On November 4, 2021, the German Executive Director, Gunther Beger, hosted a “Brown Bag Lunch” entitled: "Qualitative Criteria when Mobilizing Private Finance under the Cascade - Value for Money and Value for Society." In the context of the "Maximizing Finance for Development" approach (also known as the "Cascade"), the World Bank in 2017 committed to ensuring qualitative cost/benefit trade-offs in private capital mobilization, including, for example, access and affordability of services for the population, as well as an adequate risk structure between the public and private sectors. Directors from the World Bank, IFC, and MIGA, as well as from the World Bank's Procurement Department, presented their decision-making process on a) trade-offs between public and private financing, and b) if the latter, on structuring PPPs. The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), a financial expert, and a lawyer commented on the approach. About 90 participants from the World Bank Board and relevant departments attended the event. The lively discussion afterwards testified to the great interest in the topic and will be continued in the near future.
