Toronto, 30 April 2024 —Today, the global network for blended finance, Convergence, released the 8th edition of the State of Blended Finance report.
Convergence’s flagship report offers an updated analysis on blended finance in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), covering sectors, vehicles, regions, and investor trends. The sectors explored in this report include agriculture, energy, financial services, health and education, and infrastructure.
Following a 10-year low in aggregate blended finance volumes in 2022, Convergence observed a market rebound in 2023, reaching a 5-year high of $15 billion.
Additional key report observations include:
- 2023 saw a greater frequency of deals over $100 million compared to the previous two years (40% of deals in 2023, 17% in 2022, 28% in 2021).
- There was a significant increase in the cadence of blended finance over time, with the last decade seeing 85 deals per year on average, vs. 122 annual transactions recorded on average from 2021 to 2023.
- Climate blended financing totals increased by 107%, from $5.6 billion in 2022 to $11.6 billion in 2023, with 48% of 2023 climate blended finance deals exceeding $100 million, compared to 24% in 2022 and 41% in 2021. A complete analysis on the climate blended finance market will be released in Fall 2024.
“The data point to continued mainstreaming of blended finance as a tool as well as progress in scaling up the practice,” says Convergence CEO Joan Larrea. “We are taking steps in the right direction to close the Sustainable Development Goals’ financing gap but we must stride farther and faster to raise the trillions needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda.”
Among the report’s authors, Convergence Manager Andrew Apampa remarked on the guiding questions that the team set out to answer: “For the first time, we reflect on some of the regulatory challenges identified by large-scale commercial investors active in blended finance while also presenting insights on blended finance from stakeholders in the regulatory and supervisory communities. In doing so, we hope to shine a light on how underlying conditions that enable blended finance can be improved."
With contributions from the Network for Greening the Financial System and the Toronto Centre, the report examines key regulatory roadblocks faced by large-scale commercial investors when investing in blended finance vehicles and presents recommendations on how to address these challenges.
The report also explores the state of blended finance data transparency by examining the methodological differences underlying blended finance data and market trends by three of the largest blended finance data collectors, namely the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the DFI Joint Working Group on Blended Concessional Finance, and Convergence. The report identifies recommendations for development actors, blended finance practitioners, and data providers to support information-sharing in blended finance.
Analysis in the report draws from Convergence’s Historical Deals Database, the largest and most detailed database of historical blended finance transactions, comprising 1,123 blended finance transactions with a total investment of $213 billion.
Read the State of Blended Finance 2024 report here.
About Convergence Convergence is the global network for blended finance. We exist to increase private investment in emerging markets and developing economies to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement.
Our members include private investors looking to diversify their portfolios, businesses seeking capital, as well as public agencies and philanthropic foundations looking to make their funds go further.
Media Contact
Karolyn Xie
Head of Communications (interim)
Convergence
[email protected]
