BII publishes new Transparency Roadmap – Bond reaction

At the end of December 2023, British International Investment published its Transparency Roadmap, setting out the steps that British International Investment will take to become more transparent.

The Roadmap highlights BII’s aim to be “the most transparent” bilateral DFI in the world. BII currently ranks 12th out of 21 on the independent Publish What You Fund DFI Transparency Index.

In reaction to the roadmap, Gideon Rabinowitz, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Bond said:

We welcome BII’s newly published roadmap on transparency and its commitment to becoming the most transparent bilateral development finance institution.

Ensuring that there is adequate scrutiny of the development impact of the significant volumes of UK aid spent through BII, will not only require full implementation of this roadmap, but also further efforts to deepen the transparency of BII’s indirect investments, i.e. where its capital provides resources for others to undertake investments.

It is also vital that BII does more to engage with, and be transparent to, the local communities and groups its investments impact. One way it can do this is by including civil society representatives from key partner countries in the newly established Transparency working group.

Notes for editors.

• Read BII’s Transparency Roadmap online.

• Read The Committee for International Development (IDC) report published in September 2023, Investment for Development: The UK’s Strategy Towards Development Finance Institutions.

• Bond is the UK network for organisations working in international development. Bond unites and supports a diverse network of over 350 civil society organisations from across the UK, and allies to help eradicate global poverty, inequality and injustice.

• For further information or interviews please contact Jess Salter at [email protected] or call 07493200979.