On 21 January, the AECID hosted the event ‘Driving Sustainable Finance for Development’, a dialogue space focused on the Spanish Sustainable Development Fund (FEDES) as one of Spain’s main commitments to mobilising public and private capital towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The gathering, organised with the participation of AECID and COFIDES, brought together representatives of public administration, development financial institutions and private sector actors with a shared objective: to reflect on how to scale the impact of FEDES through effective alliances.
What is FEDES and why is it relevant?
FEDES is the key financial instrument of the Law on Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity, conceived to mobilise financing towards projects with impact in developing countries, combining public resources with private capital.
Unlike traditional aid schemes, FEDES pursues a logic of catalytic financing: using public funds to reduce risks, attract private investment and support initiatives that generate long-term social, environmental and economic impact. In this sense, it is fully aligned with the principles of impact finance and with the blended finance approach promoted at the international level.
The central panel of the event, moderated by Marta Mulas (Director of Financial Cooperation at AECID and General Manager of FEDES), revolved around a clear message: the impact of FEDES will depend on the quality of the public-private partnerships it is able to articulate.
From the institutional sphere, representatives of COFIDES, the Ministry of Economy and the ICO underlined the importance of coordination among public actors, as well as the need for clear, predictable and flexible frameworks that allow resources to be channelled towards projects with impact, maintaining the balance between transformative ambition and financial soundness.
From the perspective of the private sector and impact investors, the following needs were highlighted:
- Clarity in mandate and impact criteria
- Effective risk-sharing mechanisms
- Robust impact measurement to facilitate decision-making and accountability
The contribution of Agustín Vitorica, co-CEO of GAWA Capital, provided the perspective of a manager specialised in impact investment with a consolidated track record in emerging markets. Through the experience of the Kuali fund and, before it, the Huruma fund, both driven in partnership with COFIDES, the potential of blended finance vehicles to mobilise private capital towards sectors and geographies where perceived risk remains high — but the potential for impact is significant — becomes clear.
From this perspective, it was highlighted how instruments like FEDES can act as catalytic capital, aligning public and private interests, reducing barriers to entry and allowing the scaling of solutions with measurable social and environmental impact, without sacrificing financial discipline.
Taken together, the panel evidenced that FEDES is not merely a fund, but a collaboration platform capable of integrating different actor profiles — public institutions, impact managers, development banks and the private sector — around a shared sustainable development agenda.
A step forward for impact finance in Spain
From SpainNAB, we consider that instruments of this type are fundamental for building bridges between public policy and private capital, as well as for demonstrating that it is possible to align financial returns with measurable social and environmental impact.
FEDES opens an opportunity to move from consensus to action and demonstrate, through solid alliances, that financing can be a genuine tool of transformation for a more sustainable and inclusive development.
