Development finance institutions mobilize over $250 billion annually through blended finance operations, yet practitioners lack a unified framework to evaluate its catalytic effect and for choosing among instruments. I develop a model of investment multipliers under two canonical market...

Drawing on nearly 650 government and MDB officials across 125 countries and 250 in-depth interviews in 12 countries. This report arrives at a moment of significantly reduced aid budgets, escalating financing needs, rising sovereign debt, geopolitical tensions and a fragmented development finance...

Emerging economies confront unprecedented challenges mobilizing finance for green industrial transitions while maintaining development trajectories. This paper examines implementation effectiveness across India, South Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia-major economies representing diverse political...

This study analyzes the empirical link between German bilateral development finance and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) at the sub-national (ADM2) level. We construct a unique dataset by merging geo-referenced development aid projects - implemented by KfW Development Bank - over more than two...

Emerging economies face significant challenges in securing financial resources for green industrial transformation. This paper demonstrates that firm-level financial constraints systematically generate both emissions gaps and implementation gaps, constituting a first-order determinant of...

Renewable energy has seen rapid uptake, particularly in the Global South. Solar energy projects have boomed in recent years, but uptake by countries is uneven. Beyond geophysical conditions, technological innovation, market dynamics and donor-driven “lighthouse projects”, political...

China's global development finance is undergoing a major transformation. As domestic reforms and borrower debt risks rise, Chinese financial institutions are shifting how they finance projects abroad-especially in Africa, where they've long played a major role. This report explores how China is...

Can developing economies achieve growth that benefits everyone and protects the planet? This report explores how low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) can achieve inclusive and sustainable economic transformation (ISET) - where economic growth benefits all of society and protects our planet....

Development finance institutions (DFIs) face significant challenges in addressing unmet development needs, particularly in smaller, lower-income countries with few large firms and high investment risks, and in sectors with few private operators. In response, some DFIs, like British International...

The climate change crisis makes Paris Alignment of the transport sector one of the most pressing development challenges. Transport emissions are rising at a higher rate in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) than in high-income countries. However, the current climate finance landscape for...

The new loss and damage funding framework under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) emphasises the importance of channelling support through national systems and mechanisms. This approach could prove particularly challenging for African least developed ountries...

Ever since their independence, African countries have engaged in a series of treaties creating 8 Regional Economic Communities (RECs) that were (and still are) to pilot this integration starting with a Free Trade Area (FTA) followed by a customs union, a common market, and a monetary union...

In Africa, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face a chronic financing gap that hinders their growth and the continent's economic development. Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) are often seen as a solution to bridge this gap, particularly through indirect support to local banks....

This study investigates the effectiveness of government expenditure in combating the incidence of poverty in Nigeria from 1981 to 2022, employing a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) framework. The research analyzes the relationship between poverty incidence and key variables including...

Since the beginning of US President Donald Trump’s second term in early 2025, not only US development policy but the entire international development cooperation landscape has fundamentally changed. The United States – previously by far the leading actor in global development cooperation –...

A major policy outcome of the Paris climate treaty is the direct transfer of climate funds to developing countries to enhance renewable energy production. This study considers whether climate-related mitigation finance advances non-hydroelectric power renewable electricity production in...

This paper investigates the role of the New Development Bank (NDB) in challenging global financial hierarchies while fostering an ecological transition. The NDB, established by BRICS, has a mechanism of providing development finance in local currency, which could reduce dependency on core...

This Handbook provides guidance to staff on the IMF's facilities available to countries eligible to obtain concessional financing from the Fund under the PRGT, namely low-income countries (LICs). It updates the previous version of the Handbook that was published in March 2023 by incorporating...

The series of major economic shocks since 2020 has added to longstanding development challenges, with low-income and fragile countries affected the most. The negative economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the spillovers from the war in Ukraine, and the tightening of international financial...

Development outcomes such as job creation, clean energy access, and sustainable agriculture drive a global effort to bolster growth along sustainable and climate-resilient pathways, but significant funding gaps are hampering progress. Results-based climate finance (RBCF) can play an important...

Digital technologies are increasingly important for delivering inclusive, resilient, and high-quality education, yet financing their effective deployment remains a key constraint in many low- and middle-income countries). This paper examines the scale of investment needed to achieve universal...

The World Bank Group strategy emphasizes that private capital is critical for the investments required to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in client countries (World Bank and IMF 2023). A large gap persists between the resources of governments and donors and the investment required...