Each spring the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) hold meetings to discuss issues related to poverty reduction, economic development, and finance. These Spring Meetings bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, parliamentarians, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations, and academics, and act as a litmus test for what is most pressing in development finance.
Blended finance was a key theme in the 2018 Spring Meetings (April 16-22) that just wrapped up last weekend, and we’ve put together a round-up of blended finance highlights from the week.
Capital increases for IBRD and IFC to facilitate greater volumes of blended finance
The World Bank’s shareholders endorsed a USD 13B paid-in capital increase, with a USD 7.5B paid-in capital for IBRD, the main concessional lending arm, and USD 5.5B paid-in capital for IFC, the commercial-terms lender. As leaders in blended finance, this will likely create greater volumes of blended finance, as IBRD and IFC’s overall lending increases to nearly USD 80B in fiscal 2019 and then to an average of USD 100B annually through 2030.
IFC releases blended finance briefing
On April 19, the IFC released a new note called Blended Finance – A Stepping Stone to Creating Markets. The note explores the role of blended finance in creating markets and calls out specific lessons learned from blended finance projects and structures. It concludes that while blended finance is not a silver bullet in development finance, it has the potential to be catalytic at multiple stages of market development.
Blended Finance Task Force announces eight initiatives for mobilizing private capital
The Blended Finance Taskforce launched their Programme of Action, a set of eight work streams that encapsulate current momentum towards mobilizing private capital for the SDGs at scale. Convergence is committed to contributing to multiple initiatives, especially:
- Profiling existing blended finance vehicles to support scale up through our case studies;
- Incubating new blended finance intermediaries to drive the pipeline through our Design Funding program; and
- Building blended finance capacity in developing countries through our workshops and trainings.
Convergence members get a chance to mingle
Convergence hosted a Breakfast & Networking event for our members at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, DC. It was a lively reception with strong attendance from over 80 current and prospective members, including USAID, OPIC, the Nature Conservancy, UBS Optimus, Rare, and IFC. Joan Larrea, CEO of Convergence, and Paul Lamontagne, Managing Director of FinDev Canada, made short remarks on the important role of blended finance and innovation in the development sphere.
A full house
Convergence CEO Joan Larrea
FinDev Canada Managing Director Paul Lamontagne
