Spring Meetings: JEFIC brings development finance leaders together in Washington
Apr 16, 2026
On the occasion of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, JEFIC – Joint European Financiers for International Cooperation – and CDP organised the event “Partnering for Prosperity: a New Role for Development Finance in an Evolving Global Landscape” in Washington.
The meeting brought together representatives of multilateral and bilateral development banks, European institutions, G7 and African partners to discuss ongoing transformations in the development finance architecture and the growing role of Public Development Banks (PDBs) and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).
The event opened with remarks by Giovanni Gorno Tempini, Chairman of CDP, followed by a keynote address by Jozef Síkela, European Commissioner for International Partnerships.
The central discussion on how to strengthen international coordination and identify more effective tools to mobilise public and private capital featured the participation of the CEOs of JEFIC member institutions, from leading G7 Development Finance Institutions and African partners, alongside senior representatives from multilateral institutions as the European Investment Bank (EIB), the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The discussion clearly highlighted the importance of a structural shift away from traditional cooperation models towards ones based on solid partnerships, ownership by partner countries, stronger alignment with national development priorities and increased long-term investments in strategic sectors such as infrastructure, energy and critical raw materials. In this context, European initiatives such as Global Gateway were recognised as key instruments to enhance the impact, coherence and scale of interventions.