How do development finance institutions support national development goals?

The document finds that DFIs are generally averse to letting national development plans shape their investment decisions, leading to underfunding in strategic sectors such as manufacturing in Ethiopia, healthcare and ICT in Ghana, and transport and ICT in Kenya. While DFIs contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement through clean energy investments, they often treat national agendas as risk factors rather than investment determinants. The authors propose a four-step framework—Identify, Compare, Engage, and Invest—to help DFIs better align their financial flows with country-level strategic sectors.

• DFIs generally do not allow national development plans to explicitly determine their investment decisions or funding allocations, often treating these plans as risk factors during due diligence rather than primary drivers of investment.
• There are significant DFI funding gaps in sectors identified as national priorities in three African countries: manufacturing and construction in Ethiopia; construction, healthcare, and ICT in Ghana; and education, transport, and ICT in Kenya.
• DFIs contribute to climate change mitigation and the Paris Agreement by investing in clean energy technologies, specifically solar energy and hydropower, for both on-grid and off-grid supplies.
• DFIs often prioritize viable private sector opportunities over nascent opportunities that might have higher development impacts but are not yet profitable.
• The study suggests a four-step process for DFIs to increase alignment with national goals: identifying strategic sectors, comparing them with current portfolios, engaging with stakeholders (firms, financial institutions, and governments), and scoping feasible investments.

APA

Marbuah, G., Velde, D. W. T., Attridge, S., Lemma, A., & Keane, J. (2022). How do development finance institutions support national development goals? Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/sei-brief-dfis-development-goals-marbuah-may-2022.pdf

Chicago

Marbuah, George, Dirk Willem te Velde, Samantha Attridge, Alberto Lemma, and Jodie Keane. How do development finance institutions support national development goals? Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/sei-brief-dfis-development-goals-marbuah-may-2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Marbuah |first1=George |last2=Velde |first2=Dirk Willem te |last3=Attridge |first3=Samantha |last4=Lemma |first4=Alberto |last5=Keane |first5=Jodie |title=How do development finance institutions support national development goals? |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=May 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/sei-brief-dfis-development-goals-marbuah-may-2022.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{marbuah2022how, author = {Marbuah, George and Velde, Dirk Willem te and Attridge, Samantha and Lemma, Alberto and Keane, Jodie}, title = {{How do development finance institutions support national development goals?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/sei-brief-dfis-development-goals-marbuah-may-2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }