In 2015, the international community agreed on the so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that set out a vision to overcome poverty and achieve sustainable development worldwide by 2030. To deliver on this ambitious agenda, different financing sources will have to be used. They include a much better use of domestic resources, public funds such as official development assistance (ODA), and also much increased investments. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the investment gap amounts to more than €2 billion a year. When investors want to seize economic opportunities, some challenges are recurrent, including access to finance, knowledge of local regulations, or lack of opportunities for risk-sharing. This is particularly pronounced in countries with less developed economic governance systems and in fragile contexts. In response, the new EU External Investment Plan (EIP) will address those challenges in order to trigger investments that contribute to our policy objectives such as overcoming poverty, fighting climate change and addressing the root causes of irregular migration. With an input of €4.1 billion, the EIP aims to leverage €44 billion of total investments in countries neighbouring the EU and in Africa. By promoting economic development, it will help create jobs, support economies and give people more opportunities in their home countries – thus also ensuring social benefits.

Source: ecdpm