Record volume of KfW commitments for developing countries and emerging economies in 2022 at EUR 12.6 billion

• Christiane Laibach: “KfW is shaping transformation and boosting resilience on a global scale”
• Development cooperation: Increasing importance of the transformation to a sustainable economy - a total of EUR 8.2 billion for climate and environmental protection
• One of the world’s largest donors for the protection of biodiversity. 2022: around EUR 560 million
• Promoting gender equality in more than 200 projects totalling EUR 2.3 billion
• Support for Ukraine to mitigate the consequences of the war at EUR 814 million

In 2022, KfW recorded a record volume and a significant increase in commitments of around EUR 12.6 billion for a total of 464 projects in order to support developing countries and emerging economies (previous year: EUR 10.1 billion). Of this amount, EUR 10.9 billion (2021: EUR 8.6 billion) was attributable to KfW Development Bank. DEG has pledged EUR 1.6 billion (2021: EUR 1.5 billion) for financing private investments under persistently challenging global conditions.

"The global challenges are currently very complex, in view of climate change biodiversity loss, the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, poverty increase, forced displacement and hunger. KfW offers approaches for promoting the transition to sustainable and resilient economies and societies on a global scale. Sustainable solutions are only possible if we develop them on an international level together with our partner countries and other financiers"

,said Christiane Laibach, Member of the Executive Board of KfW Group responsible for international financing.

The effects of the polycrisis on developing countries and emerging economies are enormous and are reflected in the commitments made in 2022.

As a development bank which is active worldwide, KfW has taken on the challenges presented by the crisis and is offering different solutions. It is supporting partner countries and customers in the transformation into a sustainable economy, in protecting ecosystems worldwide, mobilising private capital and empowering women and girls.

KfW continues to be one of the largest financiers of climate action measures in the world. KfW Development Bank and DEG have provided funding for projects in the area of climate and environmental protection at EUR 8.2 billion.

The importance of mobilising private capital for development cooperation is increasing. In 2022, KfW Development Bank and DEG were able to directly mobilise around EUR 1 billion in private capital. This relieves the burden on public budgets, while also enabling the use of private expertise for projects and programmes in developing countries.

New commitments of EUR 814 million were made for Ukraine in 2022, with a total of 40 ongoing projects amounting to EUR 1.86 billion supported. During the war, the country is being supported in maintaining its state functions (e.g. energy and water supply) and the care of internally displaced persons. DEG is supporting Ukrainian companies with financing of currently around EUR 60 million. In addition, DEG's customers are supported in the design and implementation of humanitarian programmes in Ukraine.

The results in detail:

1. KfW Development Bank

Commitments in the KfW Development Bank business sector, which relates to intergovernmental cooperation, rose to EUR 10.9 billion in 2022 (2021: EUR 8.6 billion). Almost half of the funds were federal funds (around EUR 5.4 billion), while the other half were KfW funds (EUR 5.3 billion). Another EUR 300 million are implemented on behalf of other donors.

KfW Development Bank provided funding for projects in the area of climate and environmental protection at EUR 7.6 billion (2021: EUR 3.7 billion). This equates to an increase of 105%. As a result, 21 million people were directly supported in tackling the consequences of climate change, while a further 40 million were indirectly supported – for example through insurance. The new commitments will provide around 870,000 people with first-time or improved access to a state-of-the-art energy supply. Commitments in the area of biodiversity conservation amounted to around EUR 650 million in 2022; the current portfolio thus stands at EUR 3.6 billion.

"In addition to climate change, biodiversity loss is the biggest threat to our planet. We have a double crisis, the importance of which is too often overlooked. Biodiversity has a major impact on the climate as well as on health and nutrition. KfW Development Bank is currently financing well over 800 conservation areas in 51 countries with a total area of 1.5 million square kilometres – an area as large as France, Spain and Sweden combined. I believe that it is absolutely essential that we develop further solutions for financing biodiversity protection"

, said Christiane Laibach.

KfW Development Bank’s new commitments for Africa stood at EUR 4.4 billion and made up 40% of total commitments. Asia is another focal point with EUR 3.1 billion in commitments, equating to 28% of the total promotional business volume. A total of EUR 5.4 billion in commitments in 2022 came from the German federal budget, while EUR 5.3 billion came from KfW funds. Further funds were provided on behalf of other donors, mainly the European Commission (around EUR 300 million).

In the first place were commitments for economic infrastructure (energy, financial sector and transport), which amounted to EUR 4.7 billion. A total of 1.8 million people benefit from the development and expansion of sustainable urban transport systems.

Commitments for social infrastructure (education, health, water supply and wastewater disposal, governance and civil society) amounted to around EUR 2.5 billion.

Commitments to digitalisation are constantly increasing. The total portfolio now amounts to approximately EUR 10 billion and 325 projects.

2. DEG

In 2022, KfW's subsidiary DEG, as the second important pillar and partner of private companies in developing countries and emerging economies, provided around EUR 1.6 billion from its own funds to finance private investments (2021: EUR 1.5 billion).

In accordance with its focused strategy, DEG is placing an even greater focus on the development and climate impact of the business investments it co-finances. DEG provided EUR 609 million in 2022 for long-term loans and equity capital for projects that support climate and environmental protection, a significant increase to the prior year (2021: EUR 409 million).

In order to further enhance the development impact of its investments, DEG also advises private companies and financial service providers via its business support services (BSS), including on transformative measures such as resource and energy efficiency checks.

In 2022, commitments made by DEG for small and medium-sized enterprises amounted to EUR 789 million.

In terms of regions, financing commitments for companies in Asia enjoyed particular strong growth in 2022 and stood at EUR 575 million, an increase of around 15% (2021: EUR 499 million). Businesses in Africa and Latin America received around a quarter of the committed financing respectively, followed by Europe and supra-regional projects.

Despite the ongoing challenging framework conditions, the 2022 financial year was successful for DEG in terms of both development policy and business. For instance, as at 2022, the companies co-financed by DEG employed around 3 million staff in total and generated local income worth EUR 209 billion. DEG, which is specialised in financing and advising for private companies, anticipates a challenging environment and steady demand from businesses in developing countries also in 2023.

More details are available at

www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de

and

www.deginvest.de