Mobilising private funding of development finance

Abstract

Successful delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is dependent upon mobilising private sector finance. From a lending perspective, this requires banks to co-invest or otherwise divert more resources to development finance. To provide insights into the effectiveness of this important initiative, this paper reviews key literature across Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar using a defined set of keyword searches. Four main themes of future research are identified. First, the international political economy has an influence on the competitive conditions in development finance and these forces need to be explained. Second, the structure of development projects affects the extent to which private sector capital is willing to be mobilised. More insights are needed into how private sector banks can be influenced. Third, the manner in which development banks participate in development projects affects the availability of credit. A greater understanding of their role could unlock greater financing flows. Finally, it is shown that risk appetite and mitigation of development finance affects pricing and credit availability which is another critical component of delivering the SDGs.