New lender will target poor countries: chief

The head of the government’s new development finance institution says he’s determined to make it a player in the world’s poorest countries where it can do the most good.

Paul Lamontagne was rebutting criticism of the latest addition to Canada’s foreign aid toolbox; that it is a bad idea to create an institution that will lend money to private companies to help them reduce poverty in the developing world

Traditional aid agencies, among others, say investors won’t have the stomach to invest in war-torn, disaster-ridden countries because that would be bad for shareholders.

However, others say its creation is long overdue, because Canada is the last G7 country to create such a lending body to operate alongside its government-run foreign aid program, which got a $2-billion boost in this week’s budget.

Moreover, many analysts say that without massive, privatesector investment, government spending alone will fall trillions of dollars short of meeting the United Nations goal of eradicating global poverty by 2030.

Lamontagne told The Canadian Press that he plans to focus on small- and medium-sized business and will draw on his decade-plus experience managing a South African-based private equity fund that targeted entrepreneurs in developing countries.

“We’re pro-poor,” Lamontagne said over the phone from the temporary office space in Montreal that he’s been using since his appointment was announced last month.

The new entity is called FinDev Canada and is a subsidiary of Export Development Canada.