Investing as a Christian: more than making a profit

Impact investing is from a Christian perspective

From a Christian perspective, impact investing is perhaps the best thing you can do with your assets," Koert Jansen, director of the Fair Factory Development Fund (FFDF), states in an extensive interview in the Business & Labour Market supplement of the Reformatorisch Dagblad (RD).

At FFDF, financial returns do not come first, but social impact - precisely in countries where it is badly needed. That is why the fund invests in food security and employment in Africa and Asia. Jansen talks candidly about his motives, dilemmas and why seeking the good and financial returns can indeed go hand in hand.
In the interview, Jansen says FFDF has an "unmistakably Christian" DNA, rooted in its partnership with the Woord en Daad foundation. The fund consciously invests in agri-food companies in high-risk countries. Jansen: "That is precisely where we want to be present, because these companies play a crucial role in food security. Risk-technically not always logical, but from a biblical perspective we can explain this well."

Encourage

Any company invested in must contribute to structural improvement - for farmers, consumers and wider society. One example is flour processor Shalem in Kenya, which delivers hundreds of thousands of meals daily and provides a stable income for thousands of farmers. Shalem is run by Christians. "That creates a bond," says Jansen. "You speak to each other on a deeper level and can encourage each other from faith."

Social return is leading for FFDF. But how do you measure that? "For us, that is very concrete: we look, for example, at the number of daily food portions produced thanks to our investments," Jansen explains. "In 2024, these were over 114 million - a 14 per cent increase on the previous year."

Revival

The number of jobs in the factories, the number of affiliated farmers and the number of hectares of sustainably farmed land are also growing steadily. This has a positive impact on the immediate environment. "You see communities really flourishing partly because of our investments," Jansen gratefully observes.

He is therefore keen to see new investors coming. There are great projects lined up, such as a fruit processing plant in Ivory Coast. "Those who have money to spare and want to make a social difference can actually contribute to God's Kingdom through impact investing," Jansen believes. "That is perhaps the best thing you can do with your assets."

Read the interview in the 31 May Business & Labour Market supplement: Investing as a Christian: more than making a profit