Access to finance
Lack of access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet the needs of clients is regarded as one of the most important constraints to the development and growth of businesses in low-income countries.
This includes transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance products, and the way these are delivered to the clients. Increasing access to, and use of, financial products and services also contribute to household resilience by enabling saving and the possibility of sourcing emergency funding. Contributing to increased financial inclusion is therefore a key priority for Norfund.
Impact in 2025
by portfolio companies
new clients in 2025
total clients served
increase in lending to clients inn 2025
total lending to clients
The performance against the impact objectives is calculated based on companies with two consecutive years of reporting. The increased number of clients in the portfolio of net 12.7 million constitute a growth of 10 % in 2025. Companies with two consecutive years of reporting increased their net credit provision by NOK 87.3 billion (11% growth) during the year.
Norfund’s strategy for the development mandate covers the period 2023–2026. The year 2025 marked the third year of this strategy period. Investments in the financial inclusion portfolio have nearly reached the ambition for growth in the number of new unique clients served, while remaining slightly below the ambition for change in outstanding loan volumes over the period.
Development rationale
Access to financial services is essential for economic development. Financial institutions enable households to save, manage risks, and invest in education or businesses, while firms rely on credit and other financial products to operate and grow. However, lack of access to appropriate and affordable financial services remains one of the most important constraints to private sector development in low- and middle-income countries, limiting growth, job creation, and improvements in living standards.
Investing in financial institutions helps expand access to these services. By providing capital and support to banks, microfinance institutions, and other financial service providers, Norfund enables increased lending, savings, and payment services in emerging markets. This improves household resilience and enables firms to invest, expand, and create jobs, contributing to broader economic growth and poverty reduction.
Results in 2025
In total, the investments in Norfund’s portfolio provided financial services to around 158 million clients in 2025. This constitutes an increase of 18 % compared with 2024. 67 % of these clients are in Africa, 23 % in Asia and 10 % in Latin America.
In recent years, fintech investments have been a key driver of expanding access to financial services. These companies typically serve large client bases and continue to grow rapidly, resulting in a significant increase in the number of people reached.
The combined loan book of all Norfund’s investments in financial service providers reached a total of NOK 1.28 trillion by the end of 2025. 50 % of this was lent to SMEs, microfinance, and retail clients. 70 % of individual loan clients, where gender breakdown was provided, were women.
The total number of loans provided to clients by the financial institutions in our portfolio was 56 million by end of 2025. This is a substantial increase compared to the end of 2024, where 37.5 million loans were provided to clients. Additionally, Norfund’s investments offered around 93 million clients with deposit accounts of a total value of NOK 1.27 trillion by end of 2025.
share of lending to SMEs, microfinance, and retail clients
women received lending
share of clients are in Africa
April 13, 2026
Closing the financing gap for Ghanaian SMEs
January 22, 2026
Expanding access to insurance across Sri Lanka
October 31, 2025