How a nation pays for what its people are owed

The treasury sells bonds abroad in a hard currency and pays a fixed coupon until it repays in full.

Source: London Stock Exchange, September 2026Pakistan blueprint

A first issue sets the nation’s price with global investors and opens the market for every later bond.

Source: Rawbank, April 2026DR Congo blueprint

Sold through the central bank to local banks, pension funds and savers, often tax-free to draw demand.

Source: Central Bank of Kenya, February 2024Kenya blueprint

Sold through banks and apps in small denominations, it turns household savings into public investment.

Source: Bureau of the Treasury, September 2026Philippines blueprint

A government bond sold in small amounts through mobile money, so ordinary savers can own a share of public finance.

Source: FSD Kenya, 2017Kenya blueprint

The nation borrows from its own people overseas, who often accept a lower return to invest at home.

Source: Debt Management Office, NigeriaNigeria blueprint

A foreign government sells yuan bonds inside China and reaches a new pool of investors.

Source: Ministry of Finance of Indonesia, July 2026Indonesia blueprint

Bonds in yen, sold in Tokyo, add Japanese investors to the nation’s lenders.

Source: International Monetary Fund, country report 2026Egypt blueprint

Investors receive returns from state assets held in trust, under Islamic law, in place of interest.

Source: Ministry of Finance of Indonesia, June 2024Indonesia blueprint

The proceeds can be spent only on eligible social projects, reported to investors each year.

Source: Inter-American Development Bank, 2020Ecuador blueprint

The money is general budget money, but the interest rate steps up if the nation misses targets it set in advance.

Source: Ministry of Finance of Chile, 2022

The proceeds finance eligible green projects under a published framework, with allocation reports to investors.

Source: Reserve Bank of India, 2023India blueprint

A green bond for the sea: the proceeds fund marine protection and sustainable fisheries, here with a World Bank guarantee behind it.

Source: World Bank, October 2018

A sukuk is backed by assets rather than interest; the green sukuk spends every dollar on eligible climate projects.

Source: UNDP Indonesia, April 2018Indonesia blueprint

The proceeds are tied to both social and environmental spending under the nation’s sustainable bond framework.

Source: National Treasury of Brazil, November 2025Brazil blueprint

A city issues under its own credit, with development banks as anchor investors to draw others in.

Source: IFC, November 2025Colombia blueprint

The proceeds finance the shift of steel, chemicals and power toward net zero, under a government framework.

Source: Ministry of Finance of Japan, February 2024

A cornerstone investor commits before the public offer, giving other investors confidence in the price.

Source: Asian Development Bank, November 2025Philippines blueprint

Listing part of a state company raises money, widens ownership and brings market discipline.

Source: IFC, November 2026Egypt blueprint

A lender pools many small loans and sells securities backed by their repayments, freeing it to lend again.

Source: IFC disclosure, 2023Indonesia blueprint

Several lenders pool their issue so investors can buy at a size none could reach alone.

Source: IDB Invest, October 2024Mexico blueprint

A national refinance company borrows on the bond market and lends long to banks for mortgages.

Source: Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company, 2022Kenya blueprint

A development bank and the central bank offer long-dated currency hedges that markets will not provide.

Source: Inter-American Development Bank, 2025Brazil blueprint

Oil and mineral revenue goes into ring-fenced funds for stability, future generations and infrastructure.

Source: Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, 2025 resultsNigeria blueprint

A blended fund pays for the government’s equity, so the nation shares in the profits without new debt.

Source: Climate Fund Managers, December 2023Namibia blueprint

Investors buy shares in a fast-growing firm and share in its upside.

Source: IFC, June 2026India blueprint

Repaid after other creditors, it counts toward the bank’s capital and lifts what it can lend.

Source: IFC, January 2025Ecuador blueprint

Public and climate-fund equity capitalise a bank that lends to households and firms for energy, water and resilience.

Source: Green Climate Fund, FP213Barbados blueprint

A company set up for one project borrows against its future sales, such as power sold under a long contract.

Source: ACWA Power, January 2025Egypt blueprint

The partner finances, builds and operates under a long concession; the asset then passes to the state.

Source: IFC disclosure, February 2026Jordan blueprint

Senior loans fund construction; a guarantee covers the province’s equity so it keeps its stake.

Source: Asian Development Bank, August 2025Pakistan blueprint

A municipality borrows on its own balance sheet, tied to reforms that raise its revenue.

Source: World Bank, July 2026Brazil blueprint

A concessional slice lowers the cost and risk, so commercial money can follow into fragile markets.

Source: IFC disclosure, 2026DR Congo blueprint

Public and private investors commit to one fund that takes stakes in projects and reports their impact.

Source: Climate Fund Managers, September 2024Namibia blueprint

The state takes the risks private investors will not, such as currency swings, so they invest in the nation’s priorities.

Source: COP30 BrazilBrazil blueprint

A concessional window absorbs the first share of any defaults, so a bank lends to borrowers it once refused.

Source: IFC, January 2025Madagascar blueprint

Lending in local currency removes exchange-rate risk from the smallest borrowers.

Source: IFC, September 2025Ethiopia blueprint

The bank keeps lending to small firms because part of any loss falls on the development bank.

Source: IFC, March 2026DR Congo blueprint

Investment tied to lending for women, such as home loans for women buyers.

Source: IFC, December 2025Mexico blueprint

The principal is protected; the return rises with the result, here the carbon a replanted forest removes.

Source: World Bank, August 2024Brazil blueprint

Investors forgo coupons; a success payment follows the measured growth of the rhino population.

