Financing for Development

In this international development finance course, you will learn about the critical role of the private sector and the use of finance, including innovative solutions to fund the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , to help meet the World Bank Group goals of ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity by 2030.

Through this course, you will become a part of a growing community looking to combine public resources with private and commercial finance to achieve the 17 SDGs. Over this four-week course, you will hear from prominent government, international organization and private sector leaders who have considerable first-hand experience in preparing and implementing development projects and forging public-private collaborations globally and regionally. The challenges and successes of mobilizing billions to generate the trillions needed will also be outlined.

This course will cover key concepts and terminology, sources of development finance, including public, private, commercial, and multilateral, and the need for increased use of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and innovative financing solutions to mobilize and leverage domestic and official development resources alongside private funds.

You will learn through video presentations, core reading materials and links to additional videos and readings. Join the conversation through discussion boards, Google Hangouts, Twitter chats and other interactive features that encourage active learning.

This course will familiarize participants with the approaches currently under discussion among global leaders on financing the new development agenda.

Week 1: Introduction to Financing for Development
The first Module defines financing for development and its purpose, describes the main sources of finance and the principal actors involved in financing for development projects, discusses the trends in development finance and outlines why a paradigm shift is needed to mobilize the necessary financing resources to achieve the SDGs. reach the global goals. The Module also touches upon the outgoing general framework for development, the MDGs of 2000-2015, and the successor SDGs covering the period 2016-2030 adopted in September.

Week 2: Public Finance
The second Module introduces and explains domestic and international public finance resources. It highlights issues such as improving domestic resource mobilization, increasing the efficiency of public expenditure measures such as reducing illicit financial flows, and better leveraging Official Development Assistance to enhance its ability to mobilize other sources of public and private finance, particularly for low-income and fragile economies. The Module also discusses the importance for countries to improve the investment climate for greater private investment and to foster development of domestic capital markets to facilitate the tapping of domestic savings for development uses.

Week 3: Private and Blended Finance
The third Module focuses on sources of domestic and international private and commercial finance. It includes the substantial growth of foreign direct and portfolio investments and of domestic capital markets in select developing countries. It emphasizes the growth and potential of newer sources of private and commercial finance, such as philanthropic funds, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and private equity, to be “crowded in” by more targeted use of public resources. It highlights challenges and obstacles the private sector sees to greater mobilization of private sector funding, including needed incentives such as greater risk-sharing and a more hospitable regulatory environment. This Module spotlights infrastructure finance, as one of the most resource-intensive and pervasive development sectors across the developing world, discussing the needs and the current impediments to attracting the capital projected to be required to meet those needs.

Week 4: The Financing Role of the Multilateral Development Banks
The fourth Module provides an overview of the MDBs, explaining their business models that have allowed them to leverage their capital and equity to support a vastly greater portfolio of development projects worldwide. It also discusses innovative financing solutions used in recent years to mobilize and generate new financing flows and improve the efficient use of available funds. This Module also highlights the role of MDBs in financing global public goods (GPGs), with climate finance spotlighted as a prime example of innovative techniques and financing vehicles used to ramp up funding deployed in this critical and global area. This Module concludes with a wrap-up of the key learnings the course has attempted to convey.