Concessional finance and impact finance for development

In concessional finance, loans have more advantageous terms than usual, to support a development objective

Impact finance funds financially sustainable projects that have difficulty finding finance because of some perceived risk

Heike Ruettgers, head of development and impact finance at the European Investment Bank, joins us on this week’s A Dictionary of Finance podcast to explain these two terms, which are key to development finance.

Heike points out that concessional finance differs from traditional aid, in that as it’s a loan “the money comes back. That therefore allows you to reuse the funds for further projects. You can recycle and recommit the funds for other projects.”

That, she explains, makes “things happen that otherwise wouldn’t happen.”

Concessional finance uses public money to “crowd in” private finance by providing a cushion for the losses of private investors. 

Impact finance

Concessional finance makes projects financially sustainable. Impact finance backs projects that are already financially sustainable—they just can’t find anyone to finance them, because they are in countries or sectors perceived as risky.

EIB economists Nina Fenton and Claudio Cali work in impact finance. Both came to A Dictionary of Finance to talk about impact finance, as well as microfinance. Says Nina, “Impact finance doesn’t provide money cheaper, as concessional finance does. But it provides money that otherwise wouldn’t be there at all.”

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