“One of the most rewarding chapters of my career” is how Bram Peters describes his last three years in the Pacific.

The Regional Manager for the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in the Pacific has taken up a new role as Programme Manager within UNCDF, working from their Brussels office.

Mr Peters recalls his time in region with much affection, with numerous personal and professional milestones, and many fond memories, to speak about.

“Personally, it was an enriching experience for me in the sense that island life is so much different than my time living in an African country,” he says.

“Professionally, one of the things I really liked about my time in the Pacific was the opportunity to branch out into completely new areas, like impact investing in Fiji’s blue economy, and also working on innovative capital market instruments, such as Fiji’s blue bond, so much so that it allowed me to think about a career change within UNCDF.”

There is also a sense of melancholy about leaving behind what he says is “a team to be proud of” and the close relationships he developed within the region’s public and private sector.

He recalls how few Pacific Islanders knew anything about UNCDF when he first arrived in Fiji. Agencies like UNDP and UNICEF were household names, but the UNCDF brand was virtually unknown.

Mr Peters says he is proud that, through the efforts of his team, UNCDF is more and more recognized by donors, governments and the public as development partner with a very particular niche expertise.

“I usually just told people that I work for UNDP, as they did not know UNCDF at all, but now I think we've really put ourselves on the map. Not only in Fiji, but also in many of the other Pacific countries,” he adds.

Finally, there is a sense of excitement and optimism about the future. The new programme that he will be managing looks to deploy digital finance solutions to drive financial inclusion in 10 different countries in the African, Caribbean, and Pacific regions.

Pacific Background

Mr Peters’ first stint in the Pacific was as a banker in 2011 with Papua New Guinea’s Bank South Pacific (BSP).

It wasn’t long before he fell in love with the many aspects of island life. He was raring for a return to the region after leaving PNG in 2014 and eventually did come back with the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) in 2018. By then, the Programme had been running for eight years and was a model for other initiatives by UNCDF in other regions, such as Africa.

Prior to his appointment, Mr Peters led the Uganda country office for the Mobile Money for the Poor Programme (MM4P).

Uganda was UNCDF’s biggest country office at the time, and the design of MM4P was also modelled on PFIP, with Australia as its major donor.

PFIP ended in 2021 after 12 years of strong results, helping almost 2 million low-income Pacific Islanders gain access to formal financial services and financial education.

Two further programmes have been developed from lessons learned under PFIP: The Pacific Digital Economy Programme (PDEP) and the Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme (PICAP).

Both Programmes are addressing ongoing challenges with financial inclusion in the region through the provision of innovative financial instruments and inclusive digital economies.

Mr Peters sees the development of the two new initiatives as an example of the UNCDF Pacific team’s strengths and resourcefulness.

It illustrates the agency’s potential to grow from a relatively small UN agency to one that is to be reckoned with within the Pacific UN system,” he says.

“The fact that we, despite a very challenging situation due to COVID, and with a relatively small team, managed to build multiple new initiatives out of PFIP is a key achievement.”

Personal & Professional Development

In his spare time, Mr Peters was never far from the pristine beaches of Fiji or the turquoise Tongan waters, fishing, snorkeling and diving to his heart’s content.

Life in the islands agreed with the Dutchman and he cannot wait to return to do it all over again.

From a career development perspective, the Pacific experience also gave him the chance to explore impact investing, a relatively new area for the banking and micro-finance expert.

He sees an opportunity in this area for UNCDF to re-position itself within the Pacific UN system as a specialized agency for impact investing using blended finance instruments. An area that is rapidly expanding in the Pacific, especially related to investments in the blue economy.

“For example, we are looking to partner with other UN agencies to innovate in the mobilization of new resources for SDG related investments. Think of tapping into capital markets in a similar way as we are doing right now with the blue bond, but to finance investments in healthcare or education,” Mr Peters says.

“Furthermore, we aim to leverage our close working relationship with UNDP to bring other UN agencies to the table and attract impact investors, such as from private equity and venture capital” he adds.

Looking Ahead

This potential is further reinforced by the need for bankable projects that address the region’s key development challenges.

“There is plenty of liquidity in the market,” Mr Peters says, but the lack of bankable projects is “a major problem.”

“That's where I think we can play a role in building a pipeline of bankable projects for development and impact finance and, where needed, de-risk those investments.”

Mr Peters anticipates that UNCDF will see significant growth in the coming years, having firmly established itself as a trusted development partner to the region.

Parting Message

“I am really proud of how we converted our presence in the Pacific, which was a single programme on financial inclusion and how we have expanded our footprint and scope of work significantly.

“I think our support to the government of Fiji to issue a blue bond is a good example of that. I would never have thought that we would branch out into an area like that? As an agency, we have the mandate, as the name suggests, but stretching our niche work in financial inclusion to developing capital market solutions is quite a stretch. And we're only able to pull that off, because of our team and the solid collaboration we have with UNDP in the region.”