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Debt Dynamics and Financial Stability in Africa
June 6, 2023African countries were severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which quickly drove the continent into its worst recession in fifty years. According to the 2022 African Development Bank African Economic Outlook (AEO), real GDP declined by -1.5% in 2020 compared to growth of 3.3% in 2019. Africa has recovered quickly from the recession, but this has not translated into favorable [...]
IDA’s New Fundraising Campaign: An Early Test for World Bank President Banga
June 1, 2023Last month, the World Bank announced its intention to mobilize $12 billion for a new Crisis Facility for IDA, the arm of the bank that provides concessional lending and grants to the poorest countries. The Crisis Facility will augment emergency funding for IDA’s most vulnerable borrowers and provide new resources for Ukraine and Moldova. Shareholders will be asked to pledge to the [...]
Declaring a Hollow Victory on SDRs Would Further Undermine G20 Credibility
May 23, 2023In November 2021, the G20 pledged to recycle $100 billion of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) from advanced economies to more vulnerable countries. While these countries jumped on the moment to offer public promises, they've been slower to deliver on those financial commitments. But it is likely that at the Paris Summit for a New Global Financial Pact on June 22-23, French President Emmanuel Macron will [...]
A GPG Window at the World Bank: With its Own Governance
May 22, 2023A long introduction Prior to last month’s Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, World Bank shareholders asked management to prepare an “evolution road map” for the future. For a generation of economists, the bank’s mission has been to eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. The “evolution” shareholders seek is the addition of a new mission: to [...]
The future of the World Bank: In conversation with Vice President for East Asia and Pacific, Manuela V. Ferro
May 15, 2023The World Bank recently released its “Evolution Roadmap”, aimed at responding more efficiently to growing poverty reduction needs and better addressing climate change challenges. While the roadmap provides a good starting point — outlining the evolution of the bank’s mission, operations and financing model — it falls short in providing concrete and detailed strategies to achieve an ambitious reform. To [...]
IF-CAP Recap: The Asian Development Bank’s Big Climate Finance Bet
May 11, 2023At its annual meetings last week in South Korea, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched a new large-scale climate finance mechanism, the Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific (IF-CAP). IF-CAP is a donor-backed guarantee facility, where public, private, and philanthropic financing partners take risk off the ADB’s balance sheet by guaranteeing to backstop repayments for ADB mitigation and [...]
Open letter to new World Bank President Ajay Banga: be the catalyst for reform the World Bank so urgently needs
May 3, 2023Dear President Banga, Congratulations on your appointment as the 14th President of the World Bank Group. The Covid-19 pandemic, soaring inflation, geopolitical instability and the ever-looming spectre of climate emergency have all come to define this age of ‘poly-crisis’ in which we live. That these global challenges are both real and urgent is without question. But in the midst of [...]
Aligning Incentives for Climate Action
May 2, 2023Studying a problem from within a box is not the same as stepping out of the box and looking at the problem from that new perspective. A whole plethora of options often open up. The current discussions on finance for climate or development and the role of the multilateral development banks (MDBs) is one such example. Don’t get me wrong. [...]
Spring Meetings 2023: Toward a New Era – podcast
April 28, 2023The 2023 World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings took place from April 10-16, amidst a backdrop of challenges: from stress in the banking sector, persistent inflation, rising debt, climate change and of course Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Addressing this instability, and looking to a future free from poverty, was at the heart of the discussions which involved dozens of contributors [...]
African Finance Ministers demand action on Global Financial Architecture Reform
April 20, 2023Washington, DC April 20, 2023: Coming out of the World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings, a group of African Finance Ministers and partners is urging global institutions to do more to deliver for African countries. The WBG/IMF Annual Meetings will return to Africa for the first time in fifty years this October, which presents an [...]
Multilateral development bank reform can – and must – benefit both low- and middle-income countries
April 13, 2023Since 2022, calls for the reform of multilateral development banks (MDBs) have become louder. Processes commanding attention include the Bridgetown Agenda, the World Bank Group Evolution Roadmap and the recommendations of the G20 expert panel on the review of MDB capital adequacy frameworks. All three have received criticism for overlooking lower-income countries and deeply concessional finance. The Bridgetown Agenda focuses on lowering the costs of borrowing. [...]
