Between December 2025 and July 2026, the Shamba Centre – with the support from BMZ and the European Commission Directorate for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) - will conduct an expert consultation with development finance institutions (DFIs) on investment opportunities under the EU Global Gateway.

The focus will be on how DFIs can:  

• Create opportunities for European companies in food and agriculture to operate and invest in developing countries.  

• Crowd in domestics investors, including companies, banks, institutional investors, and sovereign wealth funds.

The context 

DFIs are increasingly expected to invest in creating and shaping markets that stimulate economic transformation. For example, they are being called upon to provide longer-term and lower costs financing, expand conditional and outcome-based financing, invest more in low income and fragile economies, as well as offer better terms for projects and companies that bring additional environmental, social and development impact. 

However, these types of investments can be difficult for DFIs to undertake because of their governance structures. 

Focus of the expert consultation 

The consultation will explore how DFIs are beginning to address this challenge and invest in high-risk geographies and higher risk sectors such as agriculture and food. This could include dedicated facilities focused on development outcomes, increasing participation in funds with SDG-aligned mandates, sharing risks across multiple DFIs or increasing the participation of domestic investors.

The consultation will also discuss emerging reforms in DFI governance, such as board-level approval for higher portfolio risk in low-income countries, KPIs aligned more with donor objectives, operating joint investment country platforms or working with shareholder governments to establish unfunded guarantees.

The consultations will also provide an evidence review on guarantees, results-based finance, and project preparation facilities.   

Engagement with DFIs  

Blended finance is a transition strategy. Over time, the objective is to mainstream agri-food investments and position them to attract a broader and more diverse investor base. In this context, the consultations will highlight how DFIs can mobilising domestic capital, including sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors, state-owned enterprises, and high-net-worth individuals. Without domestic co-investment and risk-sharing, development finance will remain constrained in both its ambition and impact. 

The Shamba Centre will engage with DFIs to explore their ambition.

Recognizing institutional diversity  

We acknowledge that the term Development Finance Institution (DFI) encompasses multilateral and bilateral development banks as well as public development banks, each with distinct funding models, governance structures, and mandates. However, the current geopolitical context of multiple crises, all DFIs are being called upon to play a much more active role in financing the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda.