This week I began a new chapter as Head of the Centre for Private Finance in Development and Principal Research Fellow at ODI Global.
The Centre was established to explore one of the most pressing questions in development finance today: how private capital can play a more effective role in addressing global development challenges.
The stakes are high. The financing needs associated with the Sustainable Development Goals, climate action and economic resilience in emerging markets and developing economies are vast. At the same time, public resources—particularly official development assistance—are increasingly constrained. In this context, mobilising private capital has become a central objective of development finance institutions, governments and philanthropic organisations alike.
Private capital mobilisation takes centre stage
Over the past decade, the concept of private capital mobilisation has moved from the margins to the centre of development policy discussions. Multilateral development banks, development finance institutions and donors have introduced a range of instruments designed to attract private investment into projects and sectors that contribute to development objectives. Blended finance structures, guarantees, risk-sharing mechanisms and thematic bonds have become key tools in this effort.
Yet despite this progress, an uncomfortable question remains.
Has the focus on mobilisation delivered the development outcomes we hoped for?
Much of the private finance catalysed by public interventions continues to flow to middle-income markets and relatively low-risk sectors. Meanwhile, many of the places where investment is most urgently needed—least-developed countries, small island developing states and fragile contexts—continue to struggle to attract capital at scale.
This pattern is not surprising. Investors respond to incentives, risk-return profiles and market structures. Development needs alone do not determine capital allocation.
Closing the volume-outcome gap
As a result, there is often a gap between the volume of finance mobilised and the development outcomes achieved.
Closing that gap requires a deeper understanding of how financial structures, policy frameworks and institutional incentives shape investment decisions. It also requires moving beyond a narrow focus on mobilisation metrics towards a broader assessment of impact.
In other words, the central question is not simply how much private finance can be mobilised.
It is how private finance can be structured and governed to deliver measurable development outcomes.
This is the question that will guide the work of the Centre for Private Finance in Development.
Over the coming months, our research will focus on several areas that are central to this debate.
First, we will examine the role of blended finance and catalytic capital in shaping investment incentives. Blended structures have been widely used to de-risk projects and crowd in private investors, but their effectiveness varies considerably across contexts and sectors. Understanding when and how these structures deliver genuine additionality remains critical.
Second, we will look closely at guarantees and risk-sharing instruments, which are increasingly seen as powerful tools for unlocking investment in more challenging markets. These instruments have the potential to address some of the structural barriers that limit capital flows to higher-risk environments.
Third, we will explore the evolution of thematic bonds and other capital market instruments that link investment to specific development objectives, including climate, nature and resilience.
Across these areas, the goal is not only to analyse financial mechanisms but also to understand the broader policy and institutional ecosystems in which they operate. Financial structures alone cannot solve development challenges; they interact with regulatory frameworks, political economy dynamics and institutional capacity.
Convening major development finance stakeholders
Another important dimension of the Centre’s work will be convening dialogue across different parts of the development finance system.
Private finance for development sits at the intersection of governments, development finance institutions, investors, philanthropies and civil society. Each of these actors brings different incentives, mandates and perspectives. Bridging these perspectives—and translating research insights into practical policy and investment solutions—will be an essential part of the Centre’s mission.
This is one area where ODI Global’s long-standing role as a policy research institute and convenor of international dialogue offers a unique advantage.
My own career has taken me across several parts of this ecosystem—from research and policy analysis to partnerships with financial institutions, investors and international organisations working on sustainable finance and the blue economy. These experiences have reinforced how important it is to connect analytical work with practical policy and investment decisions.
Strengthening the policy-relevant evidence base
The ambition of the Centre is to contribute to a more evidence-based debate about the role of private finance in development—one that recognises both the opportunities and the limitations of current approaches.
Private capital will not solve development challenges on its own. But with the right structures, incentives and governance frameworks, it can play an important role in advancing sustainable and inclusive growth.
At a time when development needs are growing and public resources are under pressure, improving the effectiveness of private finance for development is not simply a technical challenge.
It is a strategic priority for the global development system.
I look forward to working with colleagues, partners and stakeholders around the world to explore these questions and help shape the next phase of this debate.