Annual Ministerial Meeting of Foreign Ministers of LLDCs

CFC calls for greater role of impact investing at the meeting of Ministers at the UNGA 76

/ Fri, 09/24/2021 - 09:43

On 23 September, during the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, the Common Fund for Commodities took part in the Annual Ministerial Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Landlocked Developing Countries on the theme “Leaving no one behind: Sustainable Recovery from COVID-19 in LLDCs and accelerated implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action and the special Roadmap”.

As Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) are challenged by their geography, they are deprived of direct access to seaborne trade and face higher costs to enter markets. Since the Vienna Programme of Action (VPoA) is an integral part of the UN 2030 Agenda, this and the special Roadmap on its Accelerated Implementation will address these challenges in a coherent manner.

Commodity dependency is an issue affecting many of the LLDCs. In fact, 24 of the 32 LLDCs are dependent on commodities for their exports. And yet this trend keeps increasing globally, as shown by UNCTAD’s recent flagship report “State of Commodity Dependence 2021” which suggests that only “a process of technology-enabled structural transformation” will enable to free LLDCs from the dependency trap.

In this regard, the CFC called to increase the role of impact investing and the development community to act on multiple aspects:

  • Providing innovative means to bridge the large finance gap for SMEs and smallholders;
  • Rolling out projects that address commodity dependency through technological transformation using impact investing and other types of blended finance, from both public and private funds to foster industrialization, value addition, and diversification;
  • Using innovation to build productive capacities and accelerate structural economic transformation so as to benefit smallholder farmers, who are at the beginning of the value chain;
  • Implementing policies and initiatives for digitalization that can enable early-mover advantage in e-commerce;
  • Receiving global governance support to develop and connect regional and global value chains;
  • Using data to make value chains more traceable and transparent.

 

Being committed to supporting LLDCs, by the end of 2021 the CFC will have approved 22 projects operating in LLDCs since 2014, with a total contribution of USD 19.3 million. Moreover, for its 2021-2025 operational plan, the CFC expects to commit USD 60 million for projects, of which approximately USD 16 million will be committed to the development of innovative enterprises in the commodity sector in LLDCs.

For the next program of action for LLDCs, the CFC urged to consider a separate program of action for LLDCs which are also LDCs; this would put them on a promising development path using innovations, creativity, and impact funds, both private and public. This way, we can leave no one behind.

For the full statement provided by the MD please click here.

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