A New World Bank Agenda in the Era of Climate Change
April 12, 2023As the window closes for dealing with the climate crisis, it is worth remembering that the roots of the crisis lie in decades of rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, justified by rich and poor countries alike and their financiers as the by-product of boosting GDP growth at all costs. Agreements to cut emissions, which should tackle runaway climate change, are [...]
Evolution of the World Bank Group – A Report to Governors
April 12, 2023From the April 12, 2023 Development Committee Meeting.
What Does World Bank Success Look Like?
April 10, 2023This blog is one in a series by experts across the Center for Global Development ahead of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings. Each post in the series will put forward a tangible policy “win” for the World Bank or the broader MDB system that the author would like to see emerge from the Spring Meetings. Read the other posts in the series, and stay [...]
What Does World Bank Success Look Like?
April 10, 2023This blog is one in a series by experts across the Center for Global Development ahead of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings. Each post in the series will put forward a tangible policy “win” for the World Bank or the broader MDB system that the author would like to see emerge from the Spring Meetings. Read the other posts in the series, and stay [...]
The Future of IDA: How Does Gender Equality Factor In?
April 10, 2023This blog is one in a series by experts across the Center for Global Development ahead of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings. Each post in the series will put forward a tangible policy “win” for the World Bank or the broader MDB system that the author would like to see emerge from the Spring Meetings. Read the other posts in the series, and stay [...]
For the World Bank to Address Global Challenges, It Needs to Address Trade-Offs Head On
April 7, 2023This blog is one in a series by experts across the Center for Global Development ahead of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings. Each post in the series will put forward a tangible policy “win” for the World Bank or the broader MDB system that the author would like to see emerge from the Spring Meetings. Read the other posts in the series, and stay [...]
When It Comes to World Bank Reform, April Will Be Disappointing. But that Shouldn’t Be the End of the Story.
April 5, 2023This blog is one in a series by experts across the Center for Global Development ahead of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings. Each post in the series will put forward a tangible policy “win” for the World Bank or the broader MDB system that the author would like to see emerge from the Spring Meetings. Read the other posts in the series, and stay [...]
The Road to a Better World Bank Starts with a Commitment to IDA
April 4, 2023This blog is one in a series by experts across the Center for Global Development ahead of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings. Each post in the series will put forward a tangible policy “win” for the World Bank or the broader MDB system that the author would like to see emerge from the Spring Meetings. Read the other posts in the series, and stay [...]
The Spring Meetings Should Launch a Climate-Dedicated IBRD Capital Increase
April 3, 2023This blog is one in a series by experts across the Center for Global Development ahead of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings. Each post in the series will put forward a tangible policy “win” for the World Bank or the broader MDB system that the author would like to see emerge from the Spring Meetings. Stay tuned for the rest [...]
MDB Reform: What Global Think Tanks Are Watching at This Year’s Spring Meetings
April 3, 2023Join CGD for a slate of in-person and virtual Spring Meeting events. A full schedule of events including registration information is available here. Policymakers from across the world will gather in Washington next week at the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. These meetings come at a critical moment for the World Bank, with major discussions [...]
Accelerating MDB Reform to Address Today’s Global Challenges
April 3, 2023To better respond to today’s global crises, the MDBs must transform themselves. The MDB Reform Accelerator is mobilizing the evidence-based analysis and strategic outreach needed to ensure MDB reform delivers real results for development, climate, and other global challenges. The world has changed since the creation of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank—the world’s first international financial institutions—over [...]
A Dual Evidence Agenda: Delivering Greater Impact for Development and Global Challenges
March 20, 2023The World Bank’s evolution is a large part of the international response to global challenges like climate change and pandemic risks, with significant attention on amounts and sources of money. But less attention is paid to an inconvenient truth: few policymakers and experts know what works to make measurable progress against global challenges. On climate and development, for example, knowledge [...]
Reforming the World Bank to Play a Critical Role in Addressing Climate Change
March 17, 2023The current World Bank model focuses on reducing poverty and promoting equitable growth, while considering environmental and social sustainability. Programming of resources is country-driven, and resources are allocated to programs and investments according to priorities of client government authorities. Despite the appeal of this approach and its many benefits, it has left numerous global public goods (GPGs), particularly those related [...]
