambition help improve livelihoods while increasing access to sustainable energy services.⚡

🤝🌍 We were pleased to host a reception for African and Nordic Ambassadors, bringing together partners to exchange perspectives on shared priorities in sustainable development and climate action.

The Nordic Development Fund is a catalytic climate and development financier, with over 60% of our portfolio invested in Sub Saharan Africa. We are proud of the impact our financing is having across the continent, from building resilience to supporting clean energy.💡🌱

At NDF, we believe that strengthening partnerships between Africa and the Nordics is more important than ever. Continued dialogue and collaboration are key to advancing impactful, long-term solutions.

Thank you for joining us yesterday and for the forward-looking conversations! ✨

📣 We welcome our new Program Officer!

Maria Hughes has recently joined us as Program Officer to strengthen our Portfolio Management department. She brings extensive experience in environmental policy and circular economy work from the Finnish government, UNEP, and international organisations.

Warm welcome to the team, Maria. ✨

➡️ Read more: https://shorturl.at/nFhJK

We’ve published our Annual Financial Report 2025, marking a defining year for NDF as we concluded Strategy 2025 and launched Strategy 2030. 🌍

2025 demonstrated a strong delivery on our commitments, the validation of our approach through an independent performance evaluation, and a sharper focus on our role as a Nordic leader in climate finance. ✅

Some key highlights from the year included:
🔹 EUR 68.2 million in approved projects,
🔹 A continued focus on catalytic, early-stage climate finance, with a strong priority in Sub-Saharan Africa,
🔹 A growing portfolio on blended finance.

“These achievements are a testament to the trust placed in us by the Nordic countries, the strength of our partnerships, and the dedication of our staff,” says Satu Santala, Managing Director of NDF. 🤝

🔗‍️ Read the full report to learn more about our results and priorities: https://shorturl.at/ArFyr

What are NDF’s strategic priorities for climate and development finance, and what does it take to turn ambition into action? 📊

💡 As the climate crisis intensifies and financing needs grow even more urgent, DevelopmentAid hosted last week a webinar, 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟑𝟎: 𝐍𝐃𝐅 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, to explore these questions.

Together with Satu Santala, Managing Director, and Malena Rosman, Director of Portfolio Management, we discussed how NDF’s newly launched Strategy 2030 sets a bold direction for catalytic climate and development finance, and how these ambitions are being translated into practical, scalable action on the ground. 🌐

A big thank you to all participants who joined and contributed with insightful questions! ✨

▶️ Watch the webinar recording:

NDF News 1 like. "Towards Strategy 2030: NDF on the frontier of catalytic climate and development finance"

The Financing Locally-Led Climate Action Program (FLLoCA) Peer-to-Peer Forum took place earlier this month in Nairobi and convened policymakers, county governments, development partners, and community representatives to share practical lessons on strengthening locally led climate action and mobilising climate finance where impacts are felt most. FLLoCA has been implemented in all 47 counties in Kenya and serves as valuable example of how locally led climate action can be achieved. 🌍🌿

By putting communities, at the centre of decision‑making, locally led approaches ensure climate investments are better targeted, locally owned, and more sustainable over time. It is also a powerful opportunity to advance gender equality by centering women’s leadership in adaptation decisions. 🌱

“The Peer-to-Peer Learning Forum highlighted the importance of shared responsibility as communities lead risk assessments and set their priorities while technical experts support and refine, rather than define, the solutions. It underscored how trust, clear communication, and collective ownership are central to how communities navigate living with natural hazards in a changing climate,” says Védís Ólafsdóttir, Gender Specialist at NDF.

Through the Scaling-up Locally Led Climate Action (LLCA) initiative, in partnership with the World Bank, NDF supports and advances locally led climate action as a key approach to build resilience in the world’s most climate‑vulnerable regions, while strengthening national systems for decentralised climate finance.

🔗 Read more about LLCA: https://shorturl.at/mgusk

Have you registered for DevelopmentAid’s webinar this Thursday? 💡

The session, 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟯𝟬: 𝗡𝗗𝗙 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, will feature NDF’s Managing Director Satu Santala and Director of Portfolio Management Malena Rosman.

The webinar will explore:
➡️ NDF’s strategic direction, goals and ambition towards 2030
➡️ How NDF works to drive climate and development impact

The session will also include a live Q&A session for participants to engage directly with our speakers.

🗓️ Thursday 23 April at 17:00 (Helsinki time)
👉 Register to take part in the discussion: https://shorturl.at/ELa5K

📢 Our new CFO has officially joined us!

We are glad to share that Bruno Duréault Suomalainen joins NDF as Chief Financial Officer and Director of Advisory and Institutional Solutions. Bruno brings over 20 years of finance leadership experience across international organisations and the private sector. 🌍

“NDF has a critical role in advancing climate and development finance to provide much needed concessional financing, allowing more traditional financiers to de-risk their positions. I have followed the work of the organisation for several years and have always been very impressed by its impact and professionalism. I am delighted to join the team and contribute to NDF’s mission”, he says.

Warm welcome to NDF, Bruno!

🔗 Read more: https://shorturl.at/R40dp