SDG 17 – Partnerships for the goals

On behalf of the German Federal Government, KfW Development Bank cooperates closely with the EU institutions to increase the effectiveness of European development measures and to maintain and expand Europe’s influence in the Global South. The EU and its Member States pool resources and expertise to provide effective support to developing countries.

This is done both through cooperation with the European Commission and with other European organisations. An example of this is the Global Gateway Initiative. The latter promotes infrastructure worldwide and is to invest a total of EUR 300 billion from public and private funds. It is seen as Europe’s response to China’s "New Silk Road" and as a means of developing partnerships with countries in the Global South. In terms of concrete measures, the initiative is guided by EU values such as democracy, the rule of law, human rights, environmental protection and sustainability. In the period 2021 to 2024 alone, KfW Development Bank provided a total amount of more than EUR 33 billion for this purpose – around a tenth of the total volume targeted.

While Global Gateway has a global focus, the EU also maintains strategic partnerships with individual regions of the world. This includes a joint EU-African Union strategy, including regular EU-Africa summits (most recently in November 2025) to strengthen cooperation on trade, investment, sustainable development and governance. The EU also has similar strategic partnerships with Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. KfW participates in these initiatives or works within the framework of such strategic partnerships.

A particularly close cooperation within Europe exists between the French development agency Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and KfW Development Bank in the form of the Mutual Reliance Initiative. This includes personnel exchange up to the development of common processes in order to act more efficiently and share work with each other as well as to reduce the effort for the partners on site. This is where all the institutions contribute their respective strengths and experiences.

A particularly efficient tool for mobilising capital is known as EU blending. This is a combination of EU grants and loans from development banks to support larger investment projects. Blending provides low-interest and long-term financing for key infrastructure projects in countries of the Global South.

Governments cannot find the resources needed to achieve the development goals on a large scale, far beyond what has been done so far, on their own, but the private sector is also needed. Examples include infrastructure for sustainable energy, transport systems and information and communication technology. Schools, hospitals and water supply are also needed. They often require large investments.

KfW can act as a catalyst here by mobilising private capital and thus triggering a leverage effect. And it can offer impact investments – sustainable investments that generate returns and at the same time achieve a development policy effect. KfW uses equity capital to reduce the risks for private investors. Impact investments are becoming increasingly popular because they are considered an investment in the future.

It is also important to involve the business sector directly in development cooperation. Companies have technical know-how, innovative capacity and investment resources that can contribute to the sustainable development of partner countries. They can create jobs locally, strengthen local value creation and promote modern technologies, for example in the areas of renewable energies. Conversely, German and European companies are opening up new markets beyond established economic areas and potential for meeting their demand for skilled workers at home. An export-orientated country like Germany is dependent on such markets of tomorrow.

As the implementing organisation of the Federal Government, KfW is always working on the further development of its instruments. It is currently examining ways and mechanisms to further integrate German and European economic interests with development cooperation. The aim is to create a win-win situation for the countries of the Global South and Europe, in which sustainable development goals are pursued and at the same time long-term and trusting (economic) relations are established or deepened.

Interview with Stefanie Lindemann-Kohrs, KfW expert for Impact Investments

KfW shares its knowledge of development finance with sister banks and other bilateral financial institutions, for example within the EU, through cooperation with the World Bank or regional development banks such as the African, Asian or Inter-American Development Bank. They carry out projects together and exchange ideas on methods, instruments and approaches. Such networks are particularly useful from KfW’s point of view because effects can be multiplied together.

For example, KfW is part of JEFIC – Joint European Financiers for International Cooperation. It is a network of European national development banks and financial institutions that primarily work with partners from the public sector in countries of the Global South. A special focus is placed on the infrastructure projects of the EU’s Global Gateway Initiative. With their financial and technical expertise, their established partner contacts and networks on the ground, they efficiently support the EU in the worldwide implementation of European development cooperation projects and are therefore an important player in Europe's partnership with the countries of the Global South.

In addition, KfW is one of the largest bilateral co-financiers of the World Bank and participates in multilateral facilities of the World Bank Group on behalf of the Federal Government. Co-financiers are partners that provide resources to carry out joint projects or achieve project objectives.

After all, KfW is also one of the co-founders of Finance in Common. Under this name, more than 450 development banks convened for a summit in 2020 and founded a global coalition. It has now become more than 530 banks from all regions of the world, accounting together for about 10% of global development investment. Each year, they hold a summit to increasingly align their funding criteria and direct financial flows towards sustainable investments under the 2030 Agenda and the protection of climate and biodiversity. In 2025, the members met in South Africa, and KfW was also represented. There, they reaffirmed the need for closer cooperation, especially in times of rising polarisation and fragmentation.

The International Development Finance Club (IDFC), which was founded in 2011 on the initiative of KfW and now comprises 27 members from countries of the Global North and South, is also involved in "Finance in Common". The IDFC is the largest provider of green finance. Since 2015, its members have spent USD 1.7 trillion on sustainable investments.

Interview with Scott Morris, Vice President of the Asian Development Bank

KfW also cooperates with numerous non-governmental and UN organisations in a spirit of trust. For example, in nature conservation, where it cooperates – via the Legacy Landscapes Fund or the Blue Action Fund – with NGOs such as the Frankfurt Zoological Society, the World Conservation Society, Conservation International and the WWF. In the areas of education or food security – especially in fragile contexts – KfW often cooperates with UN organisations. For example, it works with UNICEF to provide education for refugee children in eastern Sudan and with the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide school meals in Togo.

Development cooperation is often accompanied by partnerships with scientific institutes that assess approaches, measure impacts or explore framework conditions in a country or for specific sectors. This is done, for example, with the vaccine alliance GAVI, with Fraunhofer institutes, but also through cooperation with research networks. For example, the international agricultural research network CGIAR acts as a strategic partner of the CSA Fund, which is funded by KfW and provides financing for investments in climate-smart production technologies to companies along the value chain within the food system. CGIAR provides scientific know-how, regional expertise and an extensive network of experts. Through the close interlinking of science and finance, the challenges of climate change in the food system can be met with a holistic approach.