In April 2021, the EBRD celebrates the 30th anniversary of its founding.
The EBRD was established to help build a new, post-cold war era in Central and Eastern Europe. It has since played a historic role and gained unique expertise in fostering change in the region – and beyond – investing almost €150 billion in a total of more than 6,000 projects. The multilateral action by EBRD has never been more critical for global development, as it is a vital component in the world’s efforts to deal with the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, as well as the climate change emergency.
During the frenetic years of the early 1990s, the EBRD’s emphasis on the private sector as the main driver for change in Central and Eastern Europe was vindicated many times over. This was the period when the EBRD’s reputation was established as an expert on the transition to the open market.
It was heavily involved in banking systems reform, the liberalisation of prices, privatisation (legalisation and policy dialogue) and the creation of proper legal frameworks for property rights, all vital ingredients for change. Reforms were supported by sound advice, training and technical expertise and supplemented by significant investments in the private and public sectors. With domestic capital on its own insufficient to finance the transition, the EBRD helped bring external capital from private and public sources.
While the Bank remains as committed to fulfilling its original mandate as ever, its understanding of what the transition to market economics entails has evolved in the light of recent history. Uniquely for a development bank, the EBRD has a political mandate in that it assists only those countries committed to and applying the principles of multi-party democracy and pluralism.
And over the nearly 30 years of the Bank’s existence, EBRD has become more convinced than ever before that financing projects alone cannot bring about the changes the Bank’s countries need. They need help with policy reform and in creating an enabling investment climate as well.
Safeguarding the environment and a commitment to sustainable energy have always been central to the EBRD’s activity. A commitment to promote ‘environmentally sound and sustainable development was made explicit at its founding.
More recently, the Bank’s Green Economy Transition (GET) approach has made climate finance a vital measure of the Bank’s performance. The Bank is now committed to ensuring that, by 2025, the majority of its business volume is green.
The EBRD serves the interests of all its shareholders – 69 countries from five continents plus the European Union (EU) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) – not just those countries which receive its investments (a record €11 billion in 2020).
Below is the interview of EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso and Masood Ahmed, President of the Centre for Global Development (CGD), from 30 March 2021 on the EBRD’s new five-year strategy, the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and the Bank’s plans for the green economy, promoting equality of opportunity and advancing the digital transformation.