Publication: International Finance Corporation Country Diagnostics and Strategies under IFC 3.0 : An Early-Stage Assessment: Approach Paper
Loading...
Published
2022-04-27
ISSN
Date
2022-07-11
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
In December 2016, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) introduced its latest strategy, IFC 3.0, which aimed to enhance IFC’s development impact by creating “new and stronger markets for private sector solutions” (IFC 2019) and “mobilizing private capital at significant scale” (IFC 2021) where it is needed the most. To achieve IFC 3.0’s aims of market creation and private capital mobilization at scale, IFC recognized it would need new tools and analytical capabilities to: (i) Develop a deeper understanding of the constraints limiting private sector solutions and opportunities in each country’s economy, including in key enabling and productive sectors; and (ii) Allow for a more strategic selection, sequencing, and implementation of its activities and stronger coordination across the World Bank Group. At the country level, IFC 3.0’s tools included a new diagnostic instrument, the Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD), and a new strategy instrument, the IFC Country Strategy. The objective of the evaluation is to assess whether IFC Country Strategies and CPSDs have enhanced IFC’s ability to create markets and mobilize capital at scale and have informed Bank Group collaboration on private sector development. The evaluation will focus on IFC Country Strategies and CPSDs completed since their inception in fiscal year (FY)18. The evaluation will cover all 50 IFC Country Strategies and the 31 CPSDs completed between FY18 and December 31, 2021.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Independent Evaluation Group. 2022. International Finance Corporation Country Diagnostics and Strategies under IFC 3.0 : An Early-Stage Assessment: Approach Paper. Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) Approach Paper;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37675 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Evaluation of the International Finance Corporation's Global Trade Finance Program, 2006-12(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013-08-27)The International Finance Corporation (IFC) introduced the Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP) in 2005 is to 'support the extension of trade finance to underserved clients globally.' The program has since expanded rapidly, and its authorized exposure ceiling was increased in three stages from $500 million in 2005 to $5 billion in 2012. In FY12, the GTFP accounted for 39 percent of total IFC commitments, 53 percent of its commitments in Sub Saharan Africa, and 48 percent of its commitments in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) recommends that IFC (i) continue to strengthen the GTFP's focus in areas where additionally is high and increase the share of the program in high-risk markets and where the supply of trade finance and alternate risk-mitigation instruments are less available; (ii) adopt additional methods of reporting volume that can reflect the distinct nature of trade finance guarantees; (iii) refine the means by which GTFP profitability is monitored and reported; (iv) review the costs and benefits of the current monitoring and evaluation framework; (v) ensure that a transparent process is in place to govern cases of covenant breach; and (vi) enhance the program's ability to meet the demand for coverage of longer-term trade finance tenors.Publication Early-Stage Evaluation of International Finance Corporation Platforms Approach(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-13)In December 2022, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) redefined platforms as a mechanism for scaling new business development. This is an early-stage evaluation assessing IFC’s platforms approach through the lens of all seven platforms introduced between fiscal years 2017 and 2022. As an early-stage evaluation, the report did not examine the profitability or development impact of the platforms currently underway. Rather, it assessed the extent to which IFC platforms achieved their stated objectives, including (1) Responding to crisis at scale, (2) Engaging with small and new clients, and in new sectors (3) Engaging with clients of the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries, and in fragile and conflict situations. The evaluation also assessed the extent to which IFC’s platforms approach meet expectations on oversight, reporting, and efficiency gains while balancing risks and benefits to enhance trust over time. It also provides insights derived from focus group discussions of early experience to assist IFC in shaping the future use of platforms to address crises, global challenges and to reach new and small clients and markets. The evaluation makes two recommendations on the future use of platforms and on platform reporting and monitoring: (1) Extend the platform approach by building on the benefits revealed in the pilot period and generating new learning on platform performance. (2) To facilitate oversight of and learning from platforms, IFC and the Board agree on the level, content, format, and frequency of reporting on platforms and platform projects, rooted in clear results frameworks.Publication Impact Evaluation of Business License Simplification in Peru : An Independent Assessment of an International Finance Corporation-Supported Project(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013)This evaluation assesses the impact of International Finance Corporation's (IFC's) Business License Simplification Project in the municipality of Lima, Peru. It reviews two previous evaluations sponsored by IFC and adds new evidence. Under the project, IFC's Foreign Investment Advisory Services (FIAS) worked with the municipality of Lima to reform the administrative process for obtaining a business license in Cercado de Lima, one of 44 districts that comprise metropolitan Lima. According to the municipality, 64 percent of the businesses in this district lacked a business license in 2005, and most of them were microenterprises. The project was implemented from January 2005 to March 2007. The present evaluation conducted an independent review of both previous studies, collected additional data, verified the previous findings, and placed the findings in the context of related studies and evaluations. The goal was to take stock of the results, collect and use other evidence, and draw lessons for future IFC and World Bank operations. This chapter describes and compares the divergent evidence on which procedures were simplified by the license