Research Series Issue 37: Determinants of cofinancing in IFAD-funded projects - A call to rethink development interventions

This study is an analysis of what drives cofinancing in IFAD-supported programmes/projects, covering 20 years of data from 559 projects in 109 countries.

Significant factors that predict the cofinancing level, include: income level, fragility, national budgetary limitations, quality of rural institutions, governance, the size of the country and its vulnerability. The quality of implementation is another project-related factor found to be a major driver of donor commitment. Also, larger projects attract more cofinancing.

In IFAD’s case, its performance rating, the in-country experience of country programme managers, the size of the portfolio managed, and the  presence of a Country Office also had a positive impact on resource mobilization.

The results provide valuable insights to guide IFIs in assembling development finance and delivering impacts at scale to achieve the SDGs.