The Blended Finance Project

Blended finance is the use of public aid funds to raise money from the private sector to meet international aid and development goals while providing a profit to private investors. It is increasingly promoted as a solution to the financing gap to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The Canadian government’s optimistic attitude towards this strategy is simply not supported by the data and lacks a critical analysis of its implications for affected communities around the world and the future of Canada’s Official Development Assistance. Blended finance is yet another iteration of privatization and financialization, whereby publicly funded aid programs increasingly serve the needs and goals of the private sector. This project seeks to unpack these shortcomings, providing a critical analysis of blended finance and other aid instruments used here in Canada and elsewhere to attract private sector investment. Click here for more.

Check out this new report:

Mapping Blended Finance: What is the experience of development cooperation and solidarity organizations in Canada?

Canada’s blended finance track record: Case studies about FinDev Canada.

In January 2018, Export Development Canada (EDC), the national export credit agency, launched a subsidiary firm, the Development Finance Institute Canada (FinDev). FinDev’s mandate is to support “the private sector in developing markets to promote sustainable development” by focusing on job creation (through market development), women’s economic empowerment, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Since its formation, FinDev’s portfolio has grown. Read these case studies to learn about some of the controversies and issues FinDev’s investments have raised so far.

Thursday May 27, 2021 11:00 AM EDT

This year’s federal budget further entrenches Canada down the dangerous path of privatizing international aid. Also known as “blended finance,” the use of public aid money to leverage private investments is proving to have disastrous consequences for global communities receiving the aid. 

In this webinar, we will examine case studies where blended finance has widened inequality, undermined the public sector or otherwise negatively affected aid recipients with a focus on women. We will talk about what this shift means in the context of COVID-19 and the climate emergency and will explore alternative public policy solutions that prioritize people over profits.

Panelists:

Hussainatu J. Abdullah, DAWN
Masaya Llavaneras Blanco, DAWN

Wednesday, March 31 from 1-2:30pm (EDT)

The Canadian government has enthusiastically embraced private sector engagement as a way to meet its Sustainable Development Goals, including using public aid money to leverage private money (aka ‘blended finance’). Experiences in Europe and elsewhere suggest that blended finance is a problematic approach to financing for development. Blended finance initiatives have little to no impact on poverty, undermine the public sector and threaten to widen inequality. In the context of the climate emergency and the economic and social crises exacerbated by COVID-19, public policy solutions that prioritize people over profits are more urgent than ever.

This roundtable aims to bring together development practitioners, union members and academics to reflect on three questions:

Panelists:

Angella MacEwen, CUPE
María José Romero, Eurodad
Jennifer Rosario-Malonzo, IBON