About This Fund
The African Forestry Impact Platform (AFIP) is a long-term impact investment platform co-developed by New Forests, an Australian-headquartered global forest investment manager, to channel development finance and institutional capital into sustainable commercial forestry in Sub-Saharan Africa. AFIP held its first close in October 2022 at $200 million, anchored by three development finance institutions: British International Investment (BII, $75 million), Norfund ($76 million), and Finnfund ($48 million). The platform targets a total fund size of $500 million to be deployed over two to three years across the Sub-Saharan Africa region. AFIP is registered in Singapore as a Variable Capital Company (VCC), reflecting the fund's international investor base and operational structure.
AFIP invests in a portfolio of plantation forestry operating companies and related assets across Sub-Saharan Africa, primarily targeting established assets with expectations of stable and predictable cash flows across diversified markets. The investment strategy emphasizes commercial plantation forest expansion while also supporting the conservation and restoration of degraded lands. The platform is guided by four pillars of impact: climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, gender and diversity integration, and community livelihoods improvement. AFIP is committed to deploying at least 30 percent of its portfolio value in 2X-eligible investments to promote inclusive economic opportunities for women.
At its inaugural acquisition, AFIP took a position in Green Resources AS (GRAS), East Africa's largest forestry development and wood processing company with approximately 171,000 hectares under management. This first investment established the platform's geographic diversification across multiple East African markets. AFIP is managed by New Forests, which has over $8 billion in assets under management globally across its forest investment strategies in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and now Africa, building on 20 years of sustainable forest management experience.