Source: World Bank, March 2022South Africa blueprint

Investors give up fixed interest for a share of the carbon credits that clean cookstoves generate.

Source: World Bank, December 2025Ghana blueprint

Investors pay for delivery up front. A donor or foundation repays them, with a return, only once an independent evaluator verifies the results.

Source: Educate Girls, 2018India blueprint

Investors fund a programme; the government repays them only for the outcomes it wanted, here formal jobs found and kept.

Source: Inter-American Development BankColombia blueprint

Each tranche is tied to a disbursement-linked indicator, such as pupils reaching a learning level, and is released when that result is verified.

Source: World Bank, project P169380Tanzania blueprint

A buyer pays a fixed price per verified unit: a tonne of emissions avoided, a child vaccinated, a home connected.

Source: World Bank, June 2025DR Congo blueprint

A development bank guarantees part of the repayments, which lowers the lenders’ risk and the borrower’s cost.

Source: African Development Bank, November 2026Tanzania blueprint

Suppliers sell on longer terms because a development bank stands behind the state company’s payments.

Source: World Bank, May 2026Bangladesh blueprint

A development bank guarantees a commercial loan tied to reforms, cutting the rate and lengthening the term.

Source: Ministry of Finance of Rwanda, 2026Rwanda blueprint

The guarantee lets private lenders finance public infrastructure on longer, cheaper terms than they would alone.

Source: World Bank, December 2025Mexico blueprint

An insurer pays investors if a named political risk stops the project, so they invest where they otherwise would not.

Source: U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, December 2024Angola blueprint

MIGA pays the investor if the state fails to honour agreed terms, such as payments for power.

Source: MIGA, December 2024Burundi blueprint

The facility guarantees up to 80 percent of each loan, capped at $1 million, through local banks.

Source: Inter-American Development Bank, July 2025Barbados blueprint

A guarantor backs a bond in local currency, so the borrower carries no exchange-rate risk.

Source: PIDG, 2024Kenya blueprint

The development bank pays for works and services as they are delivered, under its safeguards.

Source: World Bank, project P177004Angola blueprint

The money goes to the treasury once prior actions, such as a new law or tariff, are complete.

Source: World Bank, July 2024Ethiopia blueprint

Concessional windows lend for decades, with long grace periods, to the nations that need it most.

Source: Asian Development Bank, September 2026Bangladesh blueprint

Each tranche follows a review of agreed targets for the budget, debt and reserves.

Source: International Monetary Fund, April 2026Ecuador blueprint

Affordable, long-maturity IMF financing that sits beside a core programme and rewards climate reforms.

Source: International Monetary Fund, January 2025DR Congo blueprint

Strong economies pre-qualify for a large line they can draw at once, and most never draw it.

Source: International Monetary Fund, November 2025Mexico blueprint

Guarantees and insurance let the nation exchange costly bonds for a cheaper loan; the savings fund conservation for years.

Source: Ministry of Economy and Finance of Ecuador, May 2023Ecuador blueprint

Multilateral guarantees replace costly debt with cheaper debt, and the savings are spent on resilience: here water and sewerage.

Source: Inter-American Development Bank, 2024Barbados blueprint

A guaranteed commercial loan prepays costlier loans; most of the savings build secondary schools.

Source: World Bank, March 2026Angola blueprint

A World Bank guarantee stands behind a cheaper, longer loan that buys back the most expensive commercial debt.

Source: World Bank, December 2024Côte d’Ivoire blueprint

Bondholders swap their bonds for new ones with longer maturities or less principal, so the nation can pay.

Source: Cleary Gottlieb, 2019Barbados blueprint

Investors earn a premium; if a storm or earthquake crosses an agreed threshold, their principal goes to the nation.

Source: World Bank, November 2025Jamaica blueprint

Member governments buy cover together; payouts follow measured wind, rain or quake readings, with no claims process.

Source: CCRIF SPC, November 2025Jamaica blueprint

Payouts follow measured rainfall, so food reaches families within weeks of a failed season.

Source: African Development Bank, August 2024Malawi blueprint

The loan is agreed in calm times and drawn the moment a disaster is declared.

Source: World Bank, September 2026Colombia blueprint

A clause in the bond defers payments after a severe hurricane, flood or epidemic, so the budget can go to recovery.

Source: Artemis, June 2025Barbados blueprint

A trade finance lender pays for a state buyer’s imports, repaid within months from sales.

Source: Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation of Egypt, February 2025Egypt blueprint

The development bank covers a bank’s risk on trade deals, so small firms get credit.

Source: African Development BankMozambique blueprint

The development bank takes part of the risk on a bank’s loans to crop buyers, without lending itself.

Source: IFC, September 2026Ghana blueprint

A grant-funded facility at the central bank pays for strategic imports when foreign exchange runs short.

Source: World Bank, January 2024Burundi blueprint

IDA and similar windows give grants to nations at high risk of debt distress.

Source: World Bank, December 2025Burundi blueprint

Funds such as the Green Climate Fund give grants for adaptation and for cutting emissions.

Source: UNDP Ghana, August 2020Ghana blueprint

A fund invests its capital and pays tropical forest nations for each hectare kept standing.

Source: Tropical Forest Forever FacilityBrazil blueprint

A trust fund run by a development bank pays for basic services under one set of rules.

Source: World BankAfghanistan blueprint

The UN and its partners publish what a year of relief will cost, and donors fund it.

Source: UN OCHA, 2026Afghanistan blueprint