International bank outlines steps for attracting investment

Policy stability, transparency in legal documentation and policy permits are essential for emerging markets and development economies (EMDEs) to attract private investment, delegates to the IMF-World Bank annual meetings say.

The remarks were made at a conference titled ‘Harnessing institutional investment and finance for development’ at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings that took place in Marrakech, Morocco last week.

In a presentation monitored on the World Bank Meetings Youtube channel, International Financing Corporation, managing director Makhtar Diop said EMDEs should prioritise large-scale projects because investors are more inclined to invest in scalable projects, presumably to capitalise on the economies of scale.

He said: “This [implementing small-scale projects] is a challenge when small economies seek investment for their projects. Some countries are too small to attract the investment they want.”

Taking her turn, UBS president Harford urged developing countries to prioritise policy stability in their respective countries because investors prefer an environment where there is certainty that they will get the permits and documentation required to proceed with their investment projects.

Malawi is ranked 109th on the ease of doing business index. As of 2020, the country was ranked 128th for dealing with construction permits and 149th for enforcing contracts, according to information from the World Bank. n