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Financing the future
Financing the future: Unlocking capital for sustainable development
Turning global finance reform into results for people and planet
The global development finance system is at a turning point.
The Compromiso de Sevilla, adopted at FfD4, captured an emerging consensus: The current system is no longer fit for purpose. Development finance must evolve to meet the realities of a world facing overlapping crises. With an estimated $4 trillion annual shortfall in SDG financing and fiscal space tightening worldwide, the question now is how to move from agreement to action.
This series explores how the commitments made in Sevilla can be — and are being — turned into results. It examines the mechanisms and partnerships needed to channel investment where it’s needed most: in emerging markets and developing economies. We’ll look at how governments, investors, and development actors are reshaping the global finance architecture to deliver sustainable growth.
The world faces a staggering $4 trillion annual financing gap for development, threatening the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Source: United Nations
Investable markets: making emerging markets and developing economies bankable
Scoop: Guarantee platform aims to unlock more finance for development banks
Backed by $10 billion in guarantees, a new initiative will help public development banks issue green bonds and access cheaper finance for climate-vulnerable countries.
World Bank’s guarantee platform is a pilot for broader shifts underway
The one-stop-shop guarantee platform is driving record deal flow — and offering a glimpse into how...
Brazil builds on G20 finance reform while advancing domestic investment
Brazil is monitoring the rollout of multilateral development bank reforms advanced under its G20...
Africa Finance Corporation works to tap hundreds of billions of dollars
AFC's Samaila Zubairu wants to help the continent fund its own development.
From aid to investment: Reshaping Africa’s path to growth
A shift from aid to investment will require stronger institutions, better-prepared projects, and renewed...
How private investors want to engage with development finance
For years, development finance leaders have talked about the need to attract private capital. But what can...
These African financiers are closing the gap between risk and resilience
Across Africa, regional banks and insurers are merging credit, insurance, and local capital to protect...
Unpacking the World Bank Group’s first securitization deal and what’s next
Years in the making, IFC’s first CLO takes aim at private capital mobilization.
The most interesting social finance tools you probably don’t know about
Want to fund development? Look no further than your retirement account.
The boom, bust, and bounce back of ESG
How a once-dominant investment strategy fell out of favor — and why it may be poised for a comeback.
How IFAD issued $1 billion in sustainable bonds
For the last three years, this U.N. agency has been tapping private markets to reach millions...
What will it take to unlock private financing in a changing era?
Experts discuss what’s needed to get on the same page and better collaborate to bring more finance...
African SMEs need more support, so we’re pioneering financing solutions
Opinion: Building solutions from scratch has led to pioneering partnerships we at BII call “platforms.”
Inclusive finance is the lifeline we keep ignoring
Opinion: In today’s increasingly fragile global landscape, inclusive finance is a powerful yet overlooked solution...
Environment ministers mull climate finance, Africa’s development future
As official development aid declines, African leaders have recently committed to safeguarding...
How is the private sector thinking about development?
As official development assistance falters, more eyes are on the private sector than ever before...
Opinion: To get more investment in emerging markets, we must redefine risk
Redefining risk perceptions is crucial for unlocking private capital in emerging markets.
Trump's DFC nominee stresses 'dual mandate' of US development finance
Benjamin Black, Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. DFC, testified Tuesday at the Senate Foreign Relations...
Redefining partnerships: Aligning actors to scale solutions
Missing at Devex Impact House: How profit can be purpose’s best ally
Opinion: Development organizations need to stop tiptoeing around profit and start embracing it as the sustainable...
Citizens of the world's most generous donor favor its aid expenditures
The director general of Norway's development agency offers some reasons that the country's...
As aid shrinks, top philanthropies test new ways to spur economic growth
As old growth models falter, the Gates Foundation and, more recently, Open Philanthropy are testing...
Axel van Trotsenburg on what it will take for multilateralism to survive
The World Bank's second-in-command calls for accountability, outcomes, and the willingness to listen...
EIB launches €10B plan with Calviño stressing global partnerships
The European Investment Bank has launched its latest global strategy, setting a goal of €10B in annual...
Rep. French Hill: The US ‘is here to be your partner’ on development goals
The Trump administration’s vision for an “America First” world is often misunderstood, the Republican...
Opinion: MDBs must keep acting as a system to meet today’s challenges
Transforming “billions to trillions” for development finance has, so far, fallen short. Here’s how multilateral...
