Multilateral developments banks are key pillars of international development cooperation, providing development finance for sustainable development and investments and complementing developing countries' efforts to mobilize public resources domestically.
Together with multilateral developments banks, national development banks are critical for bridging the development finance gap - now estimated at over $4 trillion a year. However, non-concessional loans have accounted for almost 90 per cent of multilateral developments bank flows since the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic.
UNCTAD has called multilateral developments banks to scale up affordable development finance, which encompasses not only concessional loans and grants but also local currency loans.
Working together with national development banks, multilateral development banks can play a crucial role in ensuring that such affordable finance is directed to the Sustainable Development Goals and national development strategies.
This event will explore how multilateral developments banks, national development banks and policymakers from developing countries can coherently boost the provision of affordable development finance for national development strategies and policy, and thereby advance outcomes of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.
Programme
High-level panel and interactive discussion
Questions:
- How can concessional financing and grants of multilateral developments banks be scaled up?
- Which actions, including mechanisms to lower the cost of currency risk, could scale up multilateral developments banks’ local currency lending?
- How could the network of multilateral developments banks and national development banks be better leveraged?
- What are the best country models for linking multilateral developments bank lending to national development strategies?
Speakers:
- Ahmed Kouchouk, Minister of Finance of Egypt
- Abdullah Kh. Almusaibeeh, President, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA)
- Luis Jiménez-McInnis, European Representative, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
- Helena Tenório Veiga de Almeida, Director of Planning, Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES)
Moderator:
- Clara Manuela da Luz Delgado Jesus, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Cabo Verde to the United Nations at Geneva
H.E. Mr. Ahmed Kouchouk was appointed the Minister of Finance of Egypt in July 2024. He served as the Vice Minister of Finance for Fiscal Policies and institutional Reform from March 2016 to July 2024. Since then, he has been playing a leading role in planning and implementing Egypt’s macroeconomic and fiscal policies and reforms. He has also been the Chief Negotiator and Government focal point with the IMF since 2016.
He served as a Board Member at the Central Bank of Egypt from April 2016 to June 2018, at Egypt Air Holding Company from 2018-2020 and at Misr Fertilizers Production Company (MOPCO) from 2021- April 2022. He had been also entitled as a board member in several other institutions over the past years.
Mr. Ahmed Kouchouk is a professional economist and policy advisor with almost 25 years of applied experience. He worked as a Senior Economist for the World Bank from June 2013 to March 2016. Furthermore, he worked for the Ministry of Finance in several leading roles for more than 14 years including as the Vice Minister, the Economic Advisor, and the Director of the Macro Fiscal Unit. He also served for the Ministry of External Trade and the Ministry of Economy in Egypt.
He earned his master’s degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2010 and a master’s degree in economics from York University in the United Kingdom in 2002. He also had a B.S., in Economics in 1999 from the American University in Cairo.
Clara Manuela da Luz Delgado Jesus was appointed Permanent Representative of Cabo Verde to the United Nations Office at Geneva on 13 January 2021.
Prior to her appointment to Geneva, Ms. Delgado Jesus had been serving as an Ambassador and Advisor to the President of Cabo Verde for diplomatic matters since 2016. She was a Minister Plenipotentiary at the Directorate General for Global Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Communities from 2015 to 2016, responsible for matters relating to the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and trade relations with the European Union, among others. Ms. Delgado Jesus also served as Head of the Embassy of Cabo Verde in Luxembourg as Chargé d’affaires from 2009 to 2015.
From 2006 to 2009, Ms. Delgado Jesus was a Counsellor at the Directorate General for Foreign Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Communities, where she served as the Coordinator for United Nations matters, the environment, and Small Island Developing States, among others. She was First Secretary at the Embassy of Cabo Verde in Brussels and the Permanent Mission of Cabo Verde to the European Union and to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, as well as to the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Luxembourg, from 2001 to 2005. She joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Communities in 1993.
Ms. Delgado Jesus has a master’s degree in international economic relations (1992/1993) from the State University of Kiev, Ukraine. She also has a degree in international economic relations (1987/1991) from the same University.
H.E. Mr. Abdullah Kh. Almusaibeeh is currently President of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), a position he assumed on 1 July 2025. In this role, he oversees the Bank’s operations and strategic activities to advance economic and financial cooperation between Arab and African countries.
Before joining BADEA, Mr. Almusaibeeh served as Director of Operations at the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, where he held several senior leadership positions since joining the Fund in 1993. These included Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Arab countries, as well as Deputy Director of Operations.
Throughout his career, he has participated in numerous boards, committees, and Arab and international development funds, including membership in BADEA’s Board of Directors.
Luis Jiménez-McInnis is the European Representative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), where he leads the Bank's engagement with European institutions, governments, and development partners.
Before joining the IDB, Mr. Jiménez-McInnis served as Director of the Department of External Relations, Partnerships, and Resource Mobilization at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) from 2022 to 2024. From 2010 to 2016, he worked as Special Adviser to the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and subsequently held senior roles at IFAD as Director of the Office of Partnerships and Resource Mobilization (2016-2019) and Secretary and Director of the Office of the Secretary (2020-2022).
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and International Relations from Brown University and a Master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University.
Helena Tenório Veiga de Almeida is currently Director of the People, Information Technology and Operations Division at the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), a position she assumed in January 2023. She has been a career employee at BNDES since 1998, where she has held several leadership positions and contributed to the Bank’s strategic modernization and digital transformation processes.
Before her current appointment, she served as Head of the Operations and Microcredit Department in the Indirect Operations Division and as Superintendent of the Communication and Institutional Relationship Area. Over the years, she has gained extensive experience in development finance, institutional management, and innovation policy, and has played an active role in initiatives to strengthen efficiency and inclusion within the institution. Beyond her work at BNDES, she has also served as Vice-President of the New Club of Paris, an international think tank focused on the knowledge economy.
Helena holds a degree and a Master’s degree in Economics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), an MBA from Coppead, and a graduate degree in Digital Transformation from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-RJ).
