Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
Happening right now. In #Tajikistan young women & men need jobs. For that micro, small businesses need to start & grow. These businesses are badly in need of affordable capital. And so @UNCDF & @UNDP have brought together Banks & small businesses to discuss financing challenges & opportunities. @UNDPTJK @UNDPEurasia @alexanderdecroo @Pradeep0872
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
Africa’s innovation ecosystem is rich with talent yet many promising ventures struggle to secure early-stage investment.
At #UNGA81, @UNDP and @UNCDF convene partners to explore practical ways to close the capital gap & unlock opportunities for African entrepreneurs.
#timbuktoo
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
Too many projects in developing countries struggle to attract investment because the risks are simply too high.
Today, Commissioner @JozefSikela and I signed a new €50 million EU guarantee.
With this guarantee, the UN Capital Development Fund can take some of that risk and bring more public and private finance into cities and local communities.
This will support affordable housing, renewable energy, water and essential local services across developing countries.
bit.ly/4cXIk3r
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
In 2024, only 2% of global foreign direct investment reached the world's least developed countries. Why?
The problem is structural.
UNCDF exists to disrupt this pattern.
🔗 uncdf.org/
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
🇷🇼 Rwanda launches a joint programme with @FAO, @UNICEF, @UNDP, @WFP & @UNCDF to accelerate food systems transformation.
Backed by @JointSDGFund & @FoodSystems, it expands access to finance and scales climate-smart agriculture.
🔗 jointsdgfund.org/article/acc…
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe’s Renewable Energy Fund (#REF) wins the Sustainable Energy Finance Innovation Award at @SADCSEW! 🏆
#REF brings together @UNCDF, @UNDP, @UN_Women & @UNESCO, with support from the Joint SDG Fund and @OldMutualZW, to structure blended finance for renewable energy.
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
Exec. Sec. @Pradeep0872, @UNCDF, met today with Dr. Osama Faqeeha, Deputy Minister @MEWA_KSA, and H.E. Ibrahim AlTurki, Secretary General of the Middle East Green Initiative. They discussed inclusive finance and collaboration on green initiatives. #UNCDF #Partnerships
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
Honored to meet w/ the Minister of Blue Economy & Fishery of #Zanzibar, Hon. Masoud Ali Mohammed, w/ @UNCDF team & Mr. Robert Filipp, Innovative Finance Foundation. @UNCDF & @UNDP work together to unlock financing & opportunities for the people of Zanzibar. @undptz @UNDPAfrica – at Zanzibar West, Tanzania
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
Ms. Nahid Hussein, @UNDP Resident Representative in Saudi Arabia, met today with @UNCDF Exec. Sec. @Pradeep0872 to discuss key areas of collaboration and his visit to the Kingdom 🇸🇦. Strengthening @UNarabic partnerships for sustainable development. #UNinKSA #UNCDF #UNDP
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
Joined @UNCDF team for a meeting w/ Ministry of Tourism & Heritage Zanzibar for very useful discussion on domestic resource mobilization and fiancing for holistic development of tourism industry of #Zanzibar. We look forward to further collaborations w/@WUMK_Zanzibar. – at Zanzibar South and Central, Tanzania
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
Very insightful discussion w/ Peoples Bank of Zanzibar @pbzbank Managing Director Mr. Fahad Soud Hamid & @UNCDF team, on unlocking financing for the accelerated and inclusive development of Zanzibar. We look forward to fruitful collaborations for #Zanzibar. – at Zanzibar South and Central, Tanzania
In Afghanistan, perceived risk once kept capital away. UNCDF and @UNDPAf proved otherwise. Through a joint guarantee facility, $20M in private loans have reached MSMEs, creating 16,000 jobs, nearly 5,000 for women, showing that risk can be managed, and markets can move.
Making Guarantee instruments work in Afghanistan is not easy. This is what @UNDPAf and @UNCDF are committed to do, with a joint guarantee facility that has already unlocked $20M in private loans, created 16,000 jobs (nearly 5,000 for women).
The effort proves that smart finance that goes directly to people can take-root and make a difference even in the toughest market settings.
We hope you see this as a model worth scaling and investing in. For more details...📩 undpafghanistan.exposure.co/…
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
With funding from @MitActFacility, Bhutan, UNDP, @UNCDF & partners are shaping a bold project to decarbonise 🇧🇹’s energy sector via market-led solutions that aims to:
💡 30MW solar for health facilities
🌍 Cut 1.6M tCO₂e
👷 500 green jobs
💰 Unlock private investment & more.
We are proud to partner with @BayerFoundation on the Food Systems Innovation Finance Facility. With $4.5 million in catalytic funding, managed by @UNCDF, the Facility will de-risk high-potential food systems enterprises in underserved markets and mobilize additional capital towards #ZeroHunger.
We look forward to welcoming other partners who wish to amplify the reach of their philanthropic capital and deliver systemic change
👉 uncdf.live/bayer
Pradeep Kurukulasuriya retweeted
UNCDF is making history.
At #FfD4, a once-in-a-decade chance to reshape global finance, the outcome document recognizes UNCDF’s role to deploy catalytic concessional first-loss capital and de-risk investment in #LDCs.
🔗 uncdf.live/OutcomeDoc
Tune in to watch a live broadcast from the SDG Media Zone at #UNOC3 with Hon. Minister Flavien Joubert from @SeychellesMACCE, @chipc27, and @f_pickup sharing solutions to unlock public and private capital for #OceanFinance.
🔗webtv.un.org/en
🕚 11 - 11.30 CEST
The @Joint SDG Fund is transforming how development gets funded. At @UNCDF, we help make that possible.
In Zimbabwe, we partnered to structure the country’s first Renewable Energy Fund, unlocking private capital for clean energy and jobs with expected leverage exceeding 3.5x by end-2025.
🌐 Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, Executive Secretary of @UNCDF, shares insights on how public & private investment strategies are accelerating digital and financial inclusion — unlocking access, opportunity & resilience for underserved communities. 🌍🌏🌎
An @FT op-ed by the Head of @WorldBank, Ajay Banga, triggered some thoughts that I want to share. The WB has long been recognized for mobilizing large-scale capital to transform economies and create jobs. That said, it struck me that the model relies on one fundamental assumption: that the groundwork for private capital to flow already exists, or can be rapidly created with institutional muscle.
Which left me thinking - What happens in places where that assumption doesn’t hold? Where risk profiles are too high, markets too shallow, and financial ecosystems too fragile to absorb capital at scale — even concessional capital? What about those countries around the world whose credit ratings are below C grade?
Read more here: linkedin.com/pulse/unlocking…