World Bank Investment Projects Aren’t Designed for Crises
March 15, 2023In a recent note, Zack Gehan and I used a database of World Bank projects to examine the association between World Bank project types and environmental review procedures and project preparation times. We found that policy lending projects are significantly faster to design, while projects that undergo the stricter forms of environmental and social screening are slower (these are “Category [...]
Before Throwing Grant Money at Global Public Goods, Let’s Figure Out if We Know How to Pitch
March 14, 2023The World Bank’s Evolution Roadmap suggests the institution could provide more grants and subsidies to activities that support the provision of global public goods (GPGs), particularly in richer developing countries. Provision of those public goods is surely a priority: avoiding future pandemics and limiting climate change benefits everyone. At the same time, and especially in an environment where finance for [...]
Concessional Finance for Addressing Climate Change: A System Ripe for Reform
March 14, 2023Climate financial intermediary funds (FIFs) represent one of the largest sources of multilateral grant and other concessional finance for climate, including for middle-income countries (MICs). Together, they have received more than $50 billion in cumulative grant funds from donors. They have collectively allocated $48 billion for projects and $2 billion in administrative overhead. In a new paper, we look at [...]
Funding Hybrid Capital at the AfDB is the Best Deal for SDR Donors
March 9, 2023Many advanced-economy countries are looking for ways to recycle their excess Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to support more vulnerable countries whose economies are being buffeted by the economic aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The G20 has pledged $100 billion of SDR recycling—much of that is going to the IMF, but about $40 billion has [...]
The World Bank Must ‘Walk the Talk’ on Gender Equality
March 3, 2023Through the World Bank’s history and thirteen presidencies, not once has the institution been led by a woman. Last week, the Biden administration nominated Ajay Banga, former head of Mastercard, as a candidate to be the next World Bank president. I welcome President Biden’s choice, because Banga is an exciting and well-qualified candidate. As with any nominee, I hope [...]
Yes, MDB Shareholders Can Act Now: Six Very Feasible Near-Term Decisions
March 1, 2023Spurred by the polycrisis and explicit calls from shareholders and other stakeholders, multilateral development banks (MDBs) are considering reforms that will give them the capacity to address country and global challenges, as Secretary Yellen recently put it, “with the urgency and scale that is required.” The World Bank is in the most visible position as it works on its evolution [...]
The Next Pandemic: If We Can’t Respond, We’re Not Prepared
February 28, 2023This note was also published by the Centre for Disaster Protection here. Amidst the disastrous impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, international policy attention on global pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) has been laudable but has so far proved inadequate. The chance of another deadly pandemic is significant and the potential toll catastrophic, but the current level of global investment [...]
Amplifying African Voices: Reforming Multilateral Development Banks
February 27, 2023Now is the time to build momentum for meaningful reforms that address Africa’s needs In recent years, the world has experienced a rise in the number and frequency of crises such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and geopolitical conflicts. This highlights the need for urgent action to tackle the most pressing global challenges of our time. However, international responses [...]
Do Clients Want the World Bank to Focus on Climate?
February 23, 2023Last month, the World Bank released an “evolution roadmap” proposing to do more on climate change in low- and middle-income countries. It is a global challenge that will have a disproportionate impact on the world’s poorest countries. But it is also important to listen to the Bank’s clients, especially in poorer countries. And it would be an act of hypocrisy [...]
How Emerging Economies Are Reshaping the International Financial System
February 22, 2023It’s been 25 years since the 1997 Asian financial crisis led to the creation of the G20 forum for finance ministers; and 15 years since this became a leader-level meeting following the global financial crisis. During this period, there has been significant shift in the global finance and economic landscape. The ascent of several emerging economies has seen their contributions [...]
What the Biden Administration Should Be Looking for in a World Bank President
February 17, 2023With David Malpass’s announcement on Wednesday that he will step down as president of the World Bank, the Biden Administration is faced with the choice of a nominee to run the institution at a particularly challenging time. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has put forward an ambitious reform proposal that puts global challenges at the center of the World Bank’s agenda, with climate [...]
