CDC welcomes independent scrutiny of our performance. It is vital in delivering accountability and for providing insight that helps us to continually learn and improve as an organisation.
In May 2019, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) published a report entitled “CDC’s investments in low-income and fragile states.” The review, which covered the period 2012-2018, made six recommendations on how the organisation could improve its performance in making investments in low-income and fragile states.
CDC accepted all six recommendations which aligned with the ambitions we had set out in our 2017 strategic framework and built on work since 2012 which saw CDC transformed to become one of the only development finance institutions and long-term impact investors focused exclusively on the poorest countries in the world. The changes we have implemented over the last two years have reshaped the organisation and how we make every investment decision.
Today ICAI published a follow-up progress report from their fieldwork conducted eight months after the publishing of their initial report. In the report ICAI highlight significant progress across all areas including the development of tools for assessing impact; supporting investees on gender equality; closer collaboration with DFID; and positive communication around CDC’s higher risk Catalyst Strategies.
Overall ICAI comes to a different conclusion on whether the progress was swift enough in these areas when balancing these and other priorities that CDC needs to meet. We look forward to continuing to work with ICAI and all stakeholders as we continue to implement the ambitious plans laid out in our five-year strategy.
Detailed progress on ICAI’s recommendations and the steps that CDC has taken in response can be found here.
