Abstract
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has been heralded as one of the most significant innovations since the internet. This article explores the applicability of DLT to the issue of financing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by approaching the question of what opportunities DLT presents for aligning investments with SDGs-related outcomes within the financial sector through the concept of affordances. Our qualitative research inquiry combining an exhaustive analysis of practitioner literature and interviews with 15 leading sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) practitioners and 14 actors involved in DLT ventures in Sub-Saharan Africa shows that despite discourse around blockchain technology that focuses on generic perceptions of affordances relating to data transparency, actualization of these affordances within the sustainable finance field is contingent upon a number of socio-cognitive and institutional hurdles. As a result, while discourse around blockchain presents a galvanizing vision for innovation within the financial sector, its direct benefits for mobilizing additional contributions towards the SDGs by private sector investors remain ambiguous.
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