Balim Investments at the SwissFoundations Symposium 2024

It was a pleasure to present impact investing at this year's SwissFoundations Symposium 2024 using the specific example of Balim Investments (BALIM).

Together with HEKS and iGravity, Somaha Foundation founded the impact investing vehicle BALIM. Its aim is to strengthen local communities and improve their framework conditions. BALIM finances small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in rural regions of Sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on agriculture. BALIM aims to have a positive social and environmental impact and to generate a financial return that can be reinvested to support other initiatives in the public interest. 

Some highlights from the session at the Foundations Symposium: 

• The founding partners discussed the motivation for impact investing from the perspective of an NGO, a grant-making foundation and a financial services provider.
• The audience showed great interest in impact investing. A lively discussion round enabled the audience to deepen their knowledge, express their concerns and formulate their wishes.  
• Two specific BALIM investments were presented via video:
  1) Quality Milk: A loan of USD 720,000 for the purchase of processing equipment will enable the SME Quality Milk to source and process more milk from smallholder farmers in Uganda. Thus the company provides a stable sales market for farmers. Before the purchase of the new facilities, 134,000 liters were processed daily, and the revenues from milk sales went to the farmers. With the new facilities, the volume will increase by 50%, which will significantly increase the farmers' income. In addition, the problem of milk spoilage due to inadequate storage and transportation systems in Uganda will be reduced.
  2) Ezra BR: Thanks to a loan of USD 300,000 for working capital and technical support, Ezra BR is able to complete the Fairtrade certification process and switch its business model from exporters to direct exports. The sale of Fairtrade products ensures a more stable income for smallholder farmers as they are less exposed to volatile cocoa market prices. 

Under the slogan Connect to Change, the session provided a great opportunity for exchange and networking. A big thank you to all participants, to Swiss-Foundations for the successful organization and to Somaha partners iGravity and HEKS for the valuable cooperation.