Blended Finance in the Least Developed Countries 2020

1. Key findings and Action Agenda

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the main findings and recommendations of the report. It first analyses the challenges that least developed countries (LDCs) faced and progress they made prior to the COVID-19 crisis, as well as how this changed in light of the crisis. The chapter then examines opportunities for deploying and scaling up blended finance in LDCs, specifically in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Finally, the chapter outlines an Action Agenda to harness the potential of blended finance for LDCs.

1.1. The challenges in least developed countries prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis

Five years into the 2030 Agenda, LDCs are not making sufficient progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While there have been signs of improvement in LDCs – for example, on some indicators on poverty, gender equality and access to safe water and sanitation – LDCs still face major obstacles to eradicating poverty through economic growth, structural transformation, building productive capacity or increasing their share of exports, compared with other developing countries (UN, 2020[1]) (see Annex B). Such obstacles also vary across LDCs, which is a wide group of countries with specific structural vulnerabilities.

Even prior to the COVID‑19 crisis, LDCs faced stark challenges in terms of financing for sustainable development. Domestic resource mobilisation is challenging for LDCs, which rely to a large extent (16% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018) on external finance, namely development finance, remittances and investment.

Despite increasing interest and efforts to deploy blended finance in LDCs, to date LDCs have not been able to harness the full potential of blended finance to attract private resources. Blended finance is the strategic use of development finance to mobilise commercial finance towards the SDGs, with a focus on unlocking capital that the private sector would not have invested on its own (see Box 1.1) (OECD DAC, 2018[2]). To help meet the significant SDG financing gap in the LDCs, blended finance approaches can use increasingly scarce official development assistance (ODA) resources to mobilise commercial finance at large scale. Most LDCs lack the ecosystem of key actors and enabling policies, structures and capabilities that help to harness the full potential of blended finance (for a discussion on ecosystem development, see the guest contribution in Section 5.6 from Palladium, and Chapter 3 of the 2018 report). Lack of local capital market integration, poor capacity of intermediaries to connect enterprises with funding sources, and a lack of financial structuring knowledge make creating new blended finance vehicles particularly challenging (see the guest contribution in Section 5.9 from GuarantCo on developing local capital markets and local capacity).

1.2. The progress made in blended finance for least developed countries prior to COVID-19

Little progress in mobilising private finance in LDCs has been made since the last edition of this report, with blended finance data exhibiting similar trends (see Chapter 4 on the state of blended finance in LDCs).

LDCs continue to receive the lowest share of private finance mobilised by blended finance. Between 2012 and 2018 about USD 13.4 billion was mobilised in LDCs, only 6% of the total. This compares with over USD 84 billion (41%) in upper-middle-income countries and USD 68 billion (33%) in low- and middle-income countries. In 2018, USD 3.8 billion was mobilised in LDCs, accounting for about 7.5% of the total. While this represents a remarkable increase with respect to previous years, it is mostly driven by changes in data disclosure by some reporting organisations. This underscores the crucial importance of enhancing transparency in the blended finance space and improving data disclosure at a disaggregated level.

Multilateral institutions still mobilise the largest amounts of private finance in LDCs. Bilateral donors tend to mobilise smaller amounts, but are increasingly engaging in blended finance approaches in LDCs. France ranks first and mobilised more than USD 250 million in 2017–2018 in LDCs, followed by the United States, Finland, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Sweden.

Private finance is being mobilised in more LDCs, although with significant heterogeneity across countries. Since the last report, private finance has been mobilised in two additional LDCs (Central African Republic and Lesotho), indicating that between 2012 and 2018, private finance was mobilised in 45 out of the 47 LDCs. In the same period, five countries received more than USD 1 billion each (Angola, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Senegal and Uganda), while 12 countries received less than USD 10 million, and the remaining 30 countries received USD 270 million on average. In 2017–2018, the top five LDC recipients were Uganda, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Benin and Mauritania.

Guarantees continued to mobilise the largest share of private finance in LDCs (see the guest contribution in Section 5.9 from GuarantCo on the use of guarantees). Direct investment in companies and special purpose vehicles experienced the highest increase in 2017–2018: 24% of the total private finance mobilised and a 10% increase compared with previous years (see the guest contribution in Section 5.3 from Convergence on using funds and facilities to mobilise finance). According to Convergence, most blended finance transactions targeting one or more LDCs benefited from concessional finance within their capital structure. However, the share of this archetype decreased over time (from 75% in 2010–2014 to 60% in 2015–2019) (see Box 4.5 for Convergence’s analysis of blended finance archetypes in LDCs).