How Multilateral Development Banks Can Use Policy-Based Financing to Support Climate-Resilient Economies
February 17, 2023Multilateral development banks can help developing countries achieve economic stability by repurposing policy-based financing for low-carbon, climate resilient development as impacts from climate change continue to add costs in already debt-burdened economies. After making a joint declaration in 2017 to align with the Paris Agreement on climate change, most multilateral development banks (MDBs) will start applying Paris-aligned approaches across their new activities [...]
The Expansion of the BRICS in a World of Shifting Power Dynamics
February 17, 2023In this episode, Paolo Magri delves into the evolving role of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa in a world of changing geopolitical landscapes. Over the course of this podcast, we explore the emergence of the BRICS group, tracing its roots back to the early 2000s and examining the political and economic factors that brought these diverse nations together. [...]
A Valentine’s Day Gift for the AfDB’s Campaign for SDR Recycling—But Now We Need More Heart
February 15, 2023Months of innovative work by AfDB staff have resulted in an attractive SDR recycling scheme that overcomes a major hurdle by successfully embodying the reserve asset characteristic. And it will allow leveraging SDRs to multiply their lending power 3-4 times. Now politicians have to step up and commit their SDRs. And Europeans need to show more heart and put aside [...]
Is the European Investment Bank Finally Transforming Itself Into a Development Bank?
February 14, 2023The European Investment Bank’s (EIB) 2022 annual results and operational plans for 2023-2025 are out. The top line: EIB financing in 2022 fell from EUR93.6 billion in 2021 to EUR72.45 billion. However, EIB lending to countries outside of the European Union (EU) grew from EUR7.2 billion in 2021 to EUR 9.18 billion. 2022 has not been short of challenges for [...]
The World Bank Should Ramp Up Finance for Climate, But Not at the Cost of Development
February 13, 2023The World Bank Group Evolution Roadmap makes three financing asks of donors and shareholders: capital for IBRD, continued support for IDA, and grants to support climate projects. I think donors and shareholders should support a capital increase and strengthen commitments to IDA. But they should not provide more grants to support climate activities at least until (i) IBRD lending to [...]
A Bigger Mission Must Mean More Financial Ambition at the World Bank
February 6, 2023Building on a roadmap requested by its shareholders, the World Bank’s board and management are discussing updates this week to its mission to respond to the global transboundary challenges threatening human prosperity. It is more evident than ever that climate change, biodiversity loss, pandemic risks, and conflict matter profoundly for development—which would make it devastating if shareholders miss this chance [...]
Evolving the World Bank’s Twin Goals
January 26, 2023The World Bank management’s Evolution Roadmap suggests the institution is reconsidering its ‘twin goals’ mission statement of eradicating extreme poverty (ending $2.15 poverty by 2030) and boosting shared prosperity (raising the incomes of the bottom 40 percent in each country). “nearly half the world – over 3 billion people – lives on less than US$6.85 per day, the average of [...]
Climate Finance: How to move from the Trillions to the People?
January 25, 2023Climate finance has emerged as a major concern not just for African countries, but for the developing world at large. Global warming is estimated to generate a median loss of 1.5 percent of annual GDP in developing countries and in sub-Saharan Africa (IPCC, 2022). At the same time, there is a rising occurrence of catastrophic events – droughts, floods, pandemics [...]
What is missing from the World Bank’s Evolution Roadmap? Six priorities for management and shareholders
January 19, 2023In mid-December 2022, World Bank management published ‘Evolving the World Bank Group’s Mission, Operations, and Resources: A Roadmap’ – a programme of work intended to allow its shareholders to take decisions on the Bank’s future by the Autumn 2023 Annual Meetings. This Roadmap responds to shareholder requests to ensure that the Bank is best equipped to deliver its development mandate while scaling its response [...]
The World Bank Group’s Evolution Roadmap: More Work Needed
January 11, 2023At the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF in October last year, shareholders asked the World Bank to come up with a set of proposals to take a larger role in climate and other global public goods. The Bank’s first response came pretty quick: by mid-December, only a couple of months after the request, the institution sent an [...]
