At the end of September, the European Union launched its new European Fund for Sustainable Development, an instrument worth several billion euros to support investment in Africa and in the countries around Europe’s borders.

The EFSD is one of three pillars in the European External Investment Plan, which was announced by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in September 2016 as part of the EU’s response to the arrival of high numbers of migrants and refugees. The idea is to use “public funding as a guarantee to attract public and private investment to create real jobs,” as Juncker said at the time.

To meet these requirements, the fund will be overseen by a strategic board, which convened for the first time in Brussels on September 28. That meeting identified five broad areas of initial investment for the fund: sustainable energy and sustainable connectivity; micro, small, and medium enterprises financing; sustainable agriculture, rural entrepreneurs, and agro-industry; sustainable cities; and digitalization for sustainable development.

Read the full article by Vince Chadwick about the European Fund for Sustainable Development on Devex