The Role of Regional Financial Centres for Development Finance

Evidence on the role of regional financial centres in mobilising investment finance toward low and middle income countries

Abstract

International and regional financial centres facilitate the flow of international investments in developing countries. This review provides a brief summary of evidence available on the role of selected regional financial centres in mobilising investment finance toward low- and middle-income countries. It also provides a synthesis of the literature on the role of international financial centres (IFCs) for development finance. Where available, it provides country case studies that illustrate an overview of the selected centre’s role in investment mobilisation to developing countries. Overall, the financial centres contribute to enhancing public and private investment in developing countries. This report has looked in particular at studies and data of 11 regional financial centres: Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Malta, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa and Turkey. Among the selected examples, South Africa and Mauritius appear to be important regional financial centres providing a large share of their investments in Africa and Asia.

K4D helpdesk reports provide summaries of current research, evidence and lessons learned. This report was commissioned by the UK Department for International Development.

Citation

Hatayama, M. (2019).The role of regional financial centres for development finance. K4D Helpdesk Report 522. Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies

The Role of Regional Financial Centres for Development Finance

Updates to this page

Published 29 January 2019