IFC joins IATI

  • Jan. 31, 2017

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is joining the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI).

As part of the World Bank Group, IFC is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries. This week, the organisation is publishing IATI data for over 7800 investment projects and has committed to updating this information monthly.

“It is our hope that publishing IFC data to IATI will encourage more participation among private sector institutions”

IFC hopes its stakeholders will use IATI data to learn more about their activities and increase strategic engagement towards their goal of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity.

Aaron Rosenberg, Head of Public Affairs for IFC, said: “We have been working closely with IATI to ensure that the IATI Standard better represents the contribution of the private sector in development”.

“It is our hope that publishing IFC data to IATI will encourage more participation among private sector institutions. We believe the IATI platform can help to build and maintain increasing public awareness about its publishers’ development roles and missions.”

In 2013, IFC participated in a group to explore options for Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), International Finance Institutions (IFIs) and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) wanting to publish their data to the IATI Standard. This resulted in IATI developing IFI/DFI-specific reporting standards, recognising that their business models and practices differ from traditional development cooperation and grant aid providers.

As part of the IATI publishing community and as a member, IFC will continue to work closely with IATI and other peer publishers to capture a broader range of private sector activities in development.

Stephen Potter, Chair of IATI said: “We are delighted that the IFC has published thousands of activities to the IATI Standard and will be joining our initiative as a member. We celebrate IFC’s commitment to increasing transparency and to open data for development. Resources provided by international finance institutions are an important component of development finance. We look forward to working with IFC and to IATI participation by an ever-broadening range of development organisations”.