IFC has embarked on an ambitious new strategy to stimulate more investment activity by Creating Markets, including in Low Income Countries (LICs) and Fragile and Conflict Situations (FCS). This new strategy requires a shift in our approach to proactively create, deepen and expand markets and projects rather than waiting for clients to propose projects for IFC to finance. This strategy also relies on upstream work with Governments and World Bank colleagues to enable private sector solutions and financing. We call this approach the “Cascade.” Working with clients, we will first seek private sector solutions to address development challenges, where such solutions are advisable and can be effective, and reserve public financing for projects only when other options are suboptimal.

The Financial Institutions Group (FIG) is one of IFC’s key Departments responsible for a significant portion of IFC’s business volume, profitability, and development reach, approximately 40%. FIG engages ...