Why we’re watching: The new development branch is the European Investment Bank’s response to a three-year debate in Brussels about how the EU should maximize the impact of its development lending, a tussle that has largely pitted EIB against the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Leadership: EIB is undergoing a selection process for a global managing director.
Staff: Currently, 900 staff work on non-EU EIB activities and 100 work in EIB field offices outside the EU. It’s unclear how many people will ultimately be dedicated to EIB Global.
Notable staff move: Markus Berndt was named deputy managing director for EIB Global.
$: €8.1 billion ($9.1 billion) in lending outside the EU in 2021.
HQ: The first regional hub for EIB Global was launched in Nairobi, Kenya, in November 2021. EIB’s headquarters remains in Luxembourg.
Tidbit: EIB President Werner Hoyer told the European Parliament that Berndt, whom we interviewed about the new structure in September, is “the new hero for our activities outside the European Union.”
Follow: Vince Chadwick and Devex Invested.

Analysis: What’s one of the world’s biggest multilateral development banks but not always seen as a global development player? The European Investment Bank. Now it’s carving out its non-EU lending activities into a new development branch and sending some of the staff who work on these non-EU projects to places such as Nairobi, where it recently opened its first hub. With a lending portfolio outside the EU north of $9 billion in 2021, look for EIB to play up its development bona fides this year, especially on climate as it chairs the group of MDB heads. Hoyer said he’s ready for EIB Global to be “scaled up” if it’s a success, but shareholders among EU member states want the whole thing to be cost-neutral. — RK.

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