Doing business to fight poverty? An evaluation of the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO)

In 2001, Belgium added a new institution to its development corporation framework: the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO).  The mission of BIO was to “support a strong private sector in developing and/or emerging countries, to enable them to gain access to growth and sustainable development with the aim to achieve the Millennium Development Goals”.  As BIO turned 10,  11. 11.11, an independent Belgian NGO, has undertaken a critical evaluation of BIO’s pro-poor developmental impact. Thus, one question guides this evaluation: Do BIO’s investments really contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development?