Guidance in financing development projects

“This program exceeded my expectations; it's very interesting, informative, it made me think outside of the box and encouraged me to learn more about project finance. I recommend it to anyone who wants to initiate new projects as well as start-up companies.”- Mrs. Hajir Musa (Sudan) participant of the MSM executive Project Finance program which took place from 27 September – 01 October 2021.

The rise of Private Sector Development
The first day started with a warm welcome and brief introduction of Ms. Mirjana Stanisic, program manager and Academic Coordinator International Business & Sustainable Development at MSM. After the introduction, Mr. Luís Mah, lecturer on International Development and Cooperation deepen up on the topic of the emergence and importance of private sector development for the Agenda 2030. Furthermore, participants discussed a new modes of development finance like, social venture capital, impact investment and blended finance.

EU Blended Finance
On the second day, Mr. Luís Mah introduced the participants to the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD) as one of the 3 pillars of the European External Investment plan and explained about the re-emergence of Development Finance Institutions (DFR’s) to support private sector development in developing countries. Also, the European Development Fund institutions (EDFI) and various individual EU developments finance institutions (DFIs) have been explained. Especially this part of the program was very valuable to Mr. Lucas Modiba (from South Africa): “I joined this program to increase my knowledge and understanding of various project finance structures. I am especially passionate about the DFI space and this course is closely aligned to my interest in development finance.”

The rise of Blended Finance
Day three of the program focused on the OECD Blended Finance Principles. Mr. Jorge Vidal Fernandez, Investment Director at the Liechtenstein Group and Adjunct Professor at IE Business School in Spain, introduced various blended finance instruments and mechanisms to address unwanted risk-return profiles of investment in developing countries. Participants learned about identifying and managing risks and dived into case studies where risk mitigation instruments were used for large scale projects.

Measuring and managing impact
Another important element within financing development project is impact measurement and management. Mr. Luis Mah shared the main principles, standards, frameworks and sets of metrics that can be used to measure and manage impact. In the afternoon, the discussion and reflection concerning the OECD UNDP Impacts Standards for financing sustainable development (IS-FSD) took place.

Insights and lessons learned
On the last day of the program, the participants presented their assignments in which they integrated all the news insights, knowledge and skills. The program has been closed with valuable feedback and practical tips on how to apply newly gained knowledge and information to their daily work. For Ms. Hajir Musa the program has been very valuable: “In Sudan there are many business opportunities but the main obstacle is funding or finding the right business partner, so I decided to join this project finance program to learn mow about how to create public private partnership (PPP) and find financing opportunities from different resources and in addition to get more technical experience from lecturers about blended finance.”

Mr. Lucas Modiba enjoyed being part of such a multicultural learning environment: “I really enjoyed the program, from the content to the diverse group of students from across the world and the vast experiences of the lecturers on the subject matter. The trainers we very knowledgeable on the subject matter, they made the course practical and engaging. Both trainers are experts in their field which made the course more relevant and enriching.”

Would you like to join the Project Finance program as well?
The dates for the next 5-day Project Management program is not scheduled yet. In case you are interested, please send an email to ep@msm.nl. As soon as the new dates are fixed, they will inform you.

About MSM’s executive education programs
Today’s rapidly changing societies and economies demand the most from organizations, leaders, managers and professionals. MSM’s Executive Education programs for emerging markets are developed to achieve a successful and sustainable transformation of both individuals and organizations to support local economic development and business management.