The 2014 Centre for Aid and Public Expenditure (CAPE) Conference was held at the Overseas Development Institute’s London offices on 12 and 13 November 2014. The purpose of the 2014 CAPE conference was to assess the evidence base that should inform the negotiations the Third International Conference on Financing for Development will take place in Addis Ababa in July, next year; and in particular, to ask whether commonly held beliefs around development finance are really underpinned by solid evidence.

The conference examined how financing for new policy agendas at the global level relates – or perhaps doesn’t relate – to domestic fiscal and policy perspectives at country level. Building on previous CAPE conferences of 2012 (on the future of external development finance) and 2013 (on the realities of domestic public finance), the event brought together different constituencies and perspectives to look beyond the usual fractures in development finance analysis and debates. Speakers examined the shifts in government priorities and capabilities, the resource mobilisation and allocation choices that governments face, the types of development finance instrument now in fashion, and the current trends and motivations underpinning external finance.

Our aim is to understand better the country-level ramifications of new global financing agendas, and to provide a financial reality check on the global policy debates over the coming year.

This report summarises the key policy recommendations, main areas of discussion and resulting conclusions from the conference.