DEVELOPMENT: DEVELOPMENT AND DEBT RELIEF //
“UNDP takes country development priorities and translates them, end to end, into structured, investment-ready pipelines”
moving from plans on paper to capi- tal deployed on the ground. For private investors, it means a reliable pipe- line of de-risked opportunities in high-growth markets they cannot enter alone. For donors, it means their resources are used to multiply impact. We are building on proven founda- tions. In 90 countries, UNDP and our partners support Integrated National Financing Frameworks, national sys- tems that align public budgets, private investment and development coopera- Our technical assistance has already leveraged $8 million to unlock more than $100 million in committed financing across 18 countries – with a target of over $500 million by 2027. We see this shift in real time. The UNDP-led Africa Minigrids programme is turning fragmented solar energy access plans into invest- able platforms for private capital. In Zambia, the Green Finance Facility connects the energy transition, agri- culture and small business capacities into a single systemic portfolio – resulting in a pipeline of investments. From 2022 to 2025, governments tion within a single strategy. These are not abstract tools. working with UNDP and our partners aligned existing funding and leveraged new investment totalling over $920 billion to advance the Sustain- able Development Goals. This does not diminish the impor- tance of public finance. These outcomes are only possible when public finance is deployed to reduce risk, strengthen institutions and create the conditions for private capital to follow. In an environment where public resources are tightening and ODA has decreased, this also pre- sents an opportunity to redefine public finance’s role. PUBLIC FINANCE AS A CATALYST ODA was never going to meet the scale of global needs on its own. Its
most powerful function is catalytic. That includes de-risking the policy environment so that private capital flows where it otherwise would not, funding the rule of law and institu- tional reforms that create predictable environments and supporting early-stage project development that makes pipelines bankable. It also means backing grassroots innova- tion and entrepreneurs – where risk is highest, but the potential for trans- formation is immense. Overall, this shifts the unit of investment from the individual transaction to an institu- tional architecture. Using ODA as a catalyst, one dollar unlocks many more. Used as a substitute for private investment, it will always fall short. As G7 leaders meet in Évian, they must continue to shift how capital is put to work – away from funding isolated outputs and towards reduc- ing the structural barriers that keep private capital away from the places it is most needed. This includes deploy- ing guarantees and risk-sharing instruments that make viable projects bankable. Crucially, it also means measuring success not by how much public money is spent – but by how much private capital it mobilises. France’s G7 presidency has placed resilience and shared prosperity at the centre of this summit. Develop- ment belongs there. Conflicts, stalled growth and poverty in developing economies are not problems that stay local. They generate migration pres- sure, supply chain disruptions, and the gradual erosion of the markets and partnerships that G7 economies depend on. We are not short of capital or ambition. We are short of the right enabling environment to turn both into results. Funding isolated projects buys a temporary fix; building the system is the contribution that lasts.
// ALEXANDER DE CROO Alexander De Croo began official duties as administrator of the United Nations Develop- ment Programme in December 2025. He served as prime minister of Belgium from 2020 to 2025, and deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2020, minister of development cooperation and the digital agenda from 2014 to 2020 and finance minister from 2018 to 2020. Before entering public life, he worked in the private sector as an entrepreneur and strategy adviser.
X-TWITTER @alexanderdecroo @undp undp.org
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