Partnerships

Multilateral development banks: from coordination to chairing Heads of the MDB Group

In 2024, the CEB’s interaction with other multilateral development banks (MDBs) deepened further, notably as part of the Heads of the Group of MDBs, of which the CEB assumes the role of Chair for 2025.

Partnerships with MDBs bring together different expertise, capacities and networks, as well as enabling the CEB to contribute, whether through working groups or major conferences, to joint efforts to address global challenges, such as fighting poverty, accelerating inclusive development and tackling climate change, for which investments in social projects are essential.

The Heads of the MDB Group, which comprises the leaders of 10 major MDBs [1], reaffirmed its commitment to collaboration and progress on reform in response to the G20’s call in September 2023 for bigger and more effective MDBs. A month later, the MDB leaders committed in a joint statement to “work together as a system” for greater impact.

Then, in April 2024, the Heads of MDB Group issued a Viewpoint Note outlining key deliverables for joint and coordinated action, including on expanding financing capacity, agreeing on common approaches for measuring climate results, strengthening country-level collaboration and co-financing, harmonising procurement approaches, and more. MDB Heads briefed UN Secretary-General António Guterres and UN delegates on their plans against the backdrop of the Summit of the Future at the UN General Assembly in September 2024.

In November 2024, they welcomed the “G20 Roadmap”, outlining a comprehensive vision for continuing MDB reforms to address regional and global challenges, create more jobs and opportunities, and support efforts to accelerate progress towards the SDGs and fulfilling the Paris Agreement.

Evidence that this closer cooperation among MDBs is bearing fruit is particularly notable regarding climate finance, climate metrics and country platforms, as highlighted by an MDB joint statement at UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku in November 2024. MDBs already achieved a record high of climate finance in 2023, with US$125 billon made available for climate action worldwide, doubling the 2022 amount. In 2024, the MDBs estimated that by 2030, US$170 billion in climate financing would be available annually, including US$120 billion for low- to middle-income countries. The increasing focus on the importance of quality and systemic impact of this finance also led MDBs to issue a Common Approach to Measuring Climate Results as well as a note on the potential for developing country platforms for climate action.

MDB collaboration extends to other pressing social issues too. On gender, for instance, in November the CEB joined with other MDBs to issue a statement marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women Cooperation with multilateral development banks, but also with national and regional development banks and international partner institutions, continued to increase opportunities for project co-financing.

The CEB closed 2024 on a high note as the Bank assumed the Chair of the Heads of MDB Group from December. The goal will be to spur progress on the MDB reform agenda in light of the G20 Roadmap, while leading MDB engagement with the Government of South Africa, which holds the G20 Presidency in 2025.

European Union, InvestEU and other European initiatives

The CEB’s long-term partnership with the European Union (EU) is of strategic importance for reaching further and doing more to bolster social cohesion and build more inclusive societies.

The Bank’s collaboration with the EU under the InvestEU programme continued to strengthen and expand in 2024, generating an overall CEB financing for social housing, health, education and training, microfinance and social enterprises amounting to €466 million. This has brought the level of total investments (including EU co-financing) to around €930 million, backed by the InvestEU Guarantee Agreement, which the Bank signed with the European Commission in 2022. The CEB received an additional €5 million grant to enhance its capacity building activities as part of the InvestEU Advisory Hub, which builds on the work started in 2023 as the result of an initial €10 million. This dual-track partnership allows the CEB greater and more varied access to financing and technical assistance for its projects.

For example, microfinance and social enterprises represent an increasingly important sector for vulnerable groups lacking access to credit from commercial banks and are a focus of the Bank’s partnership with InvestEU and of its Strategic Framework 2023-2027. Two framework operations have been set up with InvestEU, to help the Bank scale up its support for microfinance and social economy finance with more loans and in higher amounts in the CEB’s EU member states. Eight CEB loans (in Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania) have been approved under these framework operations.

As part of the InvestEU “Social Investment and Skills” window, in addition to the framework operations, six CEB loans for projects in France, Ireland, Romania and Spain were approved by the InvestEU Investment Committee, covering the sectors of social and affordable housing, education, employment and skills and healthcare. The unique approach of the InvestEU guarantee also allows the CEB to extend financing to new types of partners who might not normally qualify for CEB loans.

Since joining the InvestEU Advisory Hub in January 2023, the CEB has successfully approved 23 technical assistance projects, amounting to €5.1 million – of which 18 projects totalling €2.2 million were approved in 2024. Strong client demand allowed the CEB to distribute 78% of the available budget for project costs in only two years of implementation, thereby providing essential support for project preparation and implementation. The approved projects cover a range of sectors, including housing, health and microfinance, and are distributed across 11 European member states, with Bulgaria, Croatia and Italy hosting the largest number of projects. The programme has established a strong reputation, attracting interest from existing and potential CEB clients.

Homelessness is a cause of growing concern in Europe, where it has risen by 80% since 2015, according to a new CEB discussion paper. The Bank collaborates with the members of the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness (EPOCH) to map funding options and develop projects, as part of a working group co-chaired with the European Commission. In December, the CEB and the Council of Europe co-hosted a conference on addressing homelessness through social investment.

CEB hosted the annual meeting of the Network on Effective Learning Environment in March 2024, which brings together education experts from the main financial institutions in Europe to exchange information on financing education projects and identify areas for potential collaboration. At the event, the EU awarded a €1.4 million grant to the Teacher Education University Network, which the CEB helped establish.

Wider engagement

The Bank continued to play an active role in the Finance in Common Summit (FiCS), a global coalition created in 2020 to enhance cooperation among the world’s public development banks, including national promotional banks and MDBs, in view of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate. In 2024, the Coalition for Social Investment, which the CEB co-leads with the French Development Agency (AFD), launched a new working group on harnessing the social impact of public development banks (PDBs) financing for just transitions. The working group includes other MDBs, UN agencies, and development agencies, with the aim of engaging with countries to identify opportunities for co-financing social investments.

The CEB reinforced its partnership with UNHCR in 2024, presenting inclusive financing solutions focused on refugees as part of a workshop organised by UNHCR Europe in Portugal as well as participating in a “city to city” event in Rome designed to facilitate learning between local authorities on the integration of refugees.

The CEB continued its active support for microfinance, by hosting a conference on “Microfinance: Views from Providers in CEB Member States” in June. The CEB spoke at several events on the issue during the year, including at an event to mark European Microfinance Day in December and at the 19th Annual Global Microfinance Forum organised by Uniglobal in March. It also issued a research paper to drive discussion on how to help microfinance reach potential in Europe.

In 2024, the CEB continued to engage with AFD, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Energy Agency (IEA), OECD, UNESCO and OIF-Organisation International de le Francophonie under the Paris Dialogue, an initiative launched in 2023 to promote sustainable development. During the Paris Peace Forum, in addition to endorsing the Paris Dialogue roadmap, the heads of the institutions in the group agreed to contribute jointly to the global development finance agenda, including the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.

[1] African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asia Infrastructure Development Bank (AIIB), Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), New Development Bank, World Bank Group

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