The World Bank Group mobilised US$112 billion in private capital last year, more than three times the roughly US$35 billion raised in the 2022 financial year, as it steps up efforts to create jobs and support economic development in emerging and developing economies.
Speaking at the 2026 Annual Meetings plenary in Bangkok, Thailand, on 16 October, World Bank Group President Ajay Banga said the institution’s development strategy centres on making limited resources go further while helping countries create jobs at scale.
The challenge is substantial. Over the next 10 to 15 years, an estimated 1.2 billion young people will enter the job market, which is projected to offer only about 400 million jobs.
Banga said countries are also facing persistent conflicts, tighter fiscal space, rising debt burdens and high costs for essential goods, including energy and fertiliser.
“These are the twin challenges we have been working to address: making scarce resources go further, while helping countries create jobs at scale,” he said.
The World Bank Group’s approach brings together public finance, private investment, philanthropy and technology, with the mix adapted to each country’s needs. Public and concessional financing remain essential where risks are high and markets are less developed, while private investment should play a larger role as economies strengthen.
World Bank Reforms Aim to Expand Financing Capacity
Over the past three years, the World Bank Group has introduced reforms to improve project delivery, focus on measurable outcomes and increase its capacity to finance development.
Project preparation time has been reduced from 19 months to nine, while 153 scorecard measures have been replaced with 22 focused on impact. Pay-for-results financing has increased from about one-third to half of the institution’s financing.
The World Bank Group has also brought its public and private sector teams together around country-led strategies and restructured its balance sheet to create more than US$100 billion in additional lending capacity for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) over a decade.
Co-operation among multilateral development banks (MDBs) is also expanding. The number of projects on the World Bank Group’s digital co-financing platform has tripled in two years to about 250 projects seeking US$138 billion in financing.
The institution is also working with partners, including the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to reduce duplicated work and make better use of each institution’s expertise.
Three Priorities to Help Businesses Create Jobs
The World Bank Group’s jobs strategy is built around three pillars: infrastructure and skills, regulatory certainty, and access to investment.
First, infrastructure and human capital. Businesses need reliable electricity, water, transport and digital connectivity, while workers need access to healthcare, education and relevant skills. The World Bank Group committed US$40 billion to these foundations last year, representing nearly one-third of its financing.
Second, predictable policies and regulations. Businesses require strong institutions, good governance and clear rules, from simpler permit processes to predictable land laws. Around 30% of the institution’s public sector financing last year supported policy and institutional reforms.
Third, investment at scale. Even when infrastructure and regulations are in place, risks such as currency fluctuations and limited access to finance can deter investors. The World Bank Group’s Private Sector Investment Lab has helped identify these barriers and strengthen financing tools, including guarantees, equity and local currency financing.
Together, these measures are intended to encourage more private capital to flow into development projects and businesses.
Alongside its own financing, total financing facilitated by the World Bank Group exceeded US$230 billion last year. Private capital mobilisation nearly tripled in lower-middle-income countries, quadrupled in upper-middle-income countries and more than doubled across Africa.
However, mobilisation remained flat in low-income countries, where attracting commercial investment is more difficult. Banga said small businesses would be central to reaching these markets, particularly in fragile economies where larger companies have yet to establish a strong presence.
MSMEs and AI Seen as Key Drivers of Growth
The World Bank Group launched a new micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) strategy earlier in the week to help smaller businesses become more visible, connected, enabled and better funded.
The strategy aims to use digital records to improve access to financing, connect smaller firms with larger buyers and markets, and simplify regulations that affect business growth.
Banga said MSMEs are particularly important in fragile and conflict-affected economies, where they can create jobs and help establish the foundations for stability even when conditions are not yet suitable for larger companies.
Technology is another part of the strategy, particularly practical applications of artificial intelligence (AI).
While advanced AI models require substantial computing power, energy, data, specialised skills and capital, smaller-scale AI applications can help farmers improve yields, teachers tailor lessons, healthcare workers make better-informed decisions and entrepreneurs reach new customers.
The World Bank Group is therefore supporting countries in developing the electricity supply, digital connectivity, device access and safeguards needed to use these technologies effectively.
