BALIM Annual Report 2025

BALIM has published its Annual Report 2025, reflecting on its second full year as an open-ended investment facility providing loans and technical assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Sub-Saharan Africa. BALIM focuses on businesses in the agriculture, water, and energy sectors that are critical to rural livelihoods but often remain underserved by traditional financial institutions.

The report highlights BALIM’s portfolio across Sub-Saharan Africa and reflects on the opportunities and challenges of investing in rural markets. In 2025, BALIM further strengthened its East African presence, including through its first investment in Tanzania and continued market development in Kenya. The establishment of a dedicated Technical Assistance (TA) Facility, with support from Smallholder Safety-Net Upscaling Programme (SSNUP), marked another important milestone. The facility enables systematic operational, financial, and impact support, enhancing resilience while reducing investment risk.

Experiences from 2025 underline the importance of adapting financing structures to the realities of rural businesses. The report highlights the need for flexible approaches that respond to the different contexts while maintaining financial discipline and a clear focus on impact.

As a founding partner of BALIM, Somaha Foundation is pleased to share the report and the insights generated through BALIM’s work, demonstrating how impact investing can generate both financial returns and impact in line with the foundation's purpose.

The BALIM 2025 Annual Report is available here: BALIM Annual Report(opens in new tab).

More information about BALIM and its activities can be found on the website of BALIM(opens in new tab).