global development
Development investments should engender lasting prosperity through strong institutions, productive markets, and resilient communities
All-in on Catalytic Development Finance
All-in on Catalytic Development Finance
The purpose of development finance is not to replace private investment, but to make it possible.
Sustainable development is ultimately driven by productive businesses, functioning markets, and long-term investment. Development finance institutions should therefore go all in on their core comparative advantage: absorbing risk, improving bankability, and mobilising private capital into emerging and frontier markets. Where possible, every euro of public capital should seek to crowd in many more euros of private investment.
Sustainable development is ultimately driven by productive businesses, functioning markets, and long-term investment. Development finance institutions should therefore go all in on their core comparative advantage: absorbing risk, improving bankability, and mobilising private capital into emerging and frontier markets. Where possible, every euro of public capital should seek to crowd in many more euros of private investment.
Concessional finance, guarantees, grants, and technical assistance should be treated as catalytic tools with outsized potential rather than ends in themselves. Success is not measured by the amount of capital deployed, but by whether markets become self-sustaining over time.
Turning "unbankable" opportunities into bankable ones is the core business of development financiers. Their structures, incentives, and partnerships should reflect this reality.
Concessional finance, guarantees, grants, and technical assistance should be treated as catalytic tools with outsized potential rather than ends in themselves. Success is not measured by the amount of capital deployed, but by whether markets become self-sustaining over time.
Turning "unbankable" opportunities into bankable ones is the core business of development financiers. Their structures, incentives, and partnerships should reflect this reality.
Merging Impact and Investment
Merging Impact and Investment
Impact and investment should not be separate professions.
Many development banks and other impact financiers divide responsibility between investment teams and impact specialists. While well-intentioned, this often creates duplication, lengthy alignment processes, and blurred accountability.
I believe the future of the sector is the Impact Investment Officer: a professional responsible for evaluating financial viability, development impact, sector dynamics, and local market realities as part of a single investment process.
One investment. One owner. One accountability structure.
Specialist teams would continue to provide guidance and oversight, but responsibility for delivering both financial and development outcomes should ultimately sit with the same individual.
Many development banks and other impact financiers divide responsibility between investment teams and impact specialists. While well-intentioned, this often creates duplication, lengthy alignment processes, and blurred accountability.
I believe the future of the sector is the Impact Investment Officer: a professional responsible for evaluating financial viability, development impact, sector dynamics, and local market realities as part of a single investment process.
One investment. One owner. One accountability structure.
Specialist teams would continue to provide guidance and oversight, but responsibility for delivering both financial and development outcomes should ultimately sit with the same individual.
Rather than separating impact specialists and investment officers into different functions, development banks should build a new generation of professionals capable of evaluating financial viability, development impact, and local realities as part of a single investment process.
Development investors must be incentivised to realise impact.
Most institutions reward investment officers primarily for executing transactions. Impact is often measured separately and rarely influences personal incentives in a meaningful way.
Impact investment professionals should receive recognition not only for successful deals, but also for measurable impact achieved over the life of those investments. This would encourage better investment selection, stronger monitoring, and greater long-term accountability. This is especially relevant for financial institutions serving a public or mission-driven mandate. A growing number of specialist impact funds have begun linking carried interest or other elements of investment team compensation to impact performance, demonstrating that stronger incentive alignment is both feasible and practical. Many DFIs and larger development finance institutions have yet to adopt comparable remuneration structures.
Successful impact outcomes should influence professional incentives just as financial performance does. Development organisations cannot claim impact as central to their operations while rewarding only transaction volume and portfolio growth — and treating impact metrics as marketing or fundraising fodder.
Most institutions reward investment officers primarily for executing transactions. Impact is often measured separately and rarely influences personal incentives in a meaningful way.
Impact investment professionals should receive recognition not only for successful deals, but also for measurable impact achieved over the life of those investments. This would encourage better investment selection, stronger monitoring, and greater long-term accountability. This is especially relevant for financial institutions serving a public or mission-driven mandate. A growing number of specialist impact funds have begun linking carried interest or other elements of investment team compensation to impact performance, demonstrating that stronger incentive alignment is both feasible and practical. Many DFIs and larger development finance institutions have yet to adopt comparable remuneration structures.
Successful impact outcomes should influence professional incentives just as financial performance does. Development organisations cannot claim impact as central to their operations while rewarding only transaction volume and portfolio growth — and treating impact metrics as marketing or fundraising fodder.
The Great De-burdening of IFIs and their investees
The Great De-burdening of IFIs and their investees
Every investment should create meaningful impact. Not every investment can satisfy every impact framework.
Too often, development investments are expected to simultaneously deliver climate outcomes, gender outcomes, governance improvements, social inclusion, capacity building, and economic development.
This creates bureaucratic burden without improving outcomes, for both the IFI and the investee.
A renewable energy investment may generate transformative climate impact while contributing little to gender equality. A financial inclusion project may have profound social outcomes while contributing little to climate mitigation. Both can be highly impactful.
Development banks should prioritise depth over breadth: identify the most relevant impact dimensions for each investment and pursue them rigorously, rather than requiring every project to tick every box. Trust impact investment professionals to identify where meaningful impact can be achieved in each investment, sector, and geography, rather than relying on one-size-fits-all frameworks.
Too often, development investments are expected to simultaneously deliver climate outcomes, gender outcomes, governance improvements, social inclusion, capacity building, and economic development.
This creates bureaucratic burden without improving outcomes, for both the IFI and the investee.
A renewable energy investment may generate transformative climate impact while contributing little to gender equality. A financial inclusion project may have profound social outcomes while contributing little to climate mitigation. Both can be highly impactful.
Development banks should prioritise depth over breadth: identify the most relevant impact dimensions for each investment and pursue them rigorously, rather than requiring every project to tick every box. Trust impact investment professionals to identify where meaningful impact can be achieved in each investment, sector, and geography, rather than relying on one-size-fits-all frameworks.
Local Context Beats Headquarters Frameworks
Local Context Beats Headquarters Frameworks
Good development finance relies on deep understanding of local context.
Investment professionals should spend meaningful time in the markets they serve and ideally possess direct regional experience.
Many requirements that appear sensible from headquarters become unrealistic, irrelevant, or even counterproductive when applied on the ground. Development finance works best when local realities shape impact objectives, not the other way around.
The key question should not be: "Does this investment satisfy our framework?"
But rather: "What change is this context ready for?" & "Where are we best suited to add value?"
Strong institutions, resilient communities, and productive markets are built through pragmatism, local ownership, and a deep understanding of context.
Investment professionals should spend meaningful time in the markets they serve and ideally possess direct regional experience.
Many requirements that appear sensible from headquarters become unrealistic, irrelevant, or even counterproductive when applied on the ground. Development finance works best when local realities shape impact objectives, not the other way around.
The key question should not be: "Does this investment satisfy our framework?"
But rather: "What change is this context ready for?" & "Where are we best suited to add value?"
Strong institutions, resilient communities, and productive markets are built through pragmatism, local ownership, and a deep understanding of context.
A successful development financier should gradually make its mandate obsolete.
Its investments should strengthen institutions, deepen capital markets, build productive enterprises, and create prosperity that endures long after development financiers have left the scene.
Its investments should strengthen institutions, deepen capital markets, build productive enterprises, and create prosperity that endures long after development financiers have left the scene.