Bridging the financing gap in developing countries

On March 16th 2023, DG INTPA and the Practitioners‘ Network held their Annual Inclusiveness event focused on Effective partnerships between European implementers and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). Through the European financial architecture for development (EFAD), the EU and its Member States built the European financial architecture for development (EFAD) aiming at bridging the financing gap in developing countries and forming more impactful and strategic international partnerships.

The event brought together multiple European development actors including the Practitioners’ Network (PN), European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) and Joint European Financiers for International Cooperation (JEFIC) with the aim of identifying key recommendations to foster collaboration between technical and financial assistance providers.

Some of the recommendations include:

• Foster greater collaboration between technical and financial assistance providers during programming, implementation, monitoring and evaluation phase.
  • At the institutional level, this involves setting a mandate for coordination, sharing information, embracing peer learning, or setting common methodology and standards, among others.
  • At the country level, it entails enhancing local presence, addressing systemic issues, conducting a joint analysis of a country's situation, identifying financing gaps, using existing TEIs' governance and management structures, among others.
• Consider cooperation beyond technical and financial cooperation partners, and beyond EU actors.
• Highlight the added value of Technical and Financial Cooperation working together, such as improving the feasibility, social and political sustainability of investments; enhancing inclusiveness and participation of all actors; reducing transaction costs; or developing “public policy roadmaps”.

Read the full Outcome document here.