Crowding in or crowding out? Understanding the financial additionality of Blended Concessional Finance in Sub-Saharan Africa

Organized by the Private Sector Development Research Network

Hosted by ODI Global

Friday, 27th of June 2025 from 9-10am EDT

LINK TO REGISTER AND JOIN WILL BE AVAILABLE HERE SOON

ABOUT THE SEMINAR

This seminar explores the financial additionality of blended concessional finance in Sub-Saharan Africa. It analyzes projects in renewable energy, agricultural value chains, and financial institutions to offer insight on the conditions under which blended concessional finance is likely to attract additional private investment or displace it.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Samantha Attridge

Principal Research Fellow, ODI Global

Samantha is a development finance specialist focusing on the mobilization of private capital and Public Development Banks. She leads ODI’s research in these areas with extensive expertise in using development funds to de-risk private investment. Previously, she headed the Commonwealth’s Financing for Development policy research and served as Deputy Director of capital market development at Crown Agents. Samantha holds a Masters in Development Economics and is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ACA). More details of Samantha’s work can be found here.

Bianca Getzel

Structuring and Sales Team, The Currency Exchange Fund (TCX)

Bianca specializes in multilateral development banks and development finance institutions adaptation. Her research focuses on de-risking private investments for the 2030 Agenda and international financial architecture reforms. She brings experience from IFC, TCX, Asian Development Bank, and USAID. Bianca holds a Master’s in Development Economics from Johns Hopkins SAIS.  More details of Bianca’s work can be found here.

Frederique Dahan

Director, Development and Public Finance Programme, ODI Global

Dr. Dahan’s expertise spans blended finance, private sector mobilization, and sovereign debt restructuring. With two decades at EBRD, she led blended finance programmes and donor engagements. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Law from the University of Paris Pantheon-Sorbonne and has published extensively on financial law reform in emerging markets. More details of Dr. Dahan’s work can be found here.