By Claire Racine

The Co-Operative Bank is launching a global co-operative development fund aimed at helping to alleviate poverty in some of the world's poorest communities.

Created with Deutsche Bank, the Global Co-operative Development Fund (GCDF) is the first specialised international development fund to target credit unions and agricultural co-operatives that serve poor countries around the world.

“Investing in co-operatives can contribute to the economic development of a country, helping to alleviate poverty and reduce economic vulnerability - while providing a competitive risk-adjusted return,” said Richard Wilcox, head of Structured and Asset Finance at The Co-operative Bank.

“By developing the GCDF, we can make funding available to co-operatives that can help bring about significant economic benefits to deprived communities,” he said.

The Co-operative Bank will be the principal sponsor for the GCDF, but it will be managed by Deutsche Bank and Oikocredit will sub-manage the fund.