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The “billions to trillions” narrative — the idea that a relatively small amount of public financing can be used to crowd in trillions of dollars in private capital to solve climate and other development challenges — has been discussed in development finance circles for nearly a decade now. And yet there’s still an annual $4 trillion gap in financing for energy, water, and other critical development objectives.
Speaking to Devex’s Raj Kumar, Samaila Zubairu, CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation shared how his organization is leveraging public-private partnerships in “risky” countries such as Gabon and Djibouti, and what larger multilateral development banks should be doing to be more effective.
“What is most important is for us to introduce more urgency in our approach to work. We need to really start to focus on outcomes,” Zubairu said. “We should all be accountable. We should be looking at what's the baseline at a certain period of time, and what are we doing to cause improvements to happen.”
Zubairu joined Kumar for the Davos Dispatch podcast, recorded from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
About the author
Naomi Mihara
Naomi Mihara is an Associate Editor for Devex, working on creative and audiovisual projects. She has a background in journalism and international development, having previously served as an assistant correspondent for Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun and as a communications officer for the International Organization for Migration in Southeast Asia. She holds a master’s degree in Multimedia Journalism from Bournemouth University.
