Internally and externally executed topic-based evaluations are important tools which we can harness to make DEG's work even more effective. Insights gained from these evaluations help us, and our customers, to accompany future private commitments in a more focused manner, and enable us to further develop our Development Effectiveness Rating on an ongoing basis. Joint evaluations with other European development financiers serve to advance learning across all institutions.
Together with OeEB, DEG has engaged Steward Redqueen to analyze the impact management systems of debt fund managers and identify recommendations for the effective integration of debt funds into the updated Development Effectiveness Rating (DERa 2.0).
The study by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) explains the underlying economic theory as well as the applied methodology.
These issues are particularly concerning for sustainable investors and development financiers. In collaboration with its subsidiaries, DEG Impact (financed by the AfricaGrow TA Facility) and DEG Impulse, DEG has developed a market study and a guide for investors to contribute to the current discourse on responsible digitalization. The market study provides an overview of technology-related risks and opportunities, analyzes existing frameworks, and highlights that there is still no cross-sector and cross-business model framework or set of recommendations for investors.
The newly developed guidelines represent an initial approach to identifying, categorizing, evaluating, and mitigating ESG-related risks in technology investments. They offer suggestions on how investors can assess these issues and integrate them into existing investment processes.
The Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG) and the Development Bank of Austria (OeEB) continuously support clients in the creation of jobs in compliance with international labour standards. While momentum is building among development finance institutions and other investors who recognise the importance of quality jobs, challenges remain with regards to the complexity of the concept and its appropriate operationalisation. This study presents new insights into how Development Finance Institutions can contribute to assess and promote the job quality of their investments.
The study had two objectives: First, to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework for defining job quality, compatible with existing (international) concepts. This was done with the aim to build a common understanding of what constitutes job quality. Second, to further explore and prioritise job quality topics that are operationally feasible for Development Finance Institutions and their clients.
The position paper represents a contribution to DEG's new strategy. Nathalie Spath and Tian Xia presented the opportunities and challenges arising from the upcoming transformation of the global economy towards climate neutrality for DFIs and thus for DEG.
To explore the possibilities of approaching impact measurement from a net perspective, i.e., both incorporating positive and negative development impacts in one system, DEG and OeEB together with Syspons GmbH, conducted an “Exploratory Research Study on approaching DFIs Development Impacts from a Net Perspective".
The goals of this explorative study were:
A literature review, interviews with other DFIs, and in-depth analysis provided the initial foundation for the study. In a further step, individual sectors of particular relevance to OeEB and DEG were selected, on which the trade-offs of the individual SDGs in terms of their impacts (positive and negative) are shown. Both analyses are the basis for potential options for adapting impact measurement systems, as well as forward-looking recommendations for implementing a net-impact perspective.
With a view to strengthening their efforts to promote gender equality, DEG and OeEB commissioned this research study on the transformative impact of gender-lens investing. A focus was placed on the role of women’s leadership as one aspect of women’s economic empowerment. The study encompasses a literature review, an assessment of DEG’s and OeEB’s investment portfolio performance on the 2X Challenge, exploratory interviews with experts in the field and three case studies with DEG and/or OeEB clients.
The study provides the following key recommendations. On the individual organizational level, it was found that women’s leadership can have positive effects on women’s economic empowerment if pre-conditions in four action areas are met: (1) Leadership commitment, (2) Equal opportunities, (3) Training and development and (4) Wellbeing, safety & work environment. In the cooperation between DFIs/Investors and clients, transformative effects on women’s leadership at client level can be achieved through the following approaches: (i) Be a role model; (ii) Move from minimum requirements to impact; (iii) Provide technical Assistance; and (iv) Networks, platforms & community.
Download report(PDF, 4 MB, non-accessible)
Literature Review (PDF, 1 MB, non-accessible)
Case Study Report on Kandeo Fund(PDF, 673 KB, non-accessible)
This paper aims to outline the impacts of the pandemic on Africa’s private sector. Compared to the rest of the world, support programmes to protect the sector from the harmful consequences of the lockdown and the subsequent falling household incomes have been weak and patchy. Digitalisation only provided some form of resilience. Overall, African firms are largely unprotected against the fallout of the crisis, a reason why the recovery from the crisis will be much slower compared to other regions.
