Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what mechanisms her Department has in place to ensure that spending of public funds by the Commonwealth Development Corporation is focused on the reduction of poverty.

We have radically transformed CDC over the last five years to ensure their investments are targeted where they are needed most and have greatest impact in the world’s poorest places.

Since 2012, all new investments made by CDC have been focussed on Africa and South Asia where 80% of the world’s poorest live, and where CDC investment can have the greatest development impact. All investments made by CDC are made in accordance with the Investment Policy agreed with DFID. This ensures that CDC invests responsibly and transparently, creating jobs and promoting good governance.

Through its Development Impact Grid, developed in conjunction with DFID, CDC is incentivised to specifically invest in the poorer countries and regions and across those sectors that have the highest propensity to create jobs, such as infrastructure, agribusiness and financial services. Creating jobs for the world’s poorest countries is a key driver in reducing poverty. In 2015, CDC-backed businesses helped create over a million new direct and indirect jobs (41% Africa and 59% South Asia).