Giving Compass' Take:

• Writing for Devex, African Risk Capacity chair Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala explains how simple economic policies can have big effects on financing aid, such as publishing government spending in a national paper to increase transparency.

• While development organizations talk about blended finance and other elaborate ways to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, approaching solutions from a practical standpoint could be a better way to go.

• That said, it's also worth looking at the action plan from the Blended Finance Task Force.

A more prosperous, secure, sustainable, and fair future for 2.4 billion people. That is the shared vision of leaders from 52 nations in London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, as they come together to discuss how to build on strengths in the face of global challenges, toward a common future.

But while there is broad agreement on where to go, what is less clear, is how to pay for it.

We know that government aid budgets alone cannot get us there and we know that more funding will need to come from institutional capital and the private sector. Innovative financing models appear to hold the key as to how we do that. But in the hunt for solutions, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Sometimes the solution can be something quite simple.

As finance minister in Nigeria, I introduced measures to regularly publish the government’s monthly accounts in a national newspaper, to increase transparency and reduce corruption. Simple but effective. And when we replaced a leaky, cash-based payroll system for civil servants with a biometric electronic payment system, the reduction in corruption saved the government more than 1.1 billion.

Similarly, in the world of childhood immunization, there are existing models with a proven track record of leveraging additional private capital in ways that amplify global health outcomes.

Read the full article about innovative finance and simpler solutions by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at Devex International Development.