Finances Mobilising private-sector funds for the 2030 Agenda

German development cooperation works closely with its partner countries, private investors and other relevant actors to improve the conditions for investment and economic activity in developing and emerging countries and worldwide. In addition, it strives to place a stronger focus on the mobilisation of private-sector funds in multilateral institutions and processes. As a part of such efforts, the German Government builds upon the following lighthouse initiatives: Through SCALED (formerly the Hamburg Sustainability Platform), an international multi-stakeholder initiative launched in 2024 by the German Government with 14 public and private partners, Germany sends a strong signal for large-scale mobilisation of private investment. A combination of standardisation, pooling of public finance and intensified blended finance cooperation is intended to make transactions faster and more efficient. Furthermore, with the G20 Compact with Africa launched in 2017, the German Government has created a central initiative designed to promote the mobilisation of private-sector funds that now operates in 14 African partner countries. The German Government is currently working to expand and strengthen the initiative together with the South African G20 Presidency. Moreover, the German Government works towards increased international cooperation and coordination in the field of private-sector mobilisation, including with private actors.

In addition, the German Government makes an important contribution through its targeted use of financial instruments and the associated catalytic deployment of public funds. In this manner, private investment can be mobilised specifically for the attainment of the SDGs.

In order to boost the operational efficiency of such approaches and scale them more strongly, the German Government promotes standardisation of blended finance approaches, including at international level. For this purpose, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) initiated the Hamburg Sustainability Platform (now SCALED – Scaling Capital for Sustainable Development) together with ten other public and private partners. Beside bundling investment schemes, SCALED’s objective is to simplify and accelerate the establishment of blended finance vehicles through standardisation – thereby mobilising private capital on a much larger scale than in the past.