Responsability and sustainability
we will invest applying high E&S standards and constant respect for people and their environment. Above all, our projects must be sustainable, ethical and stimulate local job creation.
STOA, Progress builder
Our story
Created in November of 2017, STOA combines the strengths of its two shareholders: the Caisse des Dépôts’s investment expertise and the French Development Agency’s strong presence in developing countries. This joint venture reflects the recognition of shared DNA: managing environmental, digital and societal transitions in the interest of all through balanced development principles.
Our name, STOA, means “porticoe” in ancient Greek. A porticoe is a meeting place that gave shelter from bad weather. A symbol that stands for us, STOA: the stability of our shareholders combined with a strong entrepreneurial mindset.
Our mission
We provide support to European and local ambitions for emerging countries’ development. To achieve this, we provide long-term investment to infrastructure and energy projects with high added value for the men and women of Africa, Latin-America and South-East Asia which respect high environmental standards.
Drawing on a creative and proactive team, STOA is a trusted and long-term partner for all market players.
€600
million of committed capital
50%
to be invested in Africa
30%
of our projects with inherent climate benefit
Our values
Our values
Agility and openness
of our structure which, due to its size, is capable of being highly responsive to provide effective answers quickly. STOA’s multi-cultural team makes us, by definition, open-minded.
Trust and transparency
in the relationships between the STOA team and our partners – including governments, corporates and others –, which allows us to create and establish long term balanced partnerships.
Risk taking and humility
in the analysis of our projects, the search for innovation and the ambition to be a vector, at our modest level, for economic and environmental improvement.
Our investment policy
We use the following criteria to select the projects we invest in:
- Projects in developing and emerging countries, primarily in Africa (50%), but also in Latin-America and the Asia-Pacific region
- Greenfield projects expanding or developing new capabilities in 5 key sectors: energy, transport, the environment, telecommunications and social infrastructure
- Profitable projects requiring long-term investments (15-25 years) in which we hold a minority share, with a ticket size between €10 and €50 million per acquisition
- Responsible investments that meet strict ESG criteria
Our shareholders
Our shareholders
Active in 110 countries via a network of 85 agencies, the French Development Agency advises, finances and supports over 3,600 development projects. Its goal: to help create a safer, fairer and more sustainable world – a shared world.
The Caisse des Dépôts, a public group serving the general interest, invests to support all kinds of transitions: land-use, environmental, energy, digital, demographic and social. Its 120,000 employees work in 56 countries.