KfW Development Bank in financial year 2025
Promoting development worldwideOn behalf of the German Federal Government, we finance fair cooperation with countries in the Global South. We focus on strategic goals of common interest:
- economic and social development,
- protecting the climate and the environment,
- creating and maintaining peace and security,
- infrastructure expansion and sustainable urbanisation.
We see ourselves as an integral part of KfW Group and its international financing. Together with KfW subsidiaries KfW-IPEX Bank and DEG, we cover the areas of development cooperation, export and project promotion as well as consulting and financing for German companies in developing countries and emerging economies.
Strategic partnerships
In this way, we promote improved living conditions and the fight against poverty worldwide. At the same time, we are laying the foundations for partnership-based cooperation with current and future trade partners so that Germany retains its position as a strong export country. Less than one third of the commitments in 2025 came from the federal budget (mainly from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development). The majority – EUR 6.5 billion – were KfW funds. KfW raises these funds via the capital market and distributes them in the form of repayable loans to developing countries and emerging economies.
Win-win projects
In 2025, KfW Development Bank continued its commitment to global crisis regions and to climate and environmental action. In the infrastructure sector, there were important individual commitments for projects in India, Indonesia and Central America – mainly through loan financing and with the participation of German companies.
Building infrastructure with German technology
India is a future market and a strategic partner country for Germany. The metro system in the Indian city of Bangalore is being expanded to provide an environmentally friendly, inexpensive and faster alternative to the car, financed by a loan from KfW. German companies – through their products – also play an important role here, for example in rail vehicles or components in signalling and control technology.
Continuously supporting new beginnings in Syria
KfW was continuously involved on the ground throughout the Syrian civil war through cooperation with UN organisations and NGOs and contributed to a dignified existence under difficult conditions. This created a solid basis for decisively supporting the reconstruction and new beginnings in the country after the end of the war and strengthening bilateral cooperation between Germany and Syria.
Supporting reconstruction in Ukraine
On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), KfW is launching the first large-scale fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine in collaboration with European partners. By providing equity capital, the fund enables project companies and businesses to raise additional equity and debt capital at project level. With a fund volume of EUR 1 billion, the fund will facilitate around EUR 6 to 7 billion in investments.
Ensuring food security in Ethiopia
The Ethiopian government’s Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) is a successful model for improving food security and reducing poverty in Ethiopia. Within a 68-hectare catchment area, terraces, walls and ditches are constructed on steep slopes to retain water during the rainy season. This allows rainwater to seep into the ground, thereby significantly raising the water table.
Promoting environmental protection in Namibia
Namibia has now placed around 42% of its land under conservation, an area equivalent to the size of Germany. This is a success to which KfW Development Bank is also contributing. It supports Namibia in the promotion of national parks and municipal conservation areas on behalf of the German Federal Government. The most successful projects include the KAZA cross-border protected area, the Legacy Landscapes Fund and the Blue Action Fund.
Preserving the world’s green lungs
Together with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), KfW has launched a new instrument: the Forest Action Facility (FAF). This brings together international financing and expertise to restore destroyed forest landscapes in Latin America. The aim is to support up to 20 projects and work with the private sector over the next six years.
You can find out more about the source, use and impact of our promotional funds in KfW's transparency portal as well as on our SDG portal and impact pages.
Further information on the topic of “Facts and background information on KfW’s development cooperation” can be found here.
Legal notice:
The information contained in this online Annual Report 2025 is based on KfW’s Financial Report 2025, which you can download here. Should this online Annual Report 2025, despite the great care taken in preparation of its content, contain any contradictions or errors compared to the Financial Report, the KfW Financial Report 2025 takes priority.
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