WASHINGTON D.C., October 18, 2025 — The Heads of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) met in Washington this week to review progress on joint initiatives and identify new priorities for collective action under the 2025 Chairship of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB).
The meeting marked another milestone in the MDBs’ ongoing efforts to implement the G20 Roadmap for Better, Bigger, and More Effective MDBs, a reform blueprint aimed at scaling financing for global development and climate goals. Participants reaffirmed their determination to operate “as a system” to achieve greater impact at scale, with annual progress communication on shared deliverables and priorities.
The session concluded with an exchange of views between MDB Heads and Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), focusing on the evolving landscape of civil nuclear energy and its role in the global clean energy transition.
Key Achievements Highlighted
The Heads highlighted a series of coordinated milestones achieved during 2025, including:
Joint Reporting to the G20: The presentation of a comprehensive progress report on implementing the G20 Roadmap, detailing achievements in expanding lending capacity, leveraging private capital, and improving operational collaboration across institutions. Read the G20 Roadmap Report Financial Transparency and Comparability: The release of the inaugural MDB Comparison Report by the Global Risk and Finance Forum (GRaFF), enhancing understanding of MDB balance sheets and capital efficiency. View the MDB Comparison Report Engagement with Credit Rating Agencies: MDBs jointly presented their unique financial models and asset quality through a dedicated note prepared by GRaFF. Read the summary note Water Security Collaboration: The first-ever Joint Annual MDB Water Security Financing Report was launched at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Sevilla. Explore the Water Security Report Social Infrastructure Focus: Publication of “Social Infrastructure in Focus: The Role of Multilateral Development Banks” underscored how MDBs are investing in health, education, housing, and water systems that underpin resilience and job creation. Read the full report
Emerging Workstreams
The Group also noted progress in several emerging areas:
Mobilizing private capital through disaggregated credit risk statistics via the Global Emerging Markets Risk Database (GEMs). View GEMs data Expanding originate-to-share financing models and innovative risk transfer tools. Scaling up flagship regional programs such as Mission 300, which aims to connect 300 million people to electricity by 2030. Supporting social infrastructure investment through coordinated reliance frameworks. Advancing financial innovations and climate-aligned financing in preparation for COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
Looking Ahead
The CEB’s Governor Carlo Monticelli, who chaired the Group in 2025, was commended for his leadership in strengthening institutional coherence and cross-bank coordination. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will assume the rotating Chairship in December 2025.
MDBs collectively finance more than $200 billion annually, including a rising share of climate finance and private-sector mobilization. The AfDB—Africa’s leading multilateral financier—has played a key role in ensuring that global reform efforts reflect African priorities, such as debt sustainability, energy access, and social resilience.
About the MDBs Group
The MDBs Group brings together the heads of major multilateral lenders, including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Investment Bank (EIB), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and others.
Their joint efforts underpin global action on climate finance, infrastructure investment, food security, and social development.
Sources:
African Development Bank Group (AfDB) G20 MDB Roadmap Summary Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) IAEA Civil Nuclear Energy Outlook
