British International Investment

Ancile Trade Access Program Sub-Fund

Cote d'IvoireAfricaFinancial services

The Trade Access Program directly funds small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and trade intermediaries, such as agritechs, fintechs and alternative trade financiers. Their technological and digital solutions will help British International Investment reach much smaller borrowers who are active members of local supply chains. This first-of-its-kind programme will help to increase urgently needed liquidity to SMEs and target trade intermediaries in Africa.

The fund is a vehicle is managed by INOKS Capital specifically for British International Investment. It was launched in April 2022 with an initial capital of $25 million.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

Our commitment of $25 million to INOKS as the first fund manager of the Trade Access programme will increase the volume of trade finance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa by up to $40 million per annum. This will enable supported SMEs to sustain economic opportunities and access to goods and services for their customers, suppliers and employees.

In December 2022, we made an additional commitment of $25 million to INOKS to support food security in Africa. This additional commitment will improve access to agricultural inputs for the planting season to increase crop yields and land productivity.

Impact information

Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.

What?

Impact

Increase the volume of SME trade finance in Africa by up to $40 million per annum and $25 million in additional trade volumes per annum with the food security-related investment.

Environmental and social information

Environmental and social summary

The fund manager has a well-established approach to environmental and social management and we will continue to support and monitor its approach as the portfolio grows.

Reporting and Complaints Mechanism

The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to reportsandcomplaints@bii.co.uk or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.

For any other general enquiries contact us at enquiries@bii.co.uk

  • Key facts

    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.

    :
    March 2025
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.

    :
    D4062
    Status

    The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).

    :
    Active
    Region

    The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.

    :
    Africa
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Financial services

    We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.

    For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.

    For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.

    For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.

    For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.

    For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.

    For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.

    The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.

    For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.

    The currency in which the investment was made.

    Investment type :
    Fund
    Start date :
    March 2022
    Amount :
    $25m
    Currency of investment :
    USD
    Fund manager:
    INOKS Capital SA
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.

    :
    Luxembourg
    Climate finance

    Indicates whether the investment is climate finance qualified or partially climate finance qualified and the type of climate finance (adaptation, mitigation or both). We define climate finance using the multilateral development bank (MDB) and the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) Common Principles climate finance methodology. See Common Principles for Climate Mitigation Finance Tracking and Common Principles for Climate Change Adaptation Finance Tracking. We provide the climate finance qualification and type for commitments from 2020 onwards, which is when we launched our Climate Change Strategy.

    :
    Partially qualified
    Climate finance type

    Mitigation: Indicates investments which, by avoiding or reducing GHG emissions or increasing GHG sequestration, contributes substantially to the stabilisation of GHG concentrations in the atmosphere – at a level which prevents dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system consistent with the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement

    Adaptation: Indicates investments aimed at preventing or reducing the risks or vulnerabilities posed by climate change and increasing climate resilience. This includes both adapted activities and enabling activities to manage and reduce physical climate risks

    Dual: Indicates investments directed towards activities contributing to both climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation and meeting the respective criteria for each category

    The climate finance type of the investment is determined at time of commitment.

    :
    • Mitigation
    2X Gender Finance

    Indicates whether the investment is ‘2X qualified’ using the 2X Challenge criteria. You can find out more here. It only applies to investments made from 2018 onwards, when the 2X Challenge was first launched.

    :
    Partially qualified

Related investments made by BII into this fund:

Investment name Commitment Region Sector Start date Status
Investment 02 $25m Africa Financial services December 2022 Active

Investments made by this fund into companies:

For further information about these companies, visit https://www.inokscapital.ch/

Investment name Country Region Sector Energy Type Start date Status
Ancile – Food Security (FS) Facility Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Senegal, Togo West Africa Financial services December 2022 Active
Ancile – Trade Access (TA) Facility Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa Financial services April 2022 Active

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