Skills development is also a priority, with education and training expected to align more closely with the jobs and industries countries are seeking to build.
Energy, Water and Agriculture Projects Expand
The World Bank Group is applying its development strategy through initiatives targeting essential services, agricultural productivity and infrastructure.
Under Mission 300, a joint ambition with the African Development Bank, the institution aims to help bring electricity to 300 million people in Africa by 2030. So far, 59 million people have gained access, with annual progress increasing from 12 million in financial year 2024 to 18 million in financial year 2025 and 29 million last year.
Banga said access alone was insufficient, as homes, factories, farms, mines and growing cities also needed reliable and affordable electricity. The approach includes a mix of renewables, hydropower, gas where appropriate, nuclear power where suitable, transmission networks, grids and energy storage.
On water security, the World Bank Group and its partners aim to improve access for up to one billion people by 2030, with the institution committed to reaching 400 million. Twenty country compacts provide a pathway to reach 150 million people with clean water, with another 20 compacts planned.
In agriculture, the ambition is to help 300 million smallholder farmers move from subsistence farming to producing a surplus by 2030, including 200 million through the World Bank Group’s commitment. Its AgriConnect initiative has developed a pipeline intended to support 82 million farmers in its first full year, with further work under way to reach another 118 million.
Through HealthWorks, supported by the Japanese Government, the institution aims to reach 1.5 billion people with quality, affordable healthcare by 2030. About 600 million people have already been reached.
Critical Minerals and Economic Corridors to Create Local Value
The World Bank Group is also expanding its work in critical minerals, with plans to increase its business in the sector fivefold over five years.
Its first country compacts with MDB partners were launched during the Annual Meetings, with the aim of developing local industries and retaining more jobs and economic value within producing countries. The institution has identified 20 countries as potential partners.
Economic corridors are another priority, linking infrastructure with investment and commercial opportunities. The World Bank Group launched 52 new corridor projects last year, up from 20 three years earlier.
Working with partners such as the European Commission’s Global Gateway, Italy’s Mattei Plan and the United States International Development Finance Corporation, the institution aims to connect infrastructure development with private investment.
Banga cited the Lobito corridor as an example of how infrastructure can generate wider economic benefits. A route initially intended mainly for transporting minerals is increasingly carrying agricultural produce to markets and supporting the growth of surrounding towns and cities.
Across these initiatives, the World Bank Group reported that nearly 55% of its financing and the private capital it mobilised went towards infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism and value-added manufacturing.
Its total climate co-benefits reached US$96 billion last year, including US$48 billion from private capital.
New Financing Model Seeks to Attract Long-Term Investors
To increase the scale of development financing, the World Bank Group is expanding its engagement with private sector clients and investors. It is strengthening its presence in New York, Frankfurt, Milan and Tokyo to identify opportunities, resolve problems more quickly and build a stronger pipeline of projects.
Banga also highlighted efforts by six multilateral development banks to establish common methods for assessing, documenting, packaging and transferring investments.
Under this approach, a project initially financed by a development bank could eventually be held by another investor, freeing the bank’s capital for new projects. Potential investors include pension funds, insurers and sovereign wealth funds, which manage substantial pools of long-term capital.
The longer-term ambition is to develop an emerging-market development asset class that attracts more institutional investment and allows development banks to support more projects without being constrained by the size of their own balance sheets.
Banga Calls for a Development Model That Delivers Dignity Through Jobs
Closing his address, Banga returned to the founding purpose of the World Bank Group, established in the aftermath of the Second World War to support reconstruction and international economic co-operation.
He argued that prosperity should be viewed as a shared benefit rather than a competition between nations, with development investment helping countries strengthen one another.
The projected shortfall of about 800 million jobs, he said, represents more than an economic forecast. It reflects the risk of young people entering adulthood without access to meaningful employment.
“A job is not a statistic. A job is dignity,” Banga said.
He called for a development model that combines public funding where markets cannot yet reach, private capital where it can support growth and job creation, philanthropy to take early risks and unlock new ideas, and technology to make every dollar more effective.
The World Bank Group’s next challenge, he said, is to scale up its approach and accelerate implementation to meet the expectations of the next generation.
“The jobs gap is a projection. It does not have to be our future,” he said.
