IFC plays a leadership role among development finance institutions (DFIs) and other multilateral development banks (MBDs) to promote the adoption of the blended finance principles to ensure a strict and disciplined approach to blended concessional finance. IFC co-chairs the DFI Working Group on Blended Concessional Finance.

Overall, there is a notable trend across institutions of increased rigor and governance systems designed to support the careful use of blended finance. There is also consensus on the need for greater transparency and more harmonization amongst DFIs and institutions implementing blended finance. The 23 DFIs, including IFC, in the DFI Working group have agreed on the following definition of blended finance:

Combining concessional finance from donors or third parties alongside DFIs’ normal own account finance and/or commercial finance from other investors, to develop private sector markets, address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and mobilize private resources.

The working group has published annual reports since 2017.