2026 Perspectives for the Public Sector

The Future of Development Finance So, what comes next ? Development finance is unlikely to return to its old ODA-centric model. Fiscal realities and political imperatives in donor countries make that impossible. Instead expect further integration of development finance into national security strategies. Expect more risk-sharing facilities, more private-sector partnerships, and more emphasis on minerals, energy, and digital infrastructure. For recipient countries, the challenge will be to navigate this landscape strategically: to secure financing without mortgaging sovereignty, to diversify partnerships, and to channel investment into long-term development rather than short-term leverage. For the global system, the challenge is ever greater. To reconcile the urgent need for security-driven investment with the still unfinished agenda of poverty eradication and climate adaption . Ballooning defense budgets, coupled with shrinking Official Development Assistance (ODA) and a new focus on security-driven energy investments, are fundamentally reshaping development finance, steering it away frommultilateral humanitarianism towards a strategic, security-centered model . Citi Perspectives for the Public Sector 41