Recent Posts
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 continental trade, and the potential of Africa’s women, youth, and its informal sector. The report Shifting and Accelerating DFI Investments for More Decent Jobs in Africa, commissioned by ACET and ONE, identifies eight opportunities for DFIs to support [...]
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 honestly ask yourselves this question: are you doing everything possible, in close cooperation with the G20 and others, to direct these institutions, and the wider family of multilateral development banks, [...]
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 assets unused. But that is just what is happening now: Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) are sitting idle in many countries’ central banks. With a political push and some technical innovation, [...]
Paving the Way for Greener Central Banks. Current Trends and Future Developments around the Globe
March 28, 2022Climate change has quickly become one of the most pressing challenges of our society. Financial actors could play a key role in supporting and fostering a shift towards a low-carbon economy. In this context, central banks could have a primary function in both tackling climate-related risks and the ones related to the transition and, potentially, proactively redirecting resources towards green initiatives. Central banks are indeed exploring how different types of climate-related risks and considerations could be incorporated into their activities. However, this effort is proceeding at a different speed and [...]