Conference Presentation, Panel
Building Bridges to Developing Economies: Reports From Field Practice
- Israel Global Fellows Program Expansion: The Hebrew University's fellows program is expanding from a local Israeli cohort to an international cohort including students from Africa, India, and Asia, serving as a "force multiplier" for applied research and capacity building.
- Strategic Cabinet Resolutions: Israel has enacted three major cabinet resolutions to formalize its development strategy, specifically targeting diplomatic and economic expansion into Africa, China, and India.
- Decline in Global Investment Flows: Investments in emerging and developing economies have halved since 2010, while cross-border financial flows have fallen by two-thirds; portfolio and FDI flows have dropped from 23% of global GDP in 2008 to approximately 6%.
- Infrastructure Funding Gap: Global infrastructure needs are estimated at $90 trillion by 2030, yet public spending on infrastructure as a percentage of GDP is declining in both advanced and emerging economies.
- Citi's Public Sector Strategy: Citi is focusing on transforming infrastructure into a distinct asset class by structuring deals that offer risk profiles comparable to sovereign debt to attract institutional capital, moving beyond traditional balance-sheet financing.
- Rwanda Business Environment Reform: Rwanda has improved its Ease of Doing Business ranking from 158th to 41st globally (2nd in Africa) over the last decade by aligning regulations with private sector needs.
- Rwanda Innovation Ecosystem: The Kigali Innovation City was established through a partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, catalyzed by government investment in land and infrastructure to attract academic and entrepreneurial talent.
- Rwanda Innovation Fund: A novel fund was created by combining government capital, private fund management, and financing from the African Development Bank, which had previously never funded an innovation fund.
- Technion Inclusion Metrics: Technion's targeted program for the Arab sector increased student participation from 7% to 20% over eight years, reduced dropout rates to match national averages, and achieved 90% high-tech employment for graduates within a year.
- Technion Global Health Tech: The institute is developing a $1.50 TB diagnostic device supported by the Gates Foundation and running environmental engineering programs in China to improve water purification.
- Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Financing Gap: Microfinance has proven effective for poverty alleviation but fails to scale businesses into the formal economy, leaving a "missing middle" of SMEs that are too large for microloans but too small for traditional bank financing.
- Factoring-Based SME Fund: A London-based investment fund has deployed approximately $600 million (approaching $70 million in committed capital) to finance invoices for over 3,000 SMEs across 30 countries, with an average invoice value of $6,000.
- Fintech Implementation Warning: While electronic invoicing and fintech platforms reduce fraud and improve speed, industry leaders caution that technology cannot replace the essential human expertise in risk assessment and factoring operations.
- Blended Finance Definition: Blended finance is defined as the strategic use of public resources (grants, guarantees) to de-risk and mobilize private capital across the entire project lifecycle, from preparation to execution.
- SDIP Industry Group: The Sustainable Development Investment Partnership (SDIP) was formed to crowd in $100 billion by deploying a virtual team of experts to restructure stalled projects, successfully converting unbankable deals into bankable ones.
- Mexico City Airport Green Bond: A landmark deal utilized a revolving credit facility secured by existing airport revenue to de-risk construction, resulting in the largest green bond in an emerging market and the first inclusion of Latin American infrastructure in the Morningstar index.
- Investment Return Expectations: Janet McKinley projects net returns of 5% to 8% for investments in the real economy, noting that these yields are superior to the current era of negative-yielding bonds in the developed world.
- Israel Economic Rationale: The Israeli government views opening markets for its innovation sector as an economic imperative, not merely a diplomatic one, aiming to leverage Israeli technology for global development goals.
- Environmental Impact Metrics: Field projects utilizing Israeli AgTech and water solutions in Tamil Nadu have demonstrated 40-50% water savings, 30% higher agricultural yields, and a 36% reduction in CO2 emissions.
- Future Focus on Health and Infrastructure: 58% of global economic growth over the last two centuries has been driven by health improvements, underscoring the urgency of digital health and secure health record systems in development strategies.