Energy, and banking and financial services continue to mobilise the largest amounts, with 50% of all private finance mobilised in 2017–2018 concentrated in these sectors (averaging, respectively, USD 796 million and USD 672 million). However, in 2018 compared with 2017, significantly lower shares of private finance were mobilised in the energy, and banking and financial services sectors, as well as in communications. Sectors such as industry, mining and construction (up by 9% in 2018), and transport and storage (up by 3%), but also government and civil society (up by 4%) and health (up by 3%), mobilised a higher proportion of total private finance in 2018 compared with 2017.

Box 1.1. Messages and Action Agenda from the 2018 and 2019 reports

The 2018 Blended Finance in the Least Developed Countries report examined the opportunities and challenges for deploying blended finance in LDCs (OECD/UNCDF, 2018[3]). Its sequel in 2019 built on prior analysis to assess progress in and obstacles to expanding the scope of blended finance in LDCs (OECD/UNCDF, 2019[4]). Those reports also laid out a five-point Action Agenda to improve the practice of blended finance while ensuring that its application remains aligned with the goal of attaining the SDGs. It proposed the following.

• Encourage risk taking and experimentation, as appropriate. This remains a necessary priority to the expansion of blended finance in LDC environments with higher real or perceived risks. Key concessional finance providers, including development finance institutions and multilateral development banks, will need to explore ways to innovate and increase risk tolerance to expand efforts to mobilise private finance for LDCs, especially in the unprecedented COVID‑19 environment.

• Bring LDCs to the decision-making table. Blended finance actors should engage LDCs in global policy dialogues and processes to make sure blended finance policies and approaches reflect LDC perspectives and respond to the needs in the poorest countries. Further support is also needed to build the capacity of national and local LDC governments and stakeholders on blended finance and related topics.

• Deploy blended finance strategies to support sustainable outcomes. Blended finance approaches and transactions should leverage domestic investors, support the growth of local industry and the development of the private sector and be deployed in tandem with complementary approaches to build local economies and sound enabling environments.

• Improve impact measurement and transparency. Development partners should strengthen ex-ante impact management and measurement of blended finance projects to ensure their SDG-positive impact. To increase transparency, information concerning blended finance transactions and vehicles, such as the amount of ODA used, should be made publicly available.

1.3. The coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis makes the challenges in least developed countries even greater

LDCs face growing uncertainty with evolving development challenges and a widening SDG financing gap. Due to the crisis, the already significant SDG investment gap in LDCs is expected to widen even further.1 While the impact of the crisis on ODA flows to LDCs is still uncertain, external flows to LDCs (including development finance, foreign direct investment, other, private investment and remittances), which represented on average 16% of GDP in 2018, show signs of being severely impacted. The deteriorating economic situation is likely to lead to declines in domestic resource mobilisation and shrinking fiscal space. As a result, already high debt levels are expected to further increase, as many LDCs will have to increase their borrowing in the absence of other external support (UN, 2020[5]). The COVID‑19 crisis has made the prospects for progress even bleaker and is exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and development challenges faced by LDCs (see Chapter 2 on financing sustainable development in LDCs and Annex B on the main gaps between LDCs and other developing countries).

The health and social impacts of COVID‑19 are still unfolding in LDCs (see Section 2.3). LDCs’ health infrastructure remains under-resourced for COVID‑19. Extreme poverty is expected to rise, as the pandemic has created vast unemployment and significant disruptions for the large populations of informal-sector workers. So far, the crisis has had an outsize impact on women and girls, in terms of both employment and access to education. Disruptions in global value chains and food systems, combined with losses in income, have increased food insecurity among the most vulnerable populations.

1.4. Key opportunities for blended finance to tackle the COVID-19 crisis in least developed countries

This report examines the opportunities for deploying and scaling up blended finance in LDCs, specifically in response to the COVID‑19 crisis. It builds on the current data and trends observed in LDCs and features guest contributions by practitioners and experts working in the blended finance space. Based on the analysis and insights in the report, the following key opportunities could be leveraged to increase the scope of blended finance activities in LDCs and ultimately support these countries to recover from the COVID‑19 crisis and build forward better.

