Blog Archives

The transparency gap: Why can’t we assess the transparency of some of the world’s largest DFIs?

By Ella Remande-Guyard | Jun 11, 2025 | Blog

The forthcoming 2025 DFI Transparency Index includes most of the world’s leading bilateral and multilateral development finance institutions (DFIs). However, a group of seven bilateral DFIs with trillions of dollars in assets are not included. Why? The top line answer is that their levels of transparency are so low that no meaningful assessment is possible. This blog explores some of those unassessed DFIs, where their disclosure practices fall short, and the real world consequences of this lack of transparency.

Are donors delivering on local funding promises? Not yet.

By Henry Lewis | May 22, 2025 | Blog

Today, we are launching Metrics Matter III: Counting Local, the third instalment in our Metrics Matter research series tracking direct funding to local organisations. Our findings reveal that despite strong rhetoric, donor funding practices have yet to meaningfully reflect the localisation agenda.

Making additionality count: Why development finance institutions must step up on transparency

By Ella Remande-Guyard | Apr 16, 2025 | Blog

As more public finance is channelled to the private sector in the name of development, we need to know: are these investments genuinely adding value, or are they just substituting what the market could do on its own? This is where additionality comes in: the idea that ODA should only be used when it delivers something that private capital cannot.
Our latest research explores how well donors and their bilateral DFIs are disclosing the additionality of their private sector instrument (PSI) investments using the new OECD-DAC reporting requirements.

How transparent are climate funds?

By Ryan Anderton and Alex Tilley | Apr 2, 2025 | Blog

Multilateral climate funds play a crucial role in channelling significant portions of climate finance and will be key in efforts to meet the new $300 billion goal. But what do we know about how this climate finance is deployed, who receives it and the impact it’s having? To gain an insight into the transparency of these funds we have investigated the four largest multilateral climate funds: the Green Climate Fund, Global Environment Facility, Climate Investment Funds, and Adaptation Fund.

Expanding transparency beyond Official Development Assistance

By Sally Paxton, George Ingram and Guest | Mar 28, 2025 | Blog

As traditional aid shrinks, non-ODA financial flows are increasingly crucial. Their transparency, however, lags far behind. In this blog, Tessie San Martin, George Ingram and Sally Paxton assert that better visibility into non-ODA flows will unlock smarter investments and stronger outcomes. Therefore, extending transparency is essential to ensure new development funding achieves real impact

Is FFD4 turning its back on aid transparency?

By Gary Forster | Mar 25, 2025 | Blog

As the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) takes shape, there is a concerning silence around aid transparency. At a time when transparency is more vital than ever – to ensure that scarce development finance is accountable, effective, and impactful -it appears to be falling off the agenda.