Development finance refers to the mobilization, allocation, and deployment of financial resources to support economic, social, and environmental development objectives. It encompasses the strategies, institutional arrangements, and financial instruments through which public authorities, development finance institutions, multilateral organizations, private investors, and other stakeholders fund development-related activities ^[1][2]. These resources may be provided through public budgets, official development assistance, concessional and non-concessional loans, grants, equity investments, guarantees, and mechanisms designed to mobilize private capital ^[2][3]. Development finance may support infrastructure, productive investment, public services, small and medium-sized enterprises, and other activities intended to address development needs or financing gaps. Its defining feature is the explicit orientation of financing decisions toward development outcomes, rather than the exclusive pursuit of commercial returns ^[1][2]. However, development finance does not necessarily involve concessional terms or public funding: depending on the institutional arrangement and development objective, it may include market-based finance and private investment alongside public resources ^[1][3]. The concept is broader than development banking, which concerns a particular category of financial institutions, and broader than official development assistance, which refers to a specific category of official international flows defined by established reporting criteria. Development finance therefore describes the wider set of approaches and instruments used to direct financial resources toward development objectives.