Ideas to Action:
Independent research for global prosperity
When the world adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), policymakers knew that aid alone would never meet the financing needs. In a new paper, we are proposing the Stretch Fund, to partner with DFIs. The Stretch Fund would “stretch” the capital of existing DFIs in two ways: by expanding the spectrum of investments in which DFIs can participate; and by taking on high-risk tranches to open up more DFI investment opportunities.
Why isn’t the African Development Bank Group bigger? Clemence Landers and Nancy Lee have a proposal to reform the bank and increase its size and impact.
Our team has just launched (to our knowledge) the first ever survey of the gender policies and practices of 21 multilateral and bilateral DFIs in order to gain a better understanding of DFI gender strategies.
The grim picture for SDG-related infrastructure finance in low-income countries (LICs) is by now familiar. Nancy Lee examines salient evidence about the state of funding for infrastructure in LMICs.
In a world of stagnating public aid, limited fiscal space, and rising public debt in low-income countries, can they realistically expect to rely more on private finance from foreigners?
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) announcement gives us an opportunity to take stock and make a recommendation: open up access to We-Fi funding to a broader range of actors.
There is no more urgent and fundamental problem in development than finding effective ways to help the ultra-poor improve their economic and social condition. But most interventions don’t reach the poorest of the poor. A stellar panel cohosted by CGD and Women for Women International recently came together to discuss the challenges in addressing the needs of the poorest women and to explore how graduation programs perform in addressing them. Here are some key takeaways from the discussion.
Spring has finally sprung in Washington, DC! And that also means a series of substantive discussions on today's most pressing global development issues—from private sector financing in Africa to the future of the World Bank—are springing up at the Center for Global Development. Join us next week in person or online for these important conversations that will happen alongside the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings.
Concern about relatively low development finance institution (DFI) mobilization ratios (dollars of private finance mobilized per dollar of DFI’s own commitments) is drawing attention to the product mix in DFI operations.
This year, donors will negotiate the 19th replenishment of IDA, the triennial fundraising exercise for the World Bank’s poorest clients.
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