Great. They are all important questions.
In terms of that balancing out of some of the pieces you were speaking about, obviously it depends on what the mandate is and how precisely that gets defined and set. Some DFIs are purpose-built to be more aggressive in pursuit of financial returns than others are, so Canada could choose to take an approach whereby we are seeking to continue to generate strong financial returns, or you could see—I would actually say that it would be quite okay for us to get to the point where we have a return of capital as opposed to a return on capital.
I say that because if you think about the deal flow of businesses that are currently available, so many people who are operating as investors, whether they are funds or otherwise—in at least the countries across sub-Saharan Africa where I have experience—often talk about an issue of deal flow and pipeline and how there aren't nearly enough strong businesses in which to invest, so in order to play a role that is truly unlocking and catalytic, Canada can choose to build markets by helping to de-risk some of those early-stage enterprises that can then go on to be potentially profitable, and then scale and provide solutions that have a meaningful impact on people's lives.
I think the question of balance really matters for how we set and define this mandate. My personal view is that at least in the first number of years it's perfectly okay to pursue just the return of the capital that we put out over time, but this is going to take multiple years. We talk about seeing to it that Canada actually has returns generated from some of the investments it is making. I think we are looking at 10 or 15 years out, as opposed to thinking about year one, year two, or year three. That kind of patient model is paramount, and particularly so in view of the fact that Canada has already set out certain determining factors like a focus on the world's poorest and most vulnerable and a focus on investing in SMEs that are women- and youth-led. Those are harder.
It is great that we've done that. It is particularly additional and unique for what Canada's DFI can do in comparison to what a lot of our other international comparisons are doing present day, but it does mean we're going to have to be more patient in how we see the expectation of return and on what time frame.