Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs’ Post

Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs also submitted a paper to the FFD4 and I am looking forward to being part of the conference in Sevilla next summer to explore how the international system of financing for development can do better in the next 10 years than it has in the last. The ANDE position here is a few simple points: -Finance is a blunt instrument that on its own will flow to the easiest opportunities to make a return even with an impact lens. -To get capital to the places where it can have the most impact on sustainable development, poverty alleviation and blunting the effects of climate change you MUST pay as much attention to strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystems that cultivate investment capable businesses from the ground up. -Development grant funding must align with development finance and pay for the groundwork of incubating and accelerating businesses, fostering market access, matchmaking talent to market opportunities and building the human capital of the system. -Development Finance Institutions should advocate for their corresponding donor agencies to increase their work in this space by at least 5x. For example US DFC has a portfolio of $41 Billion, they should encourage USAID to spend $4 Billion of their $28B annual outlays grant funding to the ecosystem enablers who produce the pipeline for their future portfolio to be as impactful as possible. If development institutions put their grant money into alignment with their investment capital, then we would start to see more dynamic economies emerge from low income status. If that happened, in 10 years from now the FFD5 conference would be talking seriously about the end of global poverty.