Basic project information incorporates all of the fundamental information about an investment or project by a DFI. This may include project-level information (such as project titles, descriptions, planned and actual project dates), project level financial information (type of finance, commitments, disbursement), other partners, objectives and project design, sub-national location information, gender data, and sector identification. This information represents the fundamental building blocks from which other forms of transparency, including those addressed in later work streams, are built.

This working paper, published after a three-month research process, outlines our findings on basic project information transparency. The paper seeks to develop a greater understanding of the status of basic project information transparency among a group of leading bilateral and multilateral DFIs. It documents what types of data DFIs are and are not making publicly available. Through a landscape analysis of the disclosure of basic project information and a series of interviews with DFI employees and other stakeholders, and a meeting with a multi-stakeholder Expert Working Group, the paper attempts to lay the foundations for further developments in the improvement of transparency practices on the part of DFIs.

The working paper reveals a near-universal trend towards improved transparency of basic project information by DFIs and that there is a slightly higher degree of transparency at multilateral DFIs compared to bilateral DFIs. A conceptual framework was developed to understand the non-disclosure of information, which consists of four main elements: administrative burden, data fields are not universally relevant, definitional uncertainty and a lack of standardisation, and information is commercially sensitive.

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We also conducted a webinar in July 2020 to present our findings from this work stream and to receive feedback from stakeholders. Click below to watch.