Use blended finance best practices and principles as an anchor to navigate the crisis. To ensure the effective use of blended finance in response to the crisis, blended finance principles and guidance such as those of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and the DFI Working Group on Blended Concessional Finance for Private Sector Projects, as well as other agendas, such as the development effectiveness agenda and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, should be used as an anchor for navigating the crisis (OECD DAC, 2018[2]); (UN, 2015[6]). The DAC has also recently approved the Blended Finance Guidance to support development finance providers in implementing the principles (OECD DAC, 2020[7]). Now more than ever, it will be critical to ensure blended finance programmes have a strong development rationale and deliver impact and results that are monitored and reported in a transparent manner (see the guest contribution in Section 5.11 from Global Affairs Canada on transparency). Blended finance needs to focus on models that optimise the mobilisation of commercial finance while minimising the required concessionality. Blending also needs to target areas and projects where commercial financing is not available, to ensure additionality (see the guest contribution in Section 5.4 from CrossBoundary on additionality) and to avoid crowding out the private sector. Engagement with local beneficiaries is critical to focus blended finance interventions on local priorities and contexts and contribute to local market development and capacity-building (see the guest contribution in Section 5.6 from Palladium on local market development).

Support national recovery plans and development strategies (see Section 3.2.1). In the wake of the crisis, blended finance interventions should seek to align with national development priorities, as articulated in key crisis response plans and national development strategies (see the guest contribution in Section 5.1 from a Member of the Bangladesh Parliament on national ownership). Blended finance should be considered as one of the options to support a country’s development priorities, as part of integrated national financing frameworks (INFFs) (see Box 3.3 on INFFs). Tools such as the country private sector diagnostics from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the SDG investor maps from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the impact mappings from the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) could be useful in identifying local sector and sub-sector priorities and more targeted investment opportunity areas (IFC, 2020[8]); (UNDP, 2020[9]); (UNEP-FI, 2020[10]).

The specific contexts within LDCs, as well as SDG and sector priorities, need to be addressed. For instance, in small island developing states, which rely heavily on oceans-based industries, blended finance efforts could focus on opportunities to scale up or replicate innovative “blue” blended finance schemes, such as blue bonds, debt-for-ocean swaps, blue carbon schemes, insurance schemes to cover oceans-related risks or impact funds for oceans-based activities (OECD, 2020[11]) (see Box 2.6 on blended finance for sustainable ocean economies). Evidence also points to a track record of blended finance instruments deployed in fragile contexts, including for humanitarian purposes. For example, humanitarian impact bonds have been tested, and some private equity funds and impact funds are increasingly operating in fragile contexts (Basile and Neunuebel, 2019[12]) (see Box 4.2 on blending in fragile contexts). Lastly, in contexts such as those of landlocked countries, blended finance could focus on infrastructure, trade and transportation. Beyond sector prioritisation, building greater local capacities is needed to identify and develop pipelines of SDG-aligned, investment-ready projects.

Prioritise sectors that are key to creating decent, productive jobs (see Section 3.2.2). The loss of jobs and livelihoods due to the pandemic risks being more severe than the health impacts. In line with national priorities, blended finance should be prioritised to provide needed capital in LDCs to help protect jobs, sustain the self-employed and support companies’ liquidity and operations.

Support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as engines for growth (see Section 3.2.3). Preliminary findings from a survey on the state of SMEs in LDCs conducted by a consortium of organisations, including UNCDF, show that due to COVID‑19, 87.9% of SMEs reported operating on less than 75% business capacity, 34.6% have laid off staff, and 33.9% have indicated that they are at risk of shutting down within three months (UNCDF et al., 2020[13]). SMEs, particularly those in the “missing middle” which are too large for microfinance but considered too small by local banks and development finance institutions (DFIs), will not likely be rescued by government stimulus packages and will struggle to survive the crisis, despite their important role in driving long-term job creation and sustainable economic growth in LDCs. Blended finance vehicles should target this financing gap in LDCs (see the guest contribution in Section 5.10 from UNCDF’s LDC Investment Platform team on the “missing middle”).

Systematically support women and girls to accelerate the recovery (see Section 3.2.4). Women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and continue to face disadvantages, despite widespread recognition of the need for gender equality and of its importance for achieving sustainable development. Blended finance investors should consider targeting women-led enterprises and sectors with high shares of female employment more systematically, including by providing liquidity or working capital to financial institutions and intermediaries that incorporate a gender lens.

Catalyse the growth of health-related industries (see Section 3.2.5). The crisis has demonstrated the need for stronger health systems in LDCs, and many governments have called for investment support to develop domestic industries to produce vital medical supplies and pharmaceuticals. Blended finance could play a catalytic role in that regard, including supporting the dissemination of vaccines.

