The Global Gateway (GG) Investment Climate Reform (ICR) Facility is one of the most strategically interesting instruments at the interface of investment, reform and sustainable development. It connects Global Gateway initiatives with the often underestimated institutional side of economic transformation: rules, procedures and incentives that determine whether investment actually translates into growth, jobs and local value creation.
Global Gateway needs more than infrastructure
Through Global Gateway, the European Union aims to mobilise up to EUR 300 billion for sustainable and trusted connectivity investments. The strategy covers energy, digitalisation, transport, health, education and research, and is explicitly framed not only as a financing initiative, but as a broader geopolitical and development policy offer.
In practice, however, infrastructure projects alone do not guarantee inclusive economic effects. When regulatory procedures remain unclear, customs processes are costly, quality infrastructure is weak, or local SMEs lack access to finance and markets, investment impulses frequently fall short of their potential.
The core idea of the GG ICR Facility is to focus not on the hardware of development, but on the institutional software that allows investment to be effective.
From the ICR Facility to the GG ICR Facility
The earlier Investment Climate Reform Facility operated between 2019 and 2025 to support reforms of the business and investment climate in ACP countries, with a strong emphasis on targeted technical assistance, public private dialogue and women’s economic empowerment. It was implemented by a consortium including GIZ, Expertise France, SNV and the British Council and generated a substantial knowledge base on business environment reforms.
The new Global Gateway ICR Facility builds on that experience, but ties its support more closely to the logic of Global Gateway projects. It remains a demand driven technical assistance instrument, yet now explicitly targets reforms that either facilitate investment around Global Gateway operations or increase their development impact.
What the Facility actually does
The Facility provides tailored technical assistance for individual interventions, typically up to around 100 expert days per assignment. It can support reforms in areas such as business regulation, investment policy and promotion, customs and trade facilitation, quality infrastructure, value chain development and the enabling frameworks for development finance institutions and private investment.
Beneficiaries include public and private organisations that wish to link their reform initiatives directly to Global Gateway priorities. This can involve ministries, development finance institutions, business associations, regional organisations and other partners that identify investment climate constraints and seek targeted technical support to address them.
Notably, the Facility is designed not only to provide short term inputs, but also to support institutional learning, monitoring and knowledge management. This makes it particularly relevant for reform processes that should not end with a single report, but need sustained accompaniment and adaptation over time.
Why this matters for development policy
From a development perspective, the approach is compelling because it recognises that investment only becomes inclusive and sustainable when it takes place within a functioning institutional environment. Well-designed reforms do not merely reduce costs and uncertainty; they also improve the chances that local firms, women led enterprises and regional actors can benefit from major infrastructure and investment projects.
There is also a political logic. Global Gateway is intended to position Europe’s offer as a partnership based alternative in an increasingly competitive international landscape. For this promise to remain credible, infrastructure investment needs to be combined with work on governance, transparency, market access and institutional performance. This is precisely where the GG ICR Facility comes in.
Implications for practitioners and advisers
For governments, chambers, DFIs, business associations and international implementing agencies, the Facility creates a practical entry point to connect reform agendas with concrete investment operations. For consultants, it signals growing demand for profiles that can combine economic policy analysis, facilitation, institutional process support, monitoring and compliance with donor requirements.
From an advisory perspective, the main challenge is not only to deliver technically sound analytical work, but to coordinate reform support across multiple interventions, to document results in a transparent way and to make learning between projects systematically usable. This is where the strategic added value of the Facility will ultimately be tested over the coming years.
Key references
Global Gateway – strategy overview
Global Gateway – main page
GG ICR Facility – official website
GG ICR Facility – factsheet (PDF)
ICR Facility – Annual Report 2023–2024 (PDF)