Transparency and World Bank Evolution
January 9, 2023Late last year, the World Bank Group issued a roadmap on its potential evolution in response to shareholder pressure at this year’s Bank-Fund annual meetings. The roadmap document has been widely shared with member governments. As reported by Reuters and Devex on the basis of leaked copies, it proposes reforms to the World Bank Group’s mission and operations along with [...]
The New Model IFC Still Isn’t a Good Deal for IDA Countries
December 7, 2022In September 2019, I wrote a blog asking “Is the New Model IFC a Good Deal for IDA Countries?” It noted that the International Finance Corporation, the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, had stopped handing over some of its profits to IDA, the part of the World Bank Group that makes low-interest loans and grants to [...]
AfDB’s new Room2Run highlights opportunities and questions about MDB risk transfer
December 6, 2022In late October, the African Development Bank (AfDB) transferred the risk on a $2 billion portfolio of AfDB loans to a group of private London-based insurers and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The loans remain on AfDB’s books and continue to be fully administered by the bank, but the risk of a borrower default is now partially [...]
The World Bank Window for Host Communities and Refugees: Opportunities for Learning and Expansion in Africa and Beyond
December 1, 2022This blog is one in a series by experts across the Center for Global Development ahead of the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit. These posts aim to re-examine US-Africa policy and put forward recommendations to deliver on a more resilient, deeper, and mutually beneficial partnership between the United States and the nations of Africa. The US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, DC [...]
MDBs for a Global Future: Centering Borrowing Country Perspectives
November 30, 2022We live in a world confronted by multiple global crises. Many of these crises—like climate change and global pandemics—defy national borders and will require unprecedented levels of investment to be contained. Global public goods (GPGs) like emissions mitigation or the development of new antibiotics are key to a less crisis prone world, but they have been underinvested in. Multilateral development [...]
The Development Finance Agenda Must Adapt to Africa’s Reality
November 29, 2022The global financial architecture is no longer aligned with the economic, social, and environmental needs of many African economies. But addressing this misalignment will require a strong African voice from leaders and policy institutes working together to determine what changes are needed. To help address these issues and develop a more unified African perspective, a group of ten African think [...]
Hybrid Capital and SDRs for the Uninitiated
November 28, 2022More than a year after the IMF general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and the G20 promise to recycle $100 billion of SDRs, how much has been achieved? The quick answer: $60 billion has been pledged, and there is hope that the United States will contribute another $21 billion. But how will the recycled SDRs be used? The IMF [...]
Amplifying Africa’s Voice – Global Financial Architecture, MDB Reform and Climate Finance
November 25, 2022On November 15, ACET and Finance for Development Labs (FDL), in collaboration with the Transformation Leadership Panel (TLP), launched the Amplifying Africa’s Voice initiative, which seeks to amplify Africa’s voice in the dialogue on reforming the global financial architecture. About the Initiative The Amplifying Africa’s Voice initiative will support a process of engagement, knowledge sharing, research, and advocacy with a select [...]
Are current climate initiatives unfair to developing nations?
November 17, 2022World leaders are gathered in Egypt for COP27, a global summit to share ideas about mitigating the climate crisis. The planet faces irreversible tipping points if the temperature warms by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. To stave off the worst effects, global greenhouse gas emissions must drop by 45% by 2030. However, the climate initiatives [...]
Confronting the climate emergency with climate, trade and development policy in sync
November 17, 2022One of the defining features of climate negotiations is the emphasis on aligning climate and development goals. The three long-term goals of the Paris Agreement – mitigation of warming, adaptation to impacts and climate-consistent finance – are all pledged “in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty”. If we fail on climate, we will fail on development. [...]
What’s the state of play on Just Energy Transition Partnerships?
November 16, 2022One of the most important announcements from COP27 so far is the deal struck between Indonesia and a group of international actors to provide $20 billion to support the transition to cleaner electricity generation. The latest Just Energy Transition Partnership or JETP builds on the excitement surrounding a similar agreement with South Africa launched at COP26 last year. JETPs are perhaps the most ambitious [...]
Providing climate finance in the context of a looming debt crisis
November 11, 2022An increasingly dangerous global debt burden The looming debt crisis in low-income countries and some middle-income countries is a dark cloud over COP27 in this polycrisis world. A commonly cited statistic is that roughly 60% of low-income countries are already in or near debt distress. This includes 13 climate vulnerable countries who are struggling or expected to struggle to repay their debts. History [...]
