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CSIS: A Thought Leader in Development Finance

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CSIS: A Thought Leader in Development Finance

January 11, 2020

On October 5, 2018, the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act was signed into law amidst broad bipartisan Congressional support. The most significant foreign policy legislation in more than a decade, the Act reforms and modernizes the U.S.’ development finance capabilities and establishes the new U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC). To understand the importance of this legislation better, CSIS has answered the critical questions in The BUILD Act Has Passed: What’s Next?

For nearly two years, the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development has led the policymaking community in shaping the BUILD Act and (since its enactment into law) supported the U.S. government's efforts in establishing the new DFC. Just over one year after the passing of the Act, Vice President Mike Pence held the ceremonial swearing-in of Adam Boehler who had been confirmed by the U.S. Senate in September 2019, as the first Chief Executive Officer of the DFC.

With Congress clearing the legislation to fund the federal government for FY 2020 on December 19, DFC received the authorization for its inaugural funding and is now fully functioning. In light of this, CSIS would like to take a moment to share highlights from some of the work it has undertaken on this subject:

Strategizing for the DFC

In September 2019, ahead of the BUILD Act's one-year anniversary, CSIS released a new report on “Strategic Directions for the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).”

The report crafts a strategic vision for the next 5-10 years of the DFC and explains how this new agency can support key U.S. national security priorities.

Testimonies

On November 15, 2017, CSIS Senior Vice President Daniel F. Runde, testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific on "Development Finance in Asia: U.S. Economic Strategy Amid China's Belt and Road." He emphasized the need for the United States to respond to China by expanding its development finance toolkit.

Shortly after, Mr. Runde wrote a commentary titled “DFIs Drive the Development Agenda to Center Stage” on December 6, 2017. He stated the 600 percent increase in DFI funding is just one sign of the growing importance of deploying development funding with an eye towards stimulating the growth of private sectors in developing countries.

On May 10, 2018, Mr. Runde

testified before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on “Modernizing Development Finance.” Similar to his House testimony, Mr. Runde emphasized the importance of creating new development finance mechanisms to catalyze the growth of developing countries’ private sectors better.

David Bohigian joins Daniel Runde on "Building the Future"

In his August 30, 2018, Building the Future podcast, Mr. Runde interviewed David Bohigian, former Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

They discussed the changing role of OPIC and how the BUILD Act could revolutionize the development finance efforts of the United States.

The Quality Infrastructure Agenda

Partnering with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, CSIS released a report titled “Financing and Implementing the Quality Infrastructure Agenda” on September 4, 2018.

The report highlighted the importance of developing international standards for infrastructure to ensure the vast number of infrastructure projects that are projected to be built over the next few decades will be high-quality.

In April 2019, CSIS partnered with the Energy for Growth Hub and convened the Working Group on U.S. Development Finance for Infrastructure, and issued three main recommendations: i) focus on creating investment opportunities relating to Smart Cities, ii) aggressively invest in energy infrastructure and technology, and iii) do not ignore the importance of investing in digital infrastructure.

Finally, in the lead-up to the 2019 G20 Summit in Osaka, CSIS partnered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan to release a policy brief on “Achieving Sustainability through Quality Infrastructure” on June 21, 2019. The report identified three critical vectors for sustainable infrastructure: prudent fiscal and debt structures, transparent and open systems, and resilient and environmentally sustainable projects.

The Global Infrastructure Taskforce

Co-chaired by former U.S. trade representative Charlene Barshefsky and former national security advisor Stephen J. Hadley, CSIS launched the Global Infrastructure Task Force to help forge a bipartisan, public-private consensus on a strategy for U.S. success in today’s global infrastructure build-out. Co-directors CSIS Senior Vice Presidents Matthew P. Goodman and Daniel F. Runde, along with other experts and members of the taskforce, recommended catalyzing private sector financing, bolstering U.S. government expertise and coordination in strategic infrastructure, and tightening coordination with allies by articulating a global vision.

The Enterprise Funds

In September 2018, CSIS scholars Daniel Runde and Romina Bandura also released a new report called “Time for a Third Wave of Enterprise Funds.”

In the report, the authors call on the United States to launch a third wave of enterprise funds and recommend countries and regions where these new funds would have the most significant impact.

An Increasing Need for DFIs

On February 13, 2019, CSIS released a brief entitled “Development Finance Institutions: Plateaued Growth, Increasing Need.” The brief contrasts the recent plateau in development finance volumes with the need for funding to increase in the future.

Aligning Blended Finance and Private Investment

In the March 27, 2018 report “Blended Finance and Aligning Private Investment with Global Development,” CSIS Senior Associate Conor Savoy reviewed the current situation of development finance, identified areas for increased blended finance, and posed questions for the future. In particular, Savoy focused on the need to create structures capable of scaling-up cooperation between the public and private sectors as much of the current work between the two happens on an ad hoc basis.

The Evolving Development and Technological Landscape

CSIS partnered with FinDev Canada and Swedfund to produce a brief on “The Role of Development Finance Institutions in Enabling the Technology Revolution” on June 17, 2019. CSIS’s experts identified five actions DFIs can take to enable technology revolutions in developing countries including filling the “early-growth” funding gap for innovative businesses, engaging with venture capital firms and impact investors to scale up their investments, and helping developing countries create more investor-friendly environments by improving their regulatory frameworks, increasing state capacity, and deepening capital markets.

Investment Facilitation Revisited

Following up on a 2013 report on investment facilitation, CSIS partnered with CrossBoundary to test and evaluate how the recommendations of the previous report worked in practice in Investment Facilitation Revisited. This new report on investment facilitation, released in September 2019, found that factors such as lack of infrastructure, institutional voids, high finance costs, and coordination failures continue to inhibit fragile countries’ growth but can be lessened by an increased commitment to investment facilitation by international donors.

Innovations in Guarantees

In partnership with the UK-based CDC Group, CSIS conducted a study on innovative uses of financial guarantees to leverage private capital in lower-middle-income and low-income countries.

Through a new report released in October 2019, "Innovations in Guarantees for Development," CSIS examines how bilateral and multilateral agencies can scale up their use of guarantees and leverage private capital in these markets.

New Missing Middle in Development Finance

Finally, in November 2019, CSIS released a new brief that examined how blended finance tools that are available with bilateral institutions like the DFC can be used to structure an appropriate investment vehicle that can catalyze private capital and bridge the gap between the high-risk and low-risk stages of innovation.

Bipartisan Taskforce on U.S. Foreign Assistance

CSIS convened a bipartisan taskforce in 2017 chaired by Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Todd Young on “Reforming and Reorganizing U.S. Foreign Assistance” in response to an executive order asking all federal departments and agencies to submit reorganization plans that will “improve efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability.” The task force recommended USAID remain independent, reorganize personnel and procurement systems, and generate savings by eliminating duplicative or outdated programs.

For more information on our work on development finance and other topics, visit us on our website: https://www.csis.org/programs/project-prosperity-and-development.

Click to subscribe to our international development podcast, featuring Senior Vice President Daniel F. Runde.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 1962 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. It seeks to advance global security and prosperity by providing strategic insights and policy solutions to decisionmakers.

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