Multilateral development banks (MDBs) play a unique role among development financiers, with their convening power, cross-country knowledge and expertise, and with finance at better terms than what capital markets can offer, leveraging on their balance sheets.

Nevertheless, there is a growing belief – particularly among borrowing countries – that the World Bank and major regional MDBs are too inflexible, bureaucratic and dominated by the political interests of wealthy non-borrowing shareholder countries.

MDBs operate across multiple territories, meaning they should – in theory – be well placed to deal with global crises. Yet in practice, the mandates, operational models and instruments of MDBs are no longer fit for purpose. It is high time that these deficiencies are addressed and resolved to ensure the MDB model is capable of confronting the major challenges of this century.

Ahead of June’s Paris Finance summit, this symposium gathers researchers in academia and think tanks, representatives of government shareholders in both borrowing and non-borrowing countries, and MDB staff to present and discuss cutting-edge new research and proposals to inform the strategies, governance, operational models and instruments of MDBs.