The series is structured along the lines of DEG’s Development Effectiveness Rating (DERa). DERa rates customer performance in five key outcome categories. For each outcome category, DEG has assessed the extent to which the development impacts of DEG’s portfolio (as per 31.12.2019) are at risk because of COVID-19.
1. decent jobs
2. local income
3. market and sector development
4. environmental stewardship
5. community benefits.
When discussing government revenue and revenue creation, the role of the private sector is often underestimated. In this context, most discussions focus exclusively on the role of corporate income tax – a tax that is levied on a company’s profits – and often include the negative impact of tax optimizing structures on government revenues in Emerging Markets. While this discussion is important, there exist various other linkages between the private sector and government revenues that are rarely taken into account.
This paper discusses how private sector contributes through different linkages to government revenue. It follows a three-step process:
1. Identifying and discussing relevant sources of government revenues;
2. Linking private sector activities to these sources;
3. Estimating the overall government revenue amount that can be linked to DEG’s portfolio companies through the outlined channels
Compared to the traditional reporting of Corporate Income Tax (CIT) only, the tax contribution of DEG’s portfolio companies triples when taking into account some of the additional revenue sources.
In 2018, DEG joined its fellow G7 Development Finance Institu-tions (DFIs) to launch the 2X Challenge – a joint commentment to mobilize USD 3 billion for women’s economic empowerment in emerging markets.
In line with the 2X Challenge criteria, DEG defines gender-lens investing as private sector investments that provide women in developing countries with improved access to entrepreneurship, leadership opportunities, decent and skilled employment, finance as well as products and services that enhance their economic participation.
The following brief lays out the potential of gender equality and women’s empowerment for sustainable development and business growth. It further provides an overview of DEG’s approach to gender-lens investing and its solutions for financial institutions and corporates to increase their impact on gender equality and grow their business in a sustainable manner.
This current strategic evaluation study shows that DEG’s clients spent just under EUR 23 billion on local procurement, 74% of total procurement expenses. An increase of 1% from this 74% would shift EUR 80 million towards the pockets of people in developing countries. Hence, providing private sector companies with the opportunity to increase the local part of their sourcing can have large effects on the money spent and value created in developing markets.
Where to start to increase local sourcing? This study disclosed two approaches for companies and its financiers:
1. A country-level approach to benchmark local sourcing practices, identify best-practices and improvement potential (per sector-country combination) and allow a structured exchange within private sector networks
2. A company-level approach to hands-on identify and tackle hurdles to local sourcing and structurally include the local aspect into general value chain management.
Both approaches are applied in the study to DEG’s customer portfolio including a case study of the animal feed producer Anova Feed in Vietnam.
How can private sector contributions to achieve the global Sustainable Development Goals be measured? Using international harmonized indicators, DEG steers on development effectiveness with its newly developed Development Effectiveness Rating (DERa). DERa is a multidimensional index guided by the SDGs and built along five outcome categories: decent jobs, local income, market and sector development, environmental stewardship and community benefits. DERa follows up on changes in performance on a yearly basis since DEG’s investment.
The aim of this case study, which is based on in-depth document reviews and on-site interviews, is twofold: firstly, it provides an insight into how DEG’s agribusiness customer Virú contributes to development in Peru and secondly, it shows how DEG’s DERa reflects this contribution. DERa also links its indicators to companies’ contributions to the relevant Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2014 DEG has formulated goals and principles of evaluation. They are depicted in "DEG evaluation - a guiding principle"(PDF, 59 KB, non-accessible).
Share page
To share the content of this page with your network, click on one of the icons below.
Note on data protection: When you share content, your personal data is transferred to the selected network.
Data protection
Alternatively, you can also copy the short link: deginvest.de/s/endBZHdB
Copy link Link copied