The leader of British International Investment, the United Kingdom’s development finance institution, said on Tuesday that he does not recognize controversial comments made by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss about BII’s mission.
Truss has made repeated statements that seemingly attempt to push BII’s work — making private sector investments to reduce poverty — to the more geopolitical position of providing lower-income countries with an alternative source of financing that doesn’t come from “malign actors,” widely interpreted to mean China.
BII chief Nick O'Donohoe told the Devex World conference in Washington that he was “not going to get involved in commenting on sort of individual quotations from our foreign secretary.”
“If you read the [BII] strategy, you’ll see very clearly that development lies at the core of that strategy. Any other narrative is not something I would necessarily recognize,” the CEO said during his virtual interview.
Asked by Devex if Truss’ plans for the organization would clash with BII’s development objectives, O'Donohoe said: “I don't think that's actually correct. … I dont think she’s directly linked BII’s activities with any sort of a specific political narrative like that.”
As recently as June 28, Truss told parliamentarians on the U.K. Foreign Affairs Committee: “One of the concerns I’ve had about development spending in the past is, is it contributing to our overall objectives of promoting freedom and democracy around the world and are we looking at it in a way that challenges some of the geopolitical efforts by malign actors? This is why we launched British International Investment — as an alternative to strings-attached investment from countries like China.”
Asked about BII’s moves into East Asian markets — which came after U.K. foreign policy underwent an Indo-Pacific tilt — O'Donohoe spoke about the institution’s plan for climate finance, which he characterized as an “integral part of our investment strategy.”
“It's essential that we as development finance organizations try to provide capital in ways that will help us mitigate and alleviate [the climate crisis],” he said, adding that capital is needed to support renewable energy and riskier investments.
The role of development finance is “even more important” in the context of converging global health, food, and financial crises, he said.
“Our role is to step forward when other people are stepping back, and to provide funding and to provide liquidity, provide investment capital to countries. … Many of these countries are under strain, so what we do is even more important,” he said.
O'Donohoe previously told Devex that Truss was “putting investment very much at the center of her foreign policy discussions.”
BII, formerly known as CDC Group, is an arms-length organization of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, which is its only shareholder. BII has said it has a “central role” in the British Investment Partnerships pillar of FCDO’s new international development strategy.
About the author
William Worley@willrworley
Will Worley is the Climate Correspondent for Devex, covering the intersection of development and climate change. He previously worked as UK Correspondent, reporting on the FCDO and British aid policy during a time of seismic reforms. Will’s extensive reporting on the UK aid cuts saw him shortlisted for ‘Specialist Journalist of the Year’ in 2021 by the British Journalism Awards. He can be reached at william.worley@devex.com.