Target sectors that are critical for inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery (see Section 3.2.6). Examples include climate-compatible infrastructure, transport and storage, and municipal infrastructure (see the guest contribution in Section 5.8 from UNCDF’s Local Development practice on municipal infrastructure investment). To harness the digital revolution, blended finance could scale up digital infrastructure and digital business models that help to expand access to a wide range of services for currently underserved populations (see the guest contribution in Section 5.7 from UNCDF’s Financial Inclusion practice on digital finance). In addition, investments in clean energy and blue economy will help build resilience and enable SDG achievement.

1.5. An Action Agenda to harness the potential of blended finance for least developed countries

This Action Agenda aims to provide concrete steps to harness the potential of blended finance to support LDCs to build forward better from the COVID-19 crisis and make progress on the SDGs. This report and Agenda aim to feed into and help inform the preparatory process for the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) and the new programme of action for LDCs. The Action Agenda also aims to follow up on the United Nations-supported discussions on financing for development in the era of COVID‑19 and beyond, which called for increased efforts to promote private investments in the SDGs in developing countries, including through greater support for innovative blended finance approaches in LDCs (UN, 2020[14]).

The Action Agenda outlined below draws from the research and findings of this report, including views and ideas put forward in the guest contributions. The Agenda builds on recommendations from the previous two reports (see Box 1.1). They seek to respond to some of the key underlying weaknesses and barriers that limit the mobilisation of private finance in LDCs through the use of blended finance approaches, and that concentrate it in few sectors and with limited or unclear development impacts. As such, the Agenda responds to many of the multiple risks and barriers to private investments in the LDCs presented in Box 3.1 and discussed in other parts of this report. The Action Agenda is directed to actors involved in blended finance, including LDC and donor governments, international organisations, domestic and international private sector investors and others providing relevant support for enabling private investments in LDCs.

1. Support domestic financial ecosystems and market development

Blended finance can be used strategically to develop sustainable market systems and build the capacity of local capital market actors.

1.1 Examine a project’s systemic effects on the overall market

Blended finance investments should aim to create a new market or strengthen fledgling markets, for example by using concessional finance in the early market development stage, as a temporary intervention to help introduce fully commercial finance over time. First movers’ transactions in LDC markets face high initial costs and/or risks, but have a strong potential for market creation, often through demonstration effects and the creation of positive externalities, which then make subsequent transactions easier. Blended finance transactions, particularly those involving concessionality, should be designed to reach commercial sustainability eventually, with clear exit strategies (in line with OECD Blended Finance Principles). Guarantees and risk capital can be effective in creating markets, while concessional debt can be more appropriate in sustaining market growth.

1.2 Support local capacity-building to improve the enabling environment

Blended finance should be implemented in tandem with public reforms and capacity-building to address underlying constraints to private investments. LDCs should design an approach to private investment and blended finance that focuses on building the key components of an ecosystem, including transaction and business development advisories and conducive legal and regulatory systems. Grant providers can support capacity-building for local investors and public financial institutions. Capacity support should be embedded in the ecosystem to provide local and regional training and facilitate connections among key market actors. Technical assistance should be integrated into blended finance solutions, delivering it pre-investment to increase addressable demand, and continuing it post-investment to reduce risk.

1.3 Develop local capital markets, promoting local currency financing solutions and greater mobilisation of local investors

It is important to accompany blended finance transactions with solutions that support the development of local capital markets to sustain the commercial viability of future investments. Blended finance can also de-risk deals to crowd in domestic capital from local investors to support local governments and SMEs. As an example, concessional local currency solutions, such as guarantees, should be promoted, as they allow the offsetting of asset-liability mismatches at terms that are viable for the project to proceed and/or for the end users to be able to afford to use the products or services (e.g. loans at tenors and terms that are viable for SMEs, but beyond established local capital market rates). Local currency guarantors can support the development of local capital markets and mobilise long-term local currency financing. It is important for foreign donors and investors to manage currency risk through the use of local currency products and/or currency swaps. Furthermore, mobilising local investors such as sovereign wealth funds and local pension funds to provide local currency finance to projects that generate revenues in local currency also contributes to reducing foreign exchange risk, and provides long-term finance (OECD, 2020[15]).

1.4 Strengthen the role of national development banks in deploying blended finance

Enhancing the role of national development banks (NDBs) to support blended finance includes improving governance and ensuring their mandates and business models are fit for purpose to support private sector mobilisation and the use of blended finance approaches. At the country level, governments need to give NDBs clear and stable mandates aligned with the SDGs, ensure they are adequately resourced, and put in place supportive policy and regulatory frameworks. At the international level, multilateral development banks, regional development banks, DFIs and international climate funds need to step up their engagement with NDBs and support the development of their capacity.

