Reflections on 2025: Laying the Groundwork for a New Development Finance Model Looking Ahead to 2026

Photo courtesy of Unsplash/Alessio Soggetti

By Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon

With 2025 concluded, this is an appropriate moment to reflect on the progress of the Development Bank for Resilient Prosperity and to look ahead to the next phase of its work in 2026.

DBRP was established in response to a persistent structural challenge in the global financial system. Many countries, particularly Small Island Developing States and other vulnerable economies, continue to face constrained access to affordable finance despite holding significant real economic assets and playing a limited role in the drivers of global instability. From the outset, DBRP was conceived not as a conventional institution, but as part of a broader effort to modernise development finance so that it better reflects resilience, risk, and long-term value creation.

What 2025 Delivered

In practical terms, 2025 was a foundational year. The focus was on building institutional credibility, advancing governance and operational frameworks, and anchoring DBRP’s role within the evolving international development finance landscape.

Over the course of the year, DBRP strengthened its governance architecture and refined its operating model, with particular emphasis on fiduciary clarity, accountability, and readiness for transition into a fully constituted multilateral development bank. At the same time, we deepened engagement with governments and partners across regions, reinforcing DBRP’s mandate as a country-driven institution aligned with national development priorities.

A central pillar of our work in 2025 was the consolidation of DBRP’s technical core. This includes our emphasis on real-world natural assets, beyond-GDP measurement frameworks, and the use of data as a sovereign and institutional asset. These are not conceptual additions. They represent a necessary evolution in how balance sheets, risk, and development outcomes are assessed in economies that are structurally exposed to climate, environmental, and external shocks.

Several milestones during the year signalled growing international recognition of this approach. DBRP was selected as one of the initiatives under the Sevilla Platform for Action, reflecting alignment with global efforts to reform development finance and mobilise capital at scale. In parallel, DBRP was invited to participate in the EU Nature Credits Roadmap Expert Group, positioning the Bank within emerging policy discussions on nature-based finance, including standards, regulations, and compliance frameworks at the European level.

Equally important has been the expansion of partnerships with governments, multilateral institutions, academia, and the private sector. Across engagements in the Caribbean, the Pacific, Africa, and beyond, a consistent message has emerged. Countries are seeking financing models that recognise their assets, reward resilience, and support long-term development strategies rather than short-term adjustments.

The Focus for 2026

If 2025 was about laying the groundwork, 2026 will be about operationalisation and delivery.

The coming year will see DBRP advance from preparation to implementation. Priority will be given to finalising legal and governance arrangements, advancing flagship initiatives, and supporting concrete country-level work that demonstrates how a different approach to development finance can function in practice.

A key focus will be the development of pilots showcasing a portfolio programmatic approach that integrates natural asset valuation, robust data systems, and innovative financing instruments. The objective is not to replace sound macroeconomic policy, but to complement it by ensuring that economic assessments and financing decisions reflect the full reality of countries’ assets and vulnerabilities.

DBRP will also continue to strengthen partnerships across the development finance ecosystem. The Bank is not intended to duplicate existing institutions, but to complement them by addressing gaps in the current architecture and by supporting approaches that are better aligned with resilience and sustainability objectives.

A Collective Effort

The experience of 2025 has reinforced an important principle. Building resilient prosperity is a collective undertaking. It requires governments, institutions, and partners to work together with clarity of purpose and a shared understanding of the challenges ahead.

DBRP’s role is to contribute a new tool to this effort. One that is grounded in evidence, informed by country realities, and oriented toward long-term stability and inclusive growth. As we look to 2026, the task ahead is substantial, but so too is the opportunity to help shape a development finance model that is more responsive, more credible, and better suited to the world we live in.