The first edition of the DFI Transparency Index was launched in January 2023. The results are here.

The DFI Transparency Index is a comparative measure of the transparency of the world’s leading Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). It assesses sovereign (public sector) and non-sovereign (private sector) operations of multilateral and bilateral institutions, based on a robust methodology.

DFIs have been growing in scale and significance, and they play a crucial role in economic development. In a context of mounting global crises, it is vital that DFIs use their resources in the most impactful way possible. But a lack of transparency limits our ability to ensure that DFIs are generating positive development results, mobilising private finance, and managing environmental, social and governance risks. Publish What You Fund launched the DFI Transparency Index to assess current levels of transparency and to encourage and guide improvements. The first edition acts as a baseline from which future progress can be assessed.

Key findings of the 2023 DFI Transparency Index include:

• Overall, DFIs are not transparent enough. This is especially the case for non-sovereign operations.
• DFIs are not providing evidence of impact, data regarding mobilisation, or proof of accountability to communities. For many DFIs basic information about their investments is not publicly available.
• But progress is being made – use of and adherence to the standards laid out in the DFI Transparency Tool are guiding the efforts of leading DFIs who have improved their disclosure over the last two years. Many of the DFIs included in the Index have committed time and resources to improve the transparency of their operations.
• The International Finance Corporation (IFC) was ranked as the most transparent non-sovereign DFI in the assessment, scoring 54.4 out of 100. The Asian Development Bank (AsDB) was ranked as the most transparent DFI in the analysis of sovereign operations, scoring 75.9 out of 100.

The DFI Transparency Index is based on three years of research and collaboration. Our DFI Transparency Initiative highlighted that while DFIs have taken meaningful steps to improve their transparency, there was still a great deal more that needed to be done. We recognised the need for innovations that would encourage DFIs to further improve their transparency and to provide them with guidance. So, we launched the DFI Transparency Tool to provide granular guidance on the types of information that DFI stakeholders value and should therefore be disclosed. We used the Tool as the basis for analysis for the DFI Transparency Index.