Most recent update: April 11, 2024
In October 2023, ahead of the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings in Marrakech, CGD unveiled a groundbreaking tool—the Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) Reform Tracker.
Now, in the run-up to the World Bank-IMF 2024 Spring Meetings, CGD has released an updated and greatly expanded Reform Tracker. The aim is to provide a comprehensive, independently sourced tool to help MDB shareholders, managers, and other stakeholders evaluate progress as objectively as possible. The focus is on reforms that can be factually and consistently assessed across different institutions.
This updated tracker explores the progress of seven of the largest MDBs—the African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank Global (EIB Global), Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDBG), and World Bank Group (WBG)—in implementing five major categories of reform:
- Maximize capital efficiency
- Add capital to meet needs and manage risks
- Expand mandates to include global challenges
- Transform country engagement for efficiency and impact
- Achieve major expansion in private finance mobilization
The 28 specific reforms within these categories are based on the reform agendas recommended in G20-commissioned work on MDB capital adequacy (here) and making MDBs bigger, better, and bolder (here and here).
Read our analysis of the results here
Methodology
Reform progress is assessed using five criteria.
- A “not pursued” rating indicates that there is no publicly available information that shows a reform is being pursued.
- An “announced intention” rating indicates that the MDB has publicly committed to the reform.
- An “in progress” rating indicates that public information demonstrates that the MDB has made some progress on implementing a reform, but further actions are needed.
- A “actions implemented” rating indicates that key actions have been taken.
To assess progress, we use information publicly available on MDB websites or in public documents. We also asked the MDBs themselves to add information to the matrix to supplement the information we found in order to generate as accurate an assessment of progress as possible. We are grateful that all of the MDBs responded to our request and provided helpful information. The online tracker is designed to allow users to scroll over individual cells to reveal links to the documents and website information used to assess progress for that cell.
The tracker
Maximize capital efficiency
In 2022, a G20-comisssioned Expert Panel published the Capital Adequacy Report. It contains recommendations for how the MDBs could expand their financing capacity using existing resources. These reform agenda items draw from that report.
Add capital to meet needs and manage risks
Even better leveraged, the current stock of MDB capital will not be sufficient to support the increased MDB lending capacity needed to help fill large SDG and climate finance gaps in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) – as evidenced by the G20 Independent Expert Group (IEG) on Strengthening the MDBs (Vol. I and Vol. II). These reforms include traditional capital increases and more innovative approaches like hybrid capital.
Expand mandates
This category assesses whether MDBs have integrated global challenges into their mandates and country strategies.
Transform country engagement for efficiency and impact
These reforms track ways in which the MDBs can act with increased operational efficiency, effectiveness, and impact to strengthen their engagement with recipient countries.
Achieve major expansion in private finance mobilization
This reform category assesses whether MDBs are putting in place the private finance mobilization targets, private sector diagnostics, catalytic instruments, and portfolio level approaches to mobilization that will enable them to transform their mobilization performance.
