Key Highlights from FiCS 2025: Plenary Insights and Nutrition Finance

Closing Remarks Plenary: By PDBs for PDBS and beyond: Making the system work in a more Inclusive way 

On 27 February 2025, from 09:00 to 10:30 at ICC1 – Auditorium 1, moderators Maura Cravero and Rodrigo Salvado led a session that brought together key representatives from Public Development Banks (PDBs), Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), and development finance institutions to explore how collaboration can drive inclusivity and impact.  

Jin Liqun (AIIB) highlighted the complementary roles of MDBs and PDBs, with MDBs providing strategic oversight and PDBs offering localized knowledge. He emphasized that their collaboration blends top-down vision with bottom-up insight, creating a dynamic that goes beyond just pooling financial resources to foster innovation. Ilan Goldfajn (IADB) underscored the importance of PDBs in reaching local stakeholders and ensuring development initiatives are deeply rooted in national contexts. He highlighted the FICS Innovation Lab as an example of a successful platform where development actors co-create solutions to advance financial inclusion. Carlo Monticelli (Council of European Development Banks) acknowledged strong partnerships between MDBs and PDBs but highlighted challenges in co-financing, particularly in making projects bankable. He emphasized the need for greater knowledge-sharing and a more client-focused approach to improve accessibility and responsiveness.   

Serge Ekue (IDFC) reinforced the need for collaboration, particularly in climate finance. He emphasized that PDBs must evolve from purely technical roles to strategic facilitators, making projects more attractive to financiers through capacity-building and blended finance mechanisms. Achim Steiner (UNDP) stressed the importance of national ownership in defining sustainable development priorities. He highlighted PDBs’ role in bridging global frameworks with local realities, ensuring initiatives are both practical for financiers and impactful for communities. Alvaro Lario (IFAD) discussed the financing gap in agriculture, especially for small-scale farmers, and presented the Agri-PDB Platform as a model for scaling investments. He called for accreditation, capacity building, and standardizing best practices to strengthen PDBs’ role in driving rural development and financial inclusion. 

Boitumelo Mosako (DBSA) focused on infrastructure as a cornerstone of economic development. She emphasized DBSA’s role in supporting subnational governments through targeted technical assistance and funding to improve project execution. Mafalda Duarte (Green Climate Fund) called for unlocking capital from diverse sources, combining public and private investments to accelerate sustainability transitions. She also urged financial systems to be reoriented to support climate goals effectively. Crispian Oliver (Presidential Climate Commission) introduced country platforms as a way to integrate MDB and PDB financing, ensuring national governments lead the agenda while global institutions provide the necessary support. 

The session emphasized that collaboration, innovation, and country-driven approaches are essential for making development finance more effective and inclusive, focusing on aligning priorities, strengthening financial mechanisms, and enhancing the role of PDBs in sustainable development. 

Closing Remarks in the Plenary Session 

The plenary session for FiCS took place at ICC1 – Auditorium 1 on 28th February 2025 from 14:00 to 15:30, moderated by Stephen Grootes, Jimmy Mohaya, and Enoch Godongwana. The session highlighted the transformative potential of Public Development Banks (PDBs) in addressing global challenges while emphasizing the need for innovative, community-driven approaches to financing. 

Antonella Baldino (ICS) highlighted PDBs’ leadership in using sports, art, and culture to drive sustainable development. She advocated for a structured approach to establish these sectors as credible asset classes, emphasizing their transformative potential in fostering progress. Christelle Kalhoule (FORUS) emphasized the need to rethink development financing in the face of climate change and crises, focusing on placing communities and human dignity at the core of solutions. She called for principles such as community participation, locally-driven development, and climate justice, urging PDBs to reshape global finance to be more democratic and responsive. Federica Diamanti (IFAD) stressed the importance of multilateralism and financial inclusion, noting that one-third of FICS members are PDBs. She urged greater convergence in financing models to support development goals. Boitumelo Mosako (DBSA) focused on regional integration as a key element of financial inclusion, advocating for stronger collaboration among DFIs and data-driven solutions to address investment barriers. Jin Liqun (AIIB) urged PDBs to balance national priorities with global challenges by scaling innovative financing mechanisms. Lastly, FICS Chairman Remy Rioux posed reflective questions about measuring success, emphasizing that true success lies in collective commitment to impactful financing, beyond just metrics. 

Financing Nutrition: Unlocking the Power of Public Development Banks 

On 28th February 2025, nutrition side event took place in Westin Seal & Robben Island from 8 to 9:30h. The session focused on sharing PDB and MDB experiences, promoting multi-sectoral nutrition investments and good examples and concrete tools, exploring concessional financing mechanisms, and preparing key messages for the March 28 FiCS session at the N4G Summit in Paris.  

Afshan Khan (UN/SUN Movement) stressed the urgency of expanding maternal and child nutrition services and leveraging PDBs and DFIs to mobilize private capital. She highlighted blended finance as a tool to de-risk investments and called for stronger financing structures and measurable outcomes. Dr. Babatunde Omilola (AfDB) showcased AfDB’s Multi-sectoral Nutrition Action Plan, which increased nutrition-smart investments from $0.7B to $4.9B, and highlighted practical tools like the “nutrition marker” and Banking on Nutrition initiative and African Leaders for Nutrition initiative (ALN). He also noted Africa loses $25B annually due to malnutrition. Pieternel Boogaard (IFAD) emphasized IFAD’s approach, with 60% of projects being nutrition-sensitive. IFAD promotes affordable, locally available nutritious foods and innovative financing tools, such as nutrition-focused bonds. 

Aparnaa Somanathan (World Bank) underscored the Bank’s role in evidence generation, budget tracking, and mainstreaming nutrition into agriculture and social protection. She cited integrated nutrition initiatives in India and Rwanda. Jean-Baptiste Sabatié (Proparco/AFD) discussed the FARM initiative, which mobilizes €200M annually to support African agribusiness, including poultry and food processing projects, using de-risking mechanisms and private-sector engagement. Stella Nordhagen (GAIN) introduced the N3F blended finance fund, which provides $300K–$3M in debt financing to SMEs in nutrition-sensitive sectors, addressing barriers such as perceived investment risks. 

Stakeholders shared key insights. Mrs. Takahashi (JICA) highlighted JICA’s $1B nutrition investment in 2021–2022, focusing on policy loans, blended finance, and ESG bonds to scale nutrition-sensitive projects. Thierry Latreille (Agri-PDB Platform) noted that nutrition remains under-prioritized in PDB strategies and emphasized the coalition’s efforts in awareness, capacity building, and technical assistance. Helena Guarin (EU/INTPA) outlined the EU’s financial mechanisms, such as the ABC Fund, to enhance smallholder access to nutrition financing and called for improved impact measurement. Ambassador Brieuc Pont (France/N4G Summit) closed by stressing that nutrition is critical for economic transformation, with returns of $23–$53 per $1 invested. He urged PDBs to scale commitments and mainstream nutrition into development strategies ahead of the N4G Summit in Paris. 

In conclusion, the session highlighted the crucial role of PDBs and DFIs in advancing nutrition-sensitive investments, with a focus on blended finance and innovative strategies. Key stakeholders emphasized the need for stronger financing frameworks and collaboration to scale nutrition initiatives, urging PDBs to integrate nutrition into development strategies ahead of the N4G Summit in Paris.