IDFC: Re-election of Steering Group and Rémy Rioux as Chairman
published on 30 October 2019
At the Annual Meeting of the International Development Finance Club in Washington on October 20, AFD CEO Rémy Rioux was re-elected as Chairperson of the IDFC. The goals of his second term will be to place development banks at the heart of the organizational architecture of international development, and to boost the IDFC’s operational capacity.
On the sidelines of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, IDFC members voted for Rémy Rioux, CEO of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), to take on a second term as Chairperson.
At the October 20 meeting, Rémy Rioux presented his roadmap, which urges development banks to play a decisive role in aligning finance with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and stresses the importance of bolstering the IDFC’s operational capacity.
Unlocking the potential of Development Banks
“I am committed to unlocking the full potential of national and regional public development banks to best deploy and facilitate increased investment in resilient and low-carbon trajectories, advance the sectoral and national transitions needed for sustainable development, and make a systemic contribution to achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Agenda by 2030,” he said.
“In practical terms, we propose to organize, under the sponsorship of the United Nations, a summit of development banks in 2020, prior to COP 26. Its goal will be to mobilize every development finance institution around the world as well as all stakeholders, to fulfill their decisive potential.”
Also at its Annual Meeting...
IDFC members re-elected the Steering Group, which is chaired by AFD and co-chaired by the following banks and agencies:
• Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES)
• Development Bank of Latin America (CAF)
• China Development Bank (CDB)
• Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG) of Morocco
• Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)
• Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD)
• Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
• German Development Bank (KfW)
This decision-making group was also expanded to include the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB).
Two new members
The Annual Meeting also officially welcomed two new members: the Argentinian development bank Banco de Inversion and Comercio Exterior (BICE), which specializes in the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (Persero) (PT SMI), the Indonesian public bank for infrastructure development.
A review of the IDFC work program was carried out at the meeting, with a focus on its commitment to sustainable development objectives. The IDFC then issued a joint declaration on gender equality and gender equity.
Progress reports
To encourage and amplify cooperation, the IDFC published its first Cooperation for Development Report, which assesses the level and quality of cooperation between its members and highlights opportunities for strengthening it. IDFC has also produced a brief overview of blended financing and a panorama of sustainable investment initiatives and networks.
Another first was participation in the Annual Meeting by the World Federation of Development Financing Institutions (WFDFI), which brings together continental associations of development finance institutions in Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean. IDFC and WFDFI invited one another to participate in their respective Board of Governors meeting (WFDFI) and Annual Meeting (IDFC) in order to pool the potential of all development banks around the world and promote investment in sustainable development.
