The 2023 Southern African Development Community Development Finance Institutions (SADC-DFIs) network forum meetings will be held in Namibia under the auspices of the SADC Development Finance Resource Centre (DFRC).

Among Namibia DFIs are Agribank, the National Housing Enterprise, the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia and the Development Bank of Namibia.

According to a statement issued by Namibia DFIs on Thursday, the forum will take place at Swakopmund from 6 to 9 June under the theme "Balancing DFI Developmental Mandates with Sustainability".

The forum will discuss resources available to DFIs on the domestic and international capital markets, nature, conditions of access and climate change financing institutions such as the Green Climate Fund, among others.

"The forum will also look into how DFIs have fared under different forms of regulation and governance structures and how these impact their sustainability and what would be best practice in these areas," the statement said.

DFRC's mandate is to encourage the financial sector, especially DFIs, to effectively mobilise resources for investment in strategic areas with the potential to spur growth, create jobs, and reduce poverty, in line with SADC's goals under the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan.

The objective of the forum is to discuss and share experiences on how DFIs have been able to mobilise appropriately priced (low cost) capital to meet their developmental mandates and close existing market gaps, particularly in sectors such as small, micro and medium-sized enterprises and infrastructure development that been shunned by commercial banks.