The EU has contracted ADE to undertake a strategic evaluation of its Blending instrument. The term refers to “blending grants with loans” or with other financial instruments. Since 2007 the EU has set up for this purpose a series of regional investment facilities. They aim at a strategic use of a limited amount of grants to mobilise larger amounts of financing from partner financial institutions, and thereby enhance the development impact of investment projects.

The evaluation aims at providing an independent assessment of blending as a new aid delivery instrument for the EU, with a view to inform future EU choices on blending.

The evaluation will cover the following facilities: the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund (ITF); the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF); the Latin American IF (LAIF), the Caribbean IF (CIF), the IF for Central Asia (IFCA), the Asian IF (AIF) and the IF for the Pacific (IFP).

They cover a broad range of sectors, from energy to transport, water/sanitation, finance for SMEs, and environment.