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Abstract
This article analyzes the Canadian government’s promotion of blended finance, a policy “innovation” that aims to use official development assistance to leverage private finance to meet the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It argues that blended finance is not a new idea but rather an old strategy that attempts to resolve the contradictions of neoliberal development by introducing more neoliberal policies. Rather than meeting the SDGs, this mode of financing development shifts investment away from the poorest countries and the services the poor need the most (e.g. health, education, water, and sanitation) and towards more profitable investment in finance, energy, and industry in middle-income countries. Suggestions for alternative development policies based on a propublic agenda—public financing, public-public partnerships, and global financial and tax reform—are provided.
Notes
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 See Brown, “The Instrumentalization of Foreign Aid”; Bueckert, “CIDA and the Capitalist State.”
2 Engler, The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy; Engler, Canada in Africa; Barry-Shaw and Oja Jay, Paved with Good Intentions; Klassen and Albo, Empire’s Ally; Klassen, Joining Empire; Shipley, Ottawa and Empire; Gordon and Webber, Blood of Extraction; Gordon, Imperialist Canada.
3 These commitments were outlined in the 2015 campaign platform. See Liberal Party of Canada, “Real Change.”
4 Brown and Swiss, “Canada’s Feminist International Assistant Policy”; Swiss, “Feminism on the Cheap”; Tiessen and Baranyi, Obligations and Omissions.
5 Whiteside, “Public Works.”
6 Sachs, End of Poverty; Easterly, White Man’s Burden.
7 Hayter, Aid as Imperialism; Amin, “Aid for Development.”
8 Brown, “The Instrumentalization of Foreign Aid”; Bueckert, “CIDA and the Capitalist State.”
9 Brown and Swiss, “Canada's Feminist International Assistant Policy”; Swiss, “Feminism on the Cheap”; Tiessen and Baranyi, Obligations and Omissions.
10 McLeod Group, A Backgrounder.
11 Global Affairs Canada, “Canada’s New Institute.”
12 Government of Canada, Equality and Growth.
13 Smillie, “Canada’s Development Assistance,” original emphasis.
14 Brown and McGill, “Reducing Government Accountability.”
15 Whiteside, “Public Works,” 3.
16 OECD, OECD Blended Finance Principles, 4.
17 Amin, “The Millennium Development Goals;” Gaffney, “10 Facts”; Pingeot, Corporate Influence.
18 OECD, “Global Outlook.”
19 OECD, “Official Development Assistance.”
20 Montes, “Five Points”; UN, Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
21 Adams and Martens, Fit for Whose Purpose?; CSRG, Spotlight; Cutler, “The Privatization of Authority”; Pingeot, Corporate Influence.
22 Cited in Alexander, “The Emerging Multi-Polar,” 2.
23 Bretton Woods Project, “Development to the Rescue.”
24 WHO, WHO Water, Sanitation.
25 Hutton and Varughese, The Costs.
26 Hall and Lobina, Pipe Dreams.
27 IFC, DFI Working Group; OECD, “Global Outlook.”
28 European Commission, Evaluation of Blending.
29 IFC, DFI Working Group; OECD, “Global Outlook.”
30 Romero, What Lies Beneath?; Griffiths and Romero, Three Compelling Reasons.
31 Bayliss, Private Sector Participation.
32 Bayliss, “The Financialization of Water.”
33 Griffiths and Romero, Three Compelling Reasons.
34 European Commission, Evaluation of Blending.
35 Romero, “Fiscal Costs.”
36 Kishimoto and Petitjean, Reclaiming Public Services; Pigeon et al., Remunicipalization.
37 Kishimoto and Petitjean, Reclaiming Public Services.
38 McDonald, “Building a Pro-Public Movement.”
39 Griffiths and Romero, Three Compelling Reasons.
40 OMFIF, “Global Public Investor.”
41 In Canada: Municipal Services Project (https://www.municipalservicesproject.org/about-us). You can also join the Facebook group: Pro-Public Movement. In the US: The Institute for Policy Studies (https://ips-dc.org/), The Next System Project (https://thenextsystem.org/), the Public Banking Institute (http://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/), and The Democracy Collaborative (https://democracycollaborative.org/). In Europe: Transnational Institute (https://www.tni.org/en) and the Public Services International Research Unit (http://www.psiru.org/).
42 Boag and McDonald, “Critical Review.”
43 Hall, Lethbridge, and Lobina, Public-Public Partnerships; Baer, “Democratizing Water.”
44 Bélanger Dumontier et al., “Work of the Ants.”
45 Helleiner, “Great Transformations,” 157.
46 Thomas and Mitra, “Global Civil Society.”
47 ICIJ, The Panama Papers.
48 Mining Association of Canada, “Mining Facts.”
49 Townsend, “Canada Should Lead.”
50 Meeks, “Reporting Debt Relief as ODA.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Adrian Murray
Adrian Murray is a PhD candidate in the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Susan Spronk
Susan Spronk teaches in the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.