Background: IFC's Shift Toward a Client-Centered Institution
The mandate of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is to promote economic development by supporting productive private enterprise in its developing member countries – particularly in less developed and higher risk countries, in partnership with private sector clients. Engaging with clients is therefore a means to an end – to promote economic development.
IFC introduced client engagement as a strategic priority in the early 2000s. This was a relevant and timely response to competitive pressures from new players in the private sector development space, more financing and advisory options available to private investors in developing countries, and more confident developing country enterprises.
The overarching objective for this shift was to use strategically selected new and existing clients as effective vehicles for catalyzing private investments, increasing IFC’s developmental impact, and improving business efficiency.
This evaluation assesses how strategic and effective IFC has been in its approaches to client engagement. It reviews client focused partnerships, upstream engagements to support market creation activities, and country focused interventions. Coming more than a decade after the IFC’s strategic approach began, it reviews the extent to which IFC’s approach has been implemented, has enhanced the clients’ project outcomes, and has helped IFC improve its own development outcomes and effects.