In October 2024, InFiNe marked a significant milestone with the celebration of its 10th anniversary. During a special roundtable on “Building the Future of Inclusive Finance by 2030,” co-hosted with ADA and the University of Luxembourg Chair in Financial Law, a clear call-to-action emerged: the Luxembourg financial sector needed to collectively design de-risking solutions to mobilize private capital for inclusive finance in emerging markets.
In response to this need, the network launched in February 2025 its De-Risking Working Group, bringing together members from across Luxembourg’s inclusive finance ecosystem. The engagement has been remarkable: more than 50% of InFiNe’s membership is actively involved, with three meetings held and multiple activities already completed.
The working group operates with five clearly defined objectives:
This member-driven approach exemplifies InFiNe’s core mission: bringing together key stakeholders to leverage Luxembourg’s significant expertise to promote financial inclusion globally.
“The working group has started by ensuring a common understanding of what is called ‘de-risking’ among its members, by organising a training on the concept and a session to share members’ experience with some de-risking mechanisms,” explains Mathilde Bauwin, the working group’s facilitator. “After these first steps, the next ones will consist for the Luxembourg ecosystem in identifying the gaps that could be filled by an initiative based in the country, and by collecting experiences beyond Luxembourg in order to get inspired and meet the needs in the most relevant way.”
The working group’s first major milestone came in June 2025 with an exclusive training session hosted by the House of Training. The session, led by Koen Wasmus from Wasmus Consulting and Lena-Katharina Gerdes from the SDG Impact Finance Initiative, aimed at aligning participants on key de-risking concepts to establish a common conceptual framework.
The training explored the critical gap between perceived and actual risks in emerging markets and examined practical de-risking instruments available to impact investors. This capacity-building session laid the essential groundwork for the working group’s collective goal: designing Luxembourg-based de-risking solutions for the inclusive finance sector.
In July 2025, the working group held a member-only webinar focused on learning from real-world experiences with de-risking tools, in which three Luxembourg practitioners from member organizations shared their insights.
This interactive session allowed members to examine concrete examples from their peers, understanding both successes and challenges in implementing various de-risking approaches.
The working group took its expertise to the international stage in September 2025, organizing a panel at Building Bridges in Geneva. Five InFiNe members shared practical insights on risk mitigation mechanisms in inclusive finance:
“The Luxembourg experience demonstrates that effective de-risking requires collaboration across public, private, and social sectors,” noted Philippe Guichandut, the working group coordinator, who moderated the panel. “By combining various mechanisms (first-loss capital, guarantees, currency hedging, and technical assistance) we can mobilize significantly more capital toward inclusive finance and ultimately reach much more underserved populations.”
Read the full insights from the Building Bridges panel
In November 2025, the working group took part in the opening plenary of the IF25 Conference, addressing “Navigating the New Funding Reality of Inclusive Finance.” This platform allowed InFiNe to share the working group’s insights on future lines of action and position Luxembourg’s role in creating new financing structures for the sector.
“The working group on de-risking is more relevant than ever in an environment where development aid is sharply declining, and impact investors are expected to fill the gap,” emphasizes Philippe Guichandut. “In this context, attracting more private investors and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) is increasingly crucial and requires effective de-risking mechanisms. The working group has successfully prepared InFiNe members to develop a clear understanding of the challenges and potential solutions. It has provided good visibility both locally and internationally regarding initiatives already undertaken by our members.”
The changing landscape of development finance makes this work urgent. As traditional sources of development aid face constraints, new approaches are essential to ensure that inclusive finance continues to reach underserved populations worldwide.
The working group has completed its foundational phase, establishing common understanding and documenting Luxembourg’s existing expertise. Now the focus shifts to the next critical steps.
“The next steps involve deepening our understanding of other initiatives elsewhere and beginning to develop concrete solutions for Luxembourg,” explains Philippe Guichandut.
This process will involve mapping initiatives beyond Luxembourg’s borders, analyzing what works and what doesn’t, and determining where Luxembourg’s unique strengths and ecosystem can add the most value. The goal is not to duplicate existing efforts, but to create complementary solutions that leverage Luxembourg’s expertise in fund structuring, its regulatory environment, and its collaborative public-private ecosystem.
The De-Risking Working Group exemplifies InFiNe’s role as a catalyst for collective action. By bringing together diverse members: from development agencies and financial institutions to private sector organizations and international networks, the working group creates space for knowledge exchange, collaborative learning, and joint problem-solving.
As the working group moves into its next phase, it carries forward the insights, relationships, and momentum built through this first year of collaboration, laying the groundwork for Luxembourg-based de-risking solutions that can help mobilize capital for inclusive finance worldwide.
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InFiNe is the Luxembourg platform that brings together public, private and civil society actors involved in inclusive finance. The value of InFiNe lies in the wide range of expertise characterised by the diversity of its members.
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