OeEB looks back on a successful financial year 2025. With a new business volume of EUR 306 million, a total portfolio of EUR 1.688 billion, the launch of a new climate fund-of-funds with a mobilised capital of around EUR 40 million in cooperation with an Austrian partner and the dedication of EUR 824,000 allocated to technical assistance programmes, OeEB continued its strategic course in a sustainable manner, opened up new markets and set important, impact-generating milestones within its private-sector-oriented mandate.
"In 2025, we continued to advance the implementation of our strategy and achieved new milestones in the process. Through the targeted use of our instruments, we were able to implement effective measures in our strategic priorities of climate and gender, as well as in our focus markets Africa and Least Developed Countries (LDCs)," says Sabine Gaber, Member of the OeEB Executive Board responsible for market-side activities. More than 41 percent of the newly completed projects and 52 percent of the portfolio (EUR 871 million) relate to climate-relevant projects such as renewable energy including storage solutions, the circular economy, sustainable agriculture and much more. In addition, with the launch of the 'ACP OeEB Climate Impact Fund', capital mobilised from impact investors is being selectively invested in green projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America through selected target funds.
"We are particularly pleased that in 2025 we were able to support the world's first gender-specific, globally investing fund, the 'Global Gender Smart Fund (GGSF)', with financial resources and our expertise. The fund qualified for the 2X Challenge – a global initiative aimed at mobilising capital to strengthen women as entrepreneurs, leaders, employees and consumers," says Gaber.
"The further expansion of business in Africa has been highly successful, with new business accounting for 35 percent of the total, whilst the existing portfolio accounts for 26 percent (EUR 436 million). This included the continuation of the 'African-Austrian SME Investment Facility+ (AAIF+)', a financing instrument tailored to Austrian and European SMEs, which aims to support the establishment of businesses and the development of projects in Africa and Least Developed Countries. Over 16 percent of new business and 15 percent of the portfolio (EUR 262 million) relate to Least Developed Countries. In connection with the provision of a credit line to an institution in Burundi – an LDC – to strengthen the MSME sector and women led enterprises, OeEB utilised a guarantee from the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD+), thereby increasing affordability for end clients and further mitigating risks", adds Gaber.
As a thematically focused development bank, OeEB acts on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) with the objective of sustainably improving living conditions in disadvantaged regions by strengthening the private sector. In addition to the economic viability of the financed projects, developmental effects are of central importance. "Our financing activities help strengthen local value creation, create jobs, improve access to affordable and clean energy and enable stable economic perspectives on the ground," says Executive Board Member Steffen Suhany, who is responsible for the bank's risk management. Due to geopolitical and geo-economic tensions, the global business environment remains characterised by considerable uncertainty. At the same time, there is a huge financing gap in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. "Against the backdrop of declining global official development assistance, private sector financing is becoming increasingly important. Development banks such as OeEB play a central role here as countercyclical partners."
Technical Assistance: Supportive, non-repayable grants
Technical Assistance (TA) is a strategic instrument to strengthen the developmental impact of OeEB projects, particularly to support the implementation of climate-related measures. These are non-repayable grants that can be applied alongside projects in line with strategic guidelines. In 2025, EUR 824,000 was approved for 11 projects, and six projects amounting to EUR 478,000 were completed. The projects include advisory services related to capacity building in sustainable aquaculture, strengthening climate risk management in institutions and implementing an independent complaints mechanism in the microfinance sector.
Business Results
The financial year closed with a net profit after taxes of EUR 5,13 million (2024: EUR 7,16 million). Read the full report here.