Records show the Development Finance Institute of Canada (FinDev), which spent $15.4 million with a Kenyan cellphone company on a promise it would sell its shares in 2024, instead spent millions of dollars more, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “FinDev Canada has not deliberately or inadvertently misled Parliament,” said FinDev spokesperson Angela Rodriguez in a statement. Kenyan cellphone company M-Kopa Holdings has never turned a profit. Rodriguez admitted a promise to MPs in 2021 it would cut its losses “was the perspective offered at the time.”Cabinet launched FinDev in 2017 to promote development in poor countries. Its first project was M-Kopa, running door-to-door sales of cellphones and household appliances. FinDev predicted it would break even in 2020. It did not. Since M-Kopa did not break even, FinDev said in an inquiry of ministry tabled in the House of Commons in 2021 it would sell its shares by 2024. “The expected exit of the investment [is] in 2024,” it said. The report was tabled at the request of Conservative MP Jamie Schmale (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes, ON). “This analysis was based on a number of assumptions, including an expected potential exit of the investment in 2024,” it said.Instead, it added to its original $15.4 million subsidy with an additional $27 million in August. Rodriguez denied management lied to the House of Commons. “FinDev noted simply there might be a ‘potential exit’ of the investment in 2024,” she said. “While this was the perspective offered at the time, any business decision FinDev takes is informed by its due diligence.”When asked if taxpayers will see any return on their total $42.4 million subsidy for M-Kopa, she said it was not in a position to respond. She added the fate of taxpayer funds would “imply disclosure of confidential client information.”“FinDev is mindful of the need to protect certain commercially sensitive information related to its clients,” she said. It would not disclose any details about taxpayers’ shares. Records showed FinDev’s managers approved spending on M-Kopa with little review by staff. It said funding was justified to “create good quality jobs in East Africa.”It admitted in a statement in August the subsidy reflected cabinet’s promotion of gender equality overseas. “The company has a women employment rate of 50%,” it said.
Records show the Development Finance Institute of Canada (FinDev), which spent $15.4 million with a Kenyan cellphone company on a promise it would sell its shares in 2024, instead spent millions of dollars more, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “FinDev Canada has not deliberately or inadvertently misled Parliament,” said FinDev spokesperson Angela Rodriguez in a statement. Kenyan cellphone company M-Kopa Holdings has never turned a profit. Rodriguez admitted a promise to MPs in 2021 it would cut its losses “was the perspective offered at the time.”Cabinet launched FinDev in 2017 to promote development in poor countries. Its first project was M-Kopa, running door-to-door sales of cellphones and household appliances. FinDev predicted it would break even in 2020. It did not. Since M-Kopa did not break even, FinDev said in an inquiry of ministry tabled in the House of Commons in 2021 it would sell its shares by 2024. “The expected exit of the investment [is] in 2024,” it said. The report was tabled at the request of Conservative MP Jamie Schmale (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes, ON). “This analysis was based on a number of assumptions, including an expected potential exit of the investment in 2024,” it said.Instead, it added to its original $15.4 million subsidy with an additional $27 million in August. Rodriguez denied management lied to the House of Commons. “FinDev noted simply there might be a ‘potential exit’ of the investment in 2024,” she said. “While this was the perspective offered at the time, any business decision FinDev takes is informed by its due diligence.”When asked if taxpayers will see any return on their total $42.4 million subsidy for M-Kopa, she said it was not in a position to respond. She added the fate of taxpayer funds would “imply disclosure of confidential client information.”“FinDev is mindful of the need to protect certain commercially sensitive information related to its clients,” she said. It would not disclose any details about taxpayers’ shares. Records showed FinDev’s managers approved spending on M-Kopa with little review by staff. It said funding was justified to “create good quality jobs in East Africa.”It admitted in a statement in August the subsidy reflected cabinet’s promotion of gender equality overseas. “The company has a women employment rate of 50%,” it said.
