Social Finance Innovation and Externalities

This insightful report discusses the advent of social finance and innovation for meeting Sustainable Development Goals 2030. The article looks at the thought process of defining critical enablers at the Addis Ababa Action Agenda meeting in 2015, which set the ball rolling in driving both private sector investments and public-private partnerships in the development space. It includes a small note on externalities and their role in enabling social good. The importance of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda in sustainable development goals cannot be understated. 2015 marked a transition year for the world and the UN in moving towards a comprehensive set of sustainable goals: Millennium Development Goals to the new set of 17 targets under Sustainable Development Goals. The critical thought process was to encourage private capital through innovative social finance tools, a crucial decision for even coming close to the very ambitious set of goals by 2030. 

The Addis Ababa agenda set forth the following key enablers for financing the development sector.

# Mobilize all sources of finance and Leverage public finance for social good

# Crowd in the private sector and foster collaboration between different actors in the development sector

# Fortify Multilateral Development Banks (MDB’s) capacity to catalyze funding better

# Innovate using data analytics and harness technology and disruptive business models