The “polycrisis” and global development finance: options and dilemmas
November 11, 2022With a worsening hunger crisis spurred by food and fuel inflation, war in Europe, slowing global growth and rising debt distress, ongoing COVID-related supply chain disruptions, an unfolding climate change reckoning, and intensifying geopolitical fracturing, the notion of a “polycrisis” has well and truly entered the global lexicon. Popularised by the economic historian Adam Tooze, the term refers to “not just a [...]
The Good, the Bad and the Urgent: MDB Climate Finance in 2021
November 11, 2022Multilateral development banks (MDBs) are a major source of public climate finance, and the funding that helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. MDBs usually publish a Joint Report on Climate Finance sometime between June and August to provide details of the prior year’s funding but were delayed this year. This year’s report, released [...]
Rightsizing the MDB System in the Polycrisis Era
November 8, 2022For both rich and poor countries, the climate crisis is no longer looming. It is all around them. Yet, as thousands gather in Sharm el-Sheikh for COP27, scientists have just confirmed that we are nowhere near where we need to be on greenhouse gas emissions reductions. We can expect a raft of finance promises to emerge from the meetings, many [...]
Amplifying Africa’s Voice in Reforming the Global Financial Architecture
November 4, 2022ACET and the new Finance for Development Lab, with the support of the Transformation Leadership Panel, are launching a new initiative to enhance Africa’s voice on needed changes to the global financial architecture. Following the COVID-19 crisis, the Ukraine war, and the growing fight against inflation in rich countries, the global economy is heading for years of weak growth, rising prices, and high [...]
A United Front: John Asafu-Adjaye on Africa at COP27
November 3, 2022John Asafu-Adjaye, ACET Senior Fellow and climate & agriculture specialist, talks about the common African concerns, demands, and expectations at the upcoming climate conference in Egypt. African countries are expected to speak with one voice at COP27 in Egypt this month. What are the top concerns and demands that African negotiators will bring to the climate conference? John Asafu-Adjaye: At the [...]
Climate Action for Africa at COP27
November 3, 2022Climate finance has failed Africa. African countries receive a grossly insufficient amount of climate finance, falling far short of what they require. For the period 2020-2030, the average annual climate funding needs for Africa are estimated at around $33.5b for adaptation, $72b for mitigation, and $36.5b for loss and damage, totaling $142b. However, annual climate flows to Africa currently stand at only $30b. If [...]
Is World Bank Lending a Hot Ticket in a Global Credit Crunch?
November 1, 2022World Bank loan terms are becoming increasingly attractive as global interest rates soar. This is not because IBRD loans have gotten cheaper, but because the average emerging market’s borrowing costs have risen so much more dramatically than IBRD loans prices. As a result, the spread between an IBRD loan and the price that the “average” EM would likely get in [...]
It is Unfair to Push Poor Countries to Reach Zero Carbon Emissions too Early
October 27, 2022Last year, climate action was all about declaring dates for achieving net-zero carbon emissions. At the 2021 UN’s climate change conference in Glasgow, COP26, India pledged that it would reach net-zero by 2070, a date just 10 years behind China, despite its per capita emissions being some 30 years behind China’s and only half the present world average. COP27 is just days away, but [...]
Multilateralism and Multipolarity
September 22, 2022This paper gathers the Program’s main reflections on the state of the multilateral system, and points to challenges within.
The climate agenda as the central axis of foreign policy in Latin America
August 23, 2022The climate crisis, global in nature, demands joint and urgent actions. For Latin America to advance on this agenda, it is necessary to reflect on possible ways to strengthen a multilateral narrative in favor of a coordinated foreign policy in the region. In this sense, the project "The Climate Agenda as a Central Axis of Latin American Foreign Policy" carried out by [...]
A Dive into MDB Policy-Based Guarantees: Relevant but in Need of Reform?
July 20, 2022Policy-based guarantees (PBGs) have long been a multilateral development bank (MDB) instrument in search of a purpose. PBGs—a credit enhancement for sovereign market borrowing—have been around for decades but their uptake has been limited. In most instances, they have proven remarkably effective in helping to reduce governments’ external financing costs and mobilize large volumes of private capital. As we enter [...]