Redesigning development finance for a new era
With nearly half of the world's population living in countries prioritizing debt over essential services...
Private sector shouldn't have to bail out public sector
At Casa Devex, Sanda Ojiambo, executive director of the U.N.'s Global Compact, emphasized that despitу...
Accountability key to realizing Financing for Development promises
At a Casa Devex, Michael Jarvis of TAI Collaborate says "the hard work starts after" Sevilla.
Sevilla reporter's notebook Day 2: Compromiso adopted, but what next?
So far at FfD4, global leaders adopted the pre-written Compromiso de Sevilla, launched a new global tax coalition...
Millennium Challenge Corporation changes country selection criteria
The Millennium Challenge Corporation has made significant changes to its scorecard, paving the way for more countries to meet the requirements and qualify for funding.
The untold origins of COP30’s flagship multibillion-dollar forest facility
Built on a World Bank concept from 2009, the new fund channels sovereign and private investments into...
Europe’s biggest development bank is sitting on €200 billion
Despite global reform efforts, new research shows that multilateral development banks are still holding back...
Why the ‘vicious cycle’ of debt needs to be stopped
Brian Kagoro of Open Society Foundations laments the lack of reforms to the global financial architecture...
Why Tunisia’s former prime minister is optimistic about Africa’s future
Former Tunisian Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa says Africa’s young population and human capital hold...
The ‘tax era’ of development takes shape amid shrinking aid
Experts say domestic resource mobilization — and smarter, fairer, more effective tax systems...
Experts press G20 to make debt relief faster and fairer
At Devex Impact House, AfriCatalyst's Daouda Sembene called for urgent reforms of the G20 Common...
The global finance rethink behind the green transition
As climate shocks mount, leaders say financial reform must finally unite climate action and development...
How MDBs can be 'creative and innovative' in today’s environment
The managing director of Africa's Trade and Development Bank talks silver linings to the aid cuts...
It's time to move beyond Africa's potential, says AFC chief
Samaila Zubairu, president and CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation, says we "need to find ways..
African Center for Economic Transformation tries to humanize debt
ACET calculates how capping debt servicing costs would transform millions of lives.
Amid shutdown and transformation, what’s going on with MCC and DFC?
“We have had a role internationally going back decades, and it's been important to us, and I think it will...
Could a credit ratings agency methodology change unlock billions at MDBs?
S&P Global Ratings has changed the way it evaluates MDB risk, and says it could unlock up to $800 billion.
Did the world get the development paradigm backward in 2015?
AFD’s Rémy Rioux, Rockefeller’s Julia Frifield, and DBSA’s Boitumelo Mosako discuss the reimagining...
‘Billions to trillions’ fatigue sets in among top finance leaders
Leaders from Citi, the World Bank, and the Gates Foundation admitted that mobilizing private finance...
Ex-Treasury’s Latortue urges bold World Bank reforms for relevance
Alexia Latortue, former U.S. Treasury lead on World Bank, said reforms show change is possible....
Scoop: World Bank poised to host Brazil's $125B forest facility
A World Bank board meeting on Oct. 21 is expected to formally confirm the institution's critical role for the...
Inside the World Bank’s plan to boost jobs by investing in agribusiness
The newly launched AgriConnect operationalizes the World Bank’s pledge to double its investment...
At World Bank meetings, a push for UN-led ‘just transition’ framework
With climate discussions sidelined at this year’s World Bank and IMF meetings, advocates are pressing...
UNDP’s Marcos Neto reflects on the new era of development finance
Devex speaks with UNDP’s Marcos Neto to uncover the impact of the Compromiso de Sevilla and how private...
Systemic reform: Reshaping the global development finance system
The future of development finance is being written now.
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The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank whose mission is Financing Infrastructure for Tomorrow in Asia and beyond — infrastructure with sustainability at its core. It began operations in Beijing in 2016 and has since grown to 110 approved members worldwide.
Amundi, the leading European asset manager, offers its 100 million clients a complete range of savings and investment solutions in active and passive management, in traditional or real assets. A subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole group and listed on the stock exchange, Amundi currently manages more than €2.15 trillion of assets.
The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) is a multilateral development bank with an exclusively social mandate from its 43 member countries. Established in 1956, the CEB finances investment and provides technical assistance in social sectors such as education, health and affordable housing, while focusing on the needs of vulnerable people, as well as on the social dimensions of climate change and the environment.