KfW establishes raw materials fund

KfW is establishing a raw materials fund on behalf of the German Federal Government in order to support the sustainable supply of raw materials to the German economy. This fund is intended to support the German economy in its efforts to secure access to strategic raw materials, thereby reducing dependencies.

Stefan Wintels, Chief Executive Officer of KfW:

“The global competition for natural resources is now being decided. As a bank committed to responsibility, we here at KfW are pleased to be supporting the German Federal Government with the raw materials fund to strengthen the German economy and its access to strategic raw materials.”

These are the 34 natural resources that the EU has designated as critical, such as copper or lithium. The raw materials fund is an umbrella term for individual investments in projects involved in the mining, processing and recycling of raw materials. KfW will participate in selected projects on behalf of the German Federal Government, with risks being hedged by the government.

Firstly, KfW will set up the raw materials fund and identify suitable projects. Promotion will take the form of equity investments in particular. The financing budget will generally be between EUR 50 million and EUR 150 million. The projects will have to demonstrate that they contribute to strengthening the domestic economy through the long-term procurement of critical natural resources, including in processed form, for production sites in Germany and the EU.

“Access to critical natural resources is strategically important for our country and Europe and a necessary prerequisite for our competitiveness,” said Wintels. Examples include the electrification of large parts of the value chain as well as artificial intelligence. Wintels emphasised that “strengthening the resilience and sovereignty of Germany and Europe is one of KfW’s strategic action areas in this decade”.

You can find further information here: www.kfw.de/Rohstofffonds