Charities and transparency campaigners analyse Government’s investment for development strategy
The International Development Strategy launched by the UK Government in May 2022 cemented diplomatic influence, trade policy, defence, intelligence, business partnerships and development expertise at the heart of UK development policy. Delivering ‘honest and reliable investment’ to support partner countries is one of the Strategy’s four priorities.
The Strategy introduced the concept of the British Investment Partnership for the expansion of infrastructure investment to low-and middle-income countries. Given that a greater proportion of the future aid budget will be delivered through British International Investment, the International Development Committee is investigating how BII delivers. MPs will explore how this strategy aligns with FCDO foreign policy, and whether directing additional money to BII is an effective use of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget.
Meeting details
In this first oral evidence session, MPs are likely to consider:
- BII’s business practices in targeting poverty reduction through its investment activities.
- BII’s use of climate financing and the effectiveness of these investments within recipient countries.
- BII’s current energy portfolio complies with the UK Government’s green agenda.
- BII’s use of financial intermediaries as an investment tool.
- BII’s ability to adapt to changing UK Government priorities and the potential for BII to exit investments that do not adhere to the UK’s foreign policy.
- BII’s due diligence practices within their supply chain.
- The transparency of BII’s reporting of investment impact, how this compares with other development finance institutions and FCDO, and whether the information available in the public domain allows for sufficient scrutiny of how the money is invested.