Capital Locast - Episode 5

03/23/20 • 34 min

Francis Zinsou – Former Permanent Representative of Benin to the United Nations and former negotiator on behalf of the (then) 49 Least Developed Countries at the 2015 Financing for Development conference which produced the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) – the current global agenda for development finance which includes an enhanced recognition of the private sector as a development actor – alongside public funding of Overseas Development Assistance. Ambassador Zinsou explains how local governments were excluded from early drafts of the AAAA, which only referenced a role for central government, civil society and the private sector. Benin’s advocacy led to the inclusion of “article 34”, recognizing the role of local government finance, despite indifference from some national governments.

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Capital Locast - Episode 4

Rajivan Krishnaswamy – Former CEO of the Tamil Nadu Urban Development Fund in India and former Senior Urban Finance Specialist at the World Bank. Rajivan tells us that the form of the financing shapes the form of the city and stresses the importance of building capital markets and fiscal systems that provide a blend of financing. A full mix of financial options is necessary to produce resilient and inclusive urban futures. Rajivan outlines how intergovernmental fiscal transfers and own revenues are equally important to private sector funding. Importantly, Rajivan distinguishes between the types of private funding and their pros and cons for different urban development objectives.

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Capital Locast - Episode 6

Jesper Steffensen – Senior Partner of DEGE Consult and a leading expert on fiscal transfers from central to local governments and author of the Performance Based Grants, Best Practice and International Experience, 2010, with involvement in LG finance reforms in more than 45 countries around the World. Jesper outlines how all countries, from the wealthy to the poorest, operate some form of fiscal transfer of government revenue to local authorities. This is necessary for a functioning state system and for efficient, resilient local economies. It is a form of sharing the national wealth to citizens across the whole territory that generates the wealth in the first place and means to ensure an equitable development. Yet too often intergovernmental fiscal transfers are viewed negatively or designed & implemented sub-optimally. Jesper explains how embracing transfers to local governments can accelerate national development objectives, especially when linked with performance improvements and climate change funding. Jesper also argues that although focusing on improvements in local governments own revenues, especially for sustainability and accountability reasons is important, this should not be used as an excuse to reduce or ignore transfers, which serve numerous development objectives.