The Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, Dan Jørgensen, has appointed new members to the board of directors of IFU, who will be acceding on 1 September 2024. It happens when the 3-year term of the current board ends on 31 August.
Michael Rasmussen, CEO of Nykredit, will continue as chairman, and Anette Eberhard as deputy chairman. Four new board members have been appointed, extending the board from eight to ten members.
Dan Jørgensen stated:
“I am very satisfied with the results achieved by the retiring board of directors. I particularly commend them for their work on the reform of IFU. It resulted in the Danish government adopting an ambitious funding plan last year, providing access to DKK 20 billion (EUR ~2.7bn) towards 2030, which will contribute to investments in climate and Africa, for example. It is now up to the new board to set the course for this achievement.”
Michael Rasmussen stated:
“I am looking forward to cooperating with the new board, IFU’s executive management and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are delivering on a very ambitious agenda. One objective is to increase IFU’s contribution to mobilising climate financing from DKK 2 billion (EUR ~270m) annually to DKK 6 billion (EUR ~800m) annually towards 2030. We also hope to play a significant role in delivering on the upcoming Africa strategy. Towards 2030, we expect to invest more than DKK 8 billion (EUR ~1.1bn) in Africa.”
The four new members are Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, former chairman of the Liberal Party of Denmark (Venstre), Tommy Ahlers, chairman of Concito and entrepreneur, Birgitte Qvist-Sørensen and Flemming Voetman.
The new board will have the following members:
- Chairman: Michael Rasmussen, adm. direktør, Nykredit
- Deputy Chairman: Anette Eberhard, former managing partner in Institutional Investment Partners and CEO of EKF
- Birgitte Qvist-Sørensen, former secretary general of Danish Church Aid
- Emilie Damm Klarskov, Head of Analysis, The Economic Council of the Labour Movement
- Flemming Voetmann, Vice President for External Relations and Sustainability, Velux
- Hanna Line Jakobsen, Associate Director, Novo Nordisk
- Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, former chairman of the Liberal Party of Denmark (Venstre) and former deputy prime minister and minister for economic affairs
- Jarl Krausing, International Director, Concito
- Thomas Bustrup, Deputy CEO in Danish Industry
- Tommy Ahlers, chairman of Concito, entrepreneur and former minister for higher education and science
Background
The Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) is Denmark’s development finance institution. IFU offers various forms of risk capital and loans to promote a sustainable private sector in developing countries. IFU is the most experienced Danish investor in developing countries with more than 50 years of experience. Since 1967, IFU has made over 1,300 investments in more than 100 countries. The active portfolio consists of 166 projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
In 2023, the Danish government decided to make a reform of IFU. It will increase IFU’s capital under management from DKK 15.5 billion (EUR ~2bn) today to DKK 36.2 billion (EUR ~4.9bn) in 2030. Amongst others, the reform will enable IFU to invest in significantly more development projects, and the objective is a substantial increase in climate investments and investments in Africa, as well as in poor and fragile states, including Ukraine.
In the photo from the left: Deputy Chairman Anette Eberhard, IFU’s CEO Lars Bo Bertram and Chairman Michael Rasmussen.