Budget support

Zambia can sound like a success. One of sub-Saharan Africa’s fastest-growing economies – with an average annual expansion of 3% between 2004 and 2013 – it was classed by the World Bank as a lower-middle-income country in 2011.

Estimates for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals range up to a $7 trillion a year. Where will it come from? According to two senior experts from the United Nations Environment Programme, the funds are there, and the real...

The balance of international aid is shifting, with emerging donors contributing a growing proportion of the international development budget. The surge in investment needs careful handling to avoid gaps and overlaps, and to keep...

SMEs in developing countries face significant financing challenges due to the lack of appropriately-sized loans available to them. Needs on either end of the spectrum are – relatively – better addressed; large firms have a variety...

With countries like Myanmar approaching critical points of no return in their economic and social development, financing and support mechanisms must promote sustainable and socially-responsible growth. “We are open for business –...

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will not be limited by an overall lack of money, but rather will depend on “the way finance is mobilised and used”. That’s the message from the European Report on Development 2015...

In 2014, experts working for the European Commission carried out a synthesis of budget support evaluations from seven different countries. “We have learned that the funds we provide don’t just go into a black hole,” said Jürgen...

The Ebola epidemic has taken many lives, breaking up families and leaving numerous children parentless. But it has also left its mark on the economies of affected countries. In Sierra Leone it has more or less ‘destroyed’ the...

The Chronic Poverty Report 2014-2015 initiates a new approach to tackling extreme poverty in developing countries, “shin[ing] a light on the millions of people worldwide who are thought to be living in chronic poverty”. Andrew...

Thinking about the Caribbean, the first image that comes to mind is usually tranquil beaches with white sand and coconut trees. In fact, this diverse region is facing many challenges and changes.