FIN 5433 - Financing for International Development

The course is designed to help students understand the factors and constraints that need to be accounted for and addressed to support finance in agriculture, water, public services, and climate change in developing countries. The course introduces students to the diversified toolbox of financial instruments and mechanisms for development finance and guides students in assessing the financing building blocks that are essential for successful transactions and implementation. Students will learn how to select and tailor financing tools to specific contexts in both the private and public sectors in developing countries. Students will have an opportunity to develop financing proposals to address specific development finance issues and present their “proposals” in recorded presentations and PowerPoints during the final week of the semester. The class project is designed to simulate the process that is followed to develop and implement investment projects in developing countries.

This course is divided into three modules. The first module focuses on the planning processes that provide the foundation for prioritization, design, and implementation of programs and projects in developing countries. Students will be introduced to four types of planning process: 1) development planning at the national and local levels; 2) sector planning; 3) environmental planning; and 4) climate adaptation planning.  The second module covers the toolbox of financial instruments and mechanisms used in development finance. These include conventional instruments such as grants, loans, equity, bonds, and public-private partnerships, as well as a set of innovative instruments to address and mitigate the various sources of risks that may impede investments in developing countries. Many of these are “traditional” in the sense of their long history in developed countries but viewed as new or innovative in developing countries. The third module focuses on the assessment of local contexts and conditions for finance and the evaluation of financing options. The instructor, in his work in nearly 50 developing countries, has developed a methodology for assessing the financing building blocks that often need to be accounted for and/or addressed before financial transactions can be successfully closed and projects implemented. Students will gain knowledge about the various types of financial and economic evaluations that are often required before financing is supplied for investments.

Anticipated Terms Offered: Periodically