2. Design blended finance solutions to reach the “last mile”

LDCs and investors in LDC markets should design innovative blended finance structures, based on country-specific contexts that reach the most vulnerable and underserved communities.

2.1 Focus on risk mitigation tools

In LDCs, there is a need for a targeted and combined use of various financial instruments and mechanisms in blended finance transactions to tackle overlapping layers of risk. This can include higher concessionality, the use of multiple instruments in one transaction, and local currency solutions. Similarly, concessionality levels are likely to be much higher in the last mile than elsewhere. Development partners need to acknowledge this reality and customise blended instruments to local circumstances.

2.2 Engage local stakeholders to identify project opportunities in line with local needs

Development finance providers should engage with local governments and municipalities to identify local investment opportunities where the private sector can provide effective solutions to reach the furthest behind. This will help to unlock finance in LDCs that is targeted to local priorities that have been identified as key to achieving sustainable, green and resilient growth. Beyond local administrations, development partners should also engage with local civil society organisations and micro, small and medium-sized enterprise associations to identify development challenges to be addressed and possible solutions tailored to local contexts. These actors should also considered when measuring the social and environmental risks of specific projects.

2.3 Target the “missing-middle” enterprises

LDCs and development partners should consider risk-tolerant facilities to support enterprises in the “missing middle”, including their customers, suppliers and workers in the poorest and most vulnerable communities, with a systematic focus on women entrepreneurs and SMEs supporting gender equality and women’s empowerment. UNCDF’s on-balance-sheet lending focuses on “missing middle” investments in LDCs and can help to fill this gap in the development finance architecture.

2.4 Employ digital financial solutions

Digital solutions should be used to reach the last mile, help to bring solutions to large scale, collect data to inform investment decisions and to monitor performance, and mobilise resources from non-traditional sources. Investments to bridge the digital divide will be crucial in bringing these solutions to the last mile.

2.5 Ensure the accessibility and affordability of products and services delivered through blended finance investments

Development partners in blended finance should evaluate the commercial viability of the underlying investment in a blended finance transaction or vehicle and weigh it against the development impacts they want to achieve, including the affordability, accessibility and quality of products and services provided.

3. Improve impact management and measurement and promote transparency

Enhancing impact and transparency is critical to allow for informed decision-making as well as accountability and learning. Often, the development impact of blended finance transactions is unclear because of weak monitoring systems and a lack of transparency.

3.1 Improve impact management and measurement practices

Governments and engaged partners should work to enhance the quality of monitoring and evaluating the sustainable development impact of blended finance investments. In strengthening SDG impact measurement, providers should ensure that ex-ante SDG impact assessments and ex-post evaluations are undertaken and made publicly available. The Tri Hita Karana (THK)2 working group on impact has developed a practical checklist to assess the impact of blended finance on poor people. It gives a set of questions and screening considerations for the ex-ante assessment of the expected impact, and for the ex-post assessment of the actual impact on poor people, in line with the Global Impact Investing Network’s IRIS+ impact metrics (THK Impact Working Group, 2020[16]); (THK and IRIS, 2020[17]). With a better ability to do assessment up front and to measure and track impact, blended finance can be directed towards those projects where the sustainable development impact is greatest. The OECD, in collaboration with UNDP, is currently developing impact standards on financing for sustainable development, focusing on both impact management and measurement.

3.2 Increase the transparency of existing investments

Increased transparency of what is and is not working can serve as a demonstration effect to other potential investors on the realistic investment opportunities and the catalytic effects of blended finance. Finance for future projects can be leveraged by building the evidence base on blended finance projects in LDCs. This includes increasing the availability of data on the financial conditions, risks and development results of blended finance interventions, as well as more disaggregated and consistent disclosure of the data on the private finance mobilised. Concessional funding providers should request disclosure of this information as part of their financing agreement. The United Nations initiative on financing for development in the era of COVID‑19 and beyond also calls for accurate data on all financial flows to ensure transparency (UN, 2020[18]). There have been important efforts to address these issues, such as the IFC’s disclosure of the estimated subsidy and justification for each transaction co-funded by blended concessional finance, including through the International Development Association’s Private Sector Window. The THK roadmap for blended finance is also working to increase transparency in blended finance (THK Transparency Working Group, 2020[19]).

