The Past, Present, and Future of Development Finance

For decades, development finance institutions (DFIs) have been central to mobilising capital for development where commercial investors would not go. In recent years, new players and reforms have reshaped the landscape, from Canada’s creation of FinDev to China’s launch of the AIIB and the Bridgetown agenda for multilateral reform. Yet this wave of expansion now collides with shrinking aid budgets and political retrenchment, raising urgent questions about how global development will be financed in the decades ahead.

In this speaker series session, Wasim Tahir (Research Fellow, CID; Senior Advisor, Center for Development Finance Studies) and Nick O’Donohoe (Senior Fellow, M-RCBG; former CEO, British International Investment) will reflect on the past, present, and future of development finance, before opening the floor to student questions.

This event is hosted by Harvard’s Center for International Development and co-sponsored by the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government.

This event is hosted by Harvard’s Center for International Development and will be held in a hybrid format. All are welcome. Harvard ID holders are encouraged to attend in person, while non-HUID guests are invited to join via livestream or access the event recording afterward.