Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Building the Network of Liberty speech, published on 8 December 2021, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of funding projects in the Caribbean and South-East Asia by British International Investment on the (a) amount and (b) proportion of funding through British International Investment that funds projects in Africa.

British International Investment (BII) is a central part of the UK Government's international financing offer to help developing and emerging countries across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean meet their financing needs for infrastructure and enterprise. BII is the largest G7 development finance investor into Africa and over the next five years will support the delivery of the Prime Minister's G7 commitment to invest up to $80 billion into Africa over the next five years.

BII plans to increase the amount it invests into Africa, compared to the last five years. The majority of investments will be self-funded by BII exiting existing investments. The FCDO is currently undertaking a business planning process following the spending review settlement. No decisions have yet been taken by Ministers on individual budgets.