3.3 Promote collaboration and the sharing of knowledge, best practices and lessons learned

The blended finance ecosystem is composed of a wide range of actors and organisations, with different mandates and incentives. Promoting collaboration and facilitating effective partnering is of crucial importance. This could enhance the sharing of knowledge, best practices and lessons learned from experiences with blended finance in specific contexts or sectors in LDCs. This would contribute to building a track record that would give confidence to donors and investors alike. The recently established OECD DAC Community of Practice on Private Finance for Sustainable Development provides a forum for such dialogue and exchanges between DAC donors and private actors (OECD, 2020[20]). The DFI Working Group on Blended Concessional Finance for Private Sector Projects and its joint reports, published annually since 2017, are good efforts in this spirit.

4. Bring blended finance to large scale through systemic and transformational approaches

Efforts to build forward better post-COVID‑19 should be designed not just to help countries bounce back to pre-crisis status, but rather to support a transformation to more resilient and sustainable economies that can drive SDG progress. This means doing more than restarting economies and restoring livelihoods to their pre-crisis levels. For blended finance to make a difference and have sustained relevance in LDCs, it must be used to respond in a systemic way to systemic crises.

4.1 Incorporate blended finance into co-ordinated multilateral crisis response and national recovery plans

Blended finance should be explicitly included in the global agenda as the development community shapes the crisis response for LDCs. This would entail exploring how public stimulus packages and other donor efforts to respond to the crisis, including debt relief measures, can be used more explicitly to leverage additional SDG-positive private investments. This can be done by using analytical tools such as the integrated national financing frameworks and nationally determined contributions, SDG investor maps and IFC country private sector diagnostic to identify priority sectors for blended finance investment.

4.2 Adopt a portfolio approach (through vehicles, platforms) for scalable solutions

A deal-by-deal approach to recovery will not reach the scale or transformational change needed to address the new risks posed by COVID‑19 and advance the fight against existing vulnerabilities exacerbated by the pandemic. Development funders should prioritise a portfolio approach along with asymmetrical risk-return profiles to mobilise private investors. This includes the greater use of collective or pooled investment vehicles (funds and facilities) and special purpose vehicles with different tranches, in addition to guarantees, to better manage risks and achieve greater mobilisation of private sector finance. Mobilising private investment at large scale by increasing the ticket/deal size, such as through the aggregation of multiple projects, across multiple LDCs, projects and/or sectors, creates diversification to reduce risk-return variance for investors. Enhanced collaboration and co-ordination are needed among blended finance actors, for example to capitalise, replicate or create structures to scale up blended finance, with specific focus or targets on LDCs.

4.3 Prioritise scalable projects in sectors driving an inclusive, sustainable, green and resilient recovery

To support LDCs to recover from COVID‑19 and rebuild better, blended finance actors will need to ensure that investments contribute to an inclusive, sustainable and resilient system. Post-COVID‑19 blended finance arrangements will, therefore, need to prioritise investments that promote job creation and strengthen sectors that can drive and balance economic growth, environmental sustainability, well-being and inclusiveness. Blended finance should focus on catalytic interventions that can demonstrate the viability of new business models and economic sectors with the aim of unlocking larger commercial investments in such areas. This means that blended finance investments, irrespective of sector focus, could focus on:

• targeting strategic opportunities that could result in the significant creation of decent jobs;

• integrating digital solutions to enhance access and reduce risk and transaction costs;

• supporting women’s economic empowerment and gender equality;

• aligning with long-term emissions reduction goals and factoring in resilience to climate impacts;

• slowing biodiversity loss and increasing circular economy approaches.

References

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[6] UN (2015), Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, United Nations General Assembly, New York.

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[10] UNEP-FI (2020), Impact radar & mappings, https://www.unepfi.org/positive-impact/impact-radar-mappings/.

Notes

← 1.  The financing gap to achieve the SDGs in developing countries was estimated at USD 2.5 trillion annually before the pandemic. Current estimates indicate that, considering the increase in needs and drop in resources due to the COVID 19 crisis, the SDG financing gap could increase by USD 1.7 trillion – that is, by about 70% in 2020 (OECD, 2020[22]).

← 2.  Established in Bali, Indonesia, in October 2018, the THK Roadmap for Blended Finance is a unique platform for international dialogue on blended finance. It brings together stakeholders from all over the world, including donor agencies, development finance institutions, multilateral development banks, civil society organisations, philanthropic foundations, private sector stakeholders, and impact investment communities (THK, 2018[21]).