Why Should You Care About MDB Capital Efficiency?
July 2, 2022At the July G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors, a panel of experts (of which I was one) presented their report on the capital adequacy of the multilateral development banks (MDBs). The G20 had commissioned the study to get an independent view of whether shareholder capital is being used efficiently, that is, to support as much development [...]
Threats without borders: Are we apt to cope with the challenges?
June 30, 2022In order to better analyze the various challenges that countries and multilateral organizations need to deal with, situationsthat go beyond countries’ borders, the Forte de Copacabana International Conference will present four central topics of discussion, focused on the following themes: climate change and the energy crisis; water and food security; the Covid-19 pandemic; and technological security, focused on artificial intelligence [...]
Memo to Administrator Power: Five Recommendations for Better USAID Engagement with the World Bank and other MDBs
June 23, 2022Yesterday we sent the following memo to USAID Administrator Samantha Power, outlining opportunities for USAID to advance US development policy through better coordination with multilateral development banks. The text of the memo follows: Background The World Bank and other multilateral development banks (MDBs) are historically underutilized assets when it comes to USAID’s development objectives across a wide range of sectors and [...]
A Bank for the World?
June 9, 2022Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported that the United States Treasury Department—the largest shareholder in the World Bank—delivered a letter protesting the Bank’s continued failure to meet the urgency of the biggest shared global challenges we currently face. The letter described “specific gaps and room for increasing climate ambition” and called for more “forceful and constructive leadership” from the [...]
The Future of Work in Africa: Eight Opportunities for Development Finance Institutions
May 20, 2022Africa’s current job market is not providing enough jobs, and the available jobs are not of sufficient quality for Africans to live a life of dignity, free of poverty. Africa’s future work will still be impacted by present challenges, but there are also several new opportunities across different sectors – fueled by the transition to digital and green economies, increased [...]
Energy in a World in Transition: Challenges, Opportunities and Perspectives
May 18, 2022The Energy Transition process is complex and multifaceted, with substantial impacts on the energy industries’ business models. In order to contribute with a greater understanding of this trend, CEBRI, in partnership with BMA, organized a collection of articles that analyzes the main implications of this process, which is well positioned to be one of the major drivers of economic transformation [...]
An Open Letter to G7 Finance Ministers
May 17, 2022Your urgent leadership towards a data-driven modern-day Marshall Plan for People and Planet In these historically tough times, when all tools of global policy must be maximised, we are writing to remind you and the other G7 Finance Ministers of your responsibility as the biggest group of shareholders of the IMF and World Bank. So we ask you please to [...]
How We Can Put SDRs to Work in the Fight Against Climate Change—The Multilateral Development Bank Option
April 25, 2022The world is in economic crisis and climate change is threatening our very existence. Many countries are in desperate need of financing to confront acute needs for energy and food, while at the same time facing huge investment costs to adapt to climate change and retool economies to low-carbon production. In such times it should be unthinkable to leave any [...]
How We Can Put SDRs to Work in the Fight Against Climate Change—The Multilateral Development Bank Option
April 25, 2022The world is in economic crisis and climate change is threatening our very existence. Many countries are in desperate need of financing to confront acute needs for energy and food, while at the same time facing huge investment costs to adapt to climate change and retool economies to low-carbon production. In such times it should be unthinkable to leave any [...]
Message to Donors: The African Development Fund Replenishment Needs Ambition
April 19, 2022The stakes are high for this year’s African Development Fund (AfDF) replenishment. The AfDF, the arm of the African Development Bank that targets the region’s poorest countries, is Africa’s only dedicated grant and concessional financing fund. Its mission is deeply relevant with the African continent facing a frightening confluence of severe crises including the economic fallout from COVID, an escalating [...]
How Could Country Platforms Facilitate the Delivery of Global Public Goods?
January 20, 2022Ongoing and looming global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change have brought renewed attention to the delivery of global public goods (GPGs)—goods that benefit the entire world and can only be provided through cooperation between countries, like public health, climate action, and peace and security. At the same time, it has become clear that strong international cooperation [...]