With the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s annual meeting and business forum this week, Devex spoke to its president, Odile Renaud-Basso, about lending in Belarus, UAE’s membership, a possible expansion to sub-Saharan Africa, and whether the recent Wise Person’s Group process comparing EBRD and the European Investment Bank was a waste of time.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Can you give an example of something you know now that you didn’t know in 2019 when Thomas Wieser was given his brief to examine the European architecture for development finance?