reform and by how much. A second chapter reviews existing evaluations and previous relevant findings from other countries; a third replicates and extends the regression evidence on the impact of license reform on critical business outcomes, such as revenues and employment. The fourth chapter, a cost-benefit assessment of the desirability of the whole program, reviews what the behavior of businesses and their own testimony reveals about the benefits of registration. The final chapter takes into account the findings reviewed in previous chapters, as well as new evidence in this study, and offers policy implications and recommendations for IFC.Publication Youth Employment Programs : An Evaluation of World Bank and International Finance Corporation Support(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2012-09)Youth employment issues are a major concern for many countries because they have negative effects on the welfare of young people, and may also adversely affect economic performance and social stability. This is the first Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) evaluation of the World Bank Group's support to countries trying to address youth employment issues. The World Bank lending portfolio for youth employment is relatively small, although components of programs appear in 57 countries. Most projects include interventions in skills development and school-to-work transition. Half of the projects include interventions to foster job creation and work opportunities for youth. International Finance Corporation (IFC) has a broad approach to job creation. Between FY01 and FY11 youth employment has not been specifically targeted, except in the Middle East and North Africa region and in a small number of other interventions. IFC invested $500 million to 50 investment operations and 18 advisory services to education. Although youth employment is addressed in the education, social protection, and labor strategies, it is not recognized as an issue in most country strategies even where youth unemployment is serious. Youth employment is a multisectoral issue, but few youth employment projects are implemented by multisectoral teams. The evaluation makes two recommendations: (i) apply an evidence-based approach to youth employment operations, and (ii) at the country level, take a strategic approach to youth employment by addressing the issue comprehensively, working across World Bank Group teams, with governments and other donors. There is a critical need to strengthen evidence-based feedback loops to the strategic planning process. Addressing youth employment issues is a major concern for many countries. It negatively affects the welfare of young people and potentially the rest of the economy as well. Unemployed youth do not get a chance to build professional skills. As a result, they are more at risk for higher adult unemployment, career downgrades and lower wages later in life, and a loss in lifetime earnings. The reasons for higher youth-to-adult unemployment rates include labor demand and supply factors, as well as constraints in the labor and credit markets. Their relative importance in a dynamic growth context varies across countries. Recognizing these differences is important for governments in designing youth employment programs tailored to the most affected youth groups, and to incorporating in program design specific interventions to address the underlying causes of youth unemployment and underemployment. This evaluation was done to better understand the contributions of the World Bank and IFC to these efforts, their effectiveness, and what can be learned from the experience to support decision makers in finding new solutions.Publication World Bank Group Support to Health Financing(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2014-07)The way countries finance health care influences how well a health system performs and achieves its expected outcomes, including how equitable and efficient it is. Countries decide how to mobilize revenues from different sources for financing health care, how to pool revenues in public and private insurance and in a national health system with automatic coverage (risk pooling), and how to purchase care from health care providers. The World Bank has implemented health financing activities in 68 countries during FY03-12. Health financing interventions are found in about 40 percent of the Bank s Health, Nutrition, and Population portfolio. Most projects include interventions on revenue collection from public sources. Almost half of the projects support public health insurance and automatic coverage. More recently, results-based financing (RBF) operations became more prominent. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) delivered a small program in health financing. The evaluation makes five main recommendations: support government commitment and build technical and information capacity; address health financing as a cross-cutting issue at the country level; focus on health financing as a core comparative advantage; integrate all health financing functions; and strengthen monitoring and evaluation in Bank and IFC projects.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication MIGA Annual Report 2021(Washington, DC: Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, 2021-10-01)In FY21, MIGA issued 5.2 billion US Dollars in new guarantees across 40 projects. These projects are expected to provide 784,000 people with new or improved electricity service, create over 14,000 jobs, generate over 362 million US Dollars in taxes for the host countries, and enable about 1.3 billion US Dollars in loans to businesses—critical as countries around the world work to keep their economies afloat. Of the 40 projects supported during FY21, 85 percent addressed at least one of the strategic priority areas, namely, IDA-eligible countries (lower-income), fragile and conflict affected situations (FCS), and climate finance. As of June 2021, MIGA has also issued 5.6 billion US Dollars of guarantees through our COVID-19 Response Program and anticipate an expansion to 10–12 billion US Dollars over the coming years, a testament to the countercyclical role that MIGA can play in mobilizing private investment in the face of the pandemic. A member of the World Bank Group, MIGA is committed to strong development impact and promoting projects that are economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable. MIGA helps investors mitigate the risks of restrictions on currency conversion and transfer, breach of contract by governments, expropriation, and war and civil disturbance, as well as offering credit enhancement on sovereign obligations.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.