Convergence’s State of Blended Finance reports—published since 2017—focus on blended finance activities that mobilize private investment to emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). With this April 2024 edition, Convergence marks a new annual two-report cycle. Early each year, Convergence will release an edition of the State of Blended Finance report that provides analysis and insights on the entire blended finance market, including blended finance activity across sectors, regions, investors, investment structures, development impact generation, and more.
In PART I we present a data snapshot of the overall blended finance market. Convergence has recorded 1,123 blended finance transactions, with a total investment of $213 billion.
In PART II, we explore some of the key regulations facing large-scale commercial investors when investing in blended finance vehicles, considering the implications to blended finance posed by regulatory frameworks such as the Basel Accords (including the final implementation of Basel III from January 2023) and EU legislation on securitization and state aid. We also explore the perspective of supervisors and regulators on blended finance, and identify the following recommendations to address some of the regulatory hurdles blended finance faces.
In PART III, we delve into transparency in blended finance, breaking down the methodological differences underlying blended finance data and market trends from different data providers, namely, the OECD, DFI Joint Working Group on Blended Concessional Finance, and Convergence. We also consider non-blended investment activity that has been enabled by blended finance structures. Here we present the following recommendations for boosting transparency in blended finance.
In PART IV, we present a breakdown of key data trends across five sectors: agriculture, energy, financial services, health and education, and non-energy infrastructure. The deal analysis for each sector is broken down by vehicle, blending archetype, sub-sector, region, SDG alignment, and recipients, while the investor trends focus on investor activity and investor type.
In PART V, we provide seven points of action that address the opportunity areas observed in this report, aiming to equip stakeholders with a robust framework, enabling them to effectively navigate the landscape of blended finance and fully leverage its capacity as an instrument for sustainable development.
