The Role of Regional Financial Centres for Development Finance

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.