Private capital mobilised by the World Bank Group more than tripled over the past four years, rising from $35 billion in FY22 to a record $112 billion in FY26, according to a statement released by the Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) on Thursday.
The statement also said that combined with the World Bank Group’s own financing, that brought its total financing and mobilisation in developing economies to well over $200 billion in FY26, adding that the bank issued a record volume of guarantees, thereby “putting more private capital to work alongside its own financing and expertise in developing economies.”
Specifically, the statement said: “The growth was broad-based. Private Capital Mobilisation (PCM) to lower-middle-income countries rose from $14 billion in FY22 to $37 billion in FY26—nearly tripling. In upper-middle-income countries, it increased from $12 billion to $50 billion—more than quadrupling. In low-income countries, among the most challenging settings for private capital, PCM was maintained at about $3 billion. And across Africa, PCM rose from approximately $9 billion to $22 billion, an increase of nearly 150 percent.”
It further said: “The results reflect three years of changes across the World Bank Group to work more effectively with the private sector: becoming faster and simpler, bringing the public and private sides of the institution closer together, and expanding the tools available to investors.”
According to the statement, the World Bank Group was brought together in each country, with a single point of contact across its public and private sector work, and began developing integrated strategies for each country based on its needs and development priorities.
“The Private Sector Investment Lab complimented that effort, helping to identify the practical barriers holding back investment in developing economies and developed a work plan to address them. The World Bank Group has pursued that agenda across the institution: improving the business and regulatory environment, expanding guarantees and local-currency financing, addressing foreign-exchange challenges, increasing equity tools, and advancing new ways for institutional investors to participate at scale,” it added.
The statement also disclosed that the Group issued more than $25 billion in guarantees, surpassing its goal of $20 billion in annual issuance by 2030 four years ahead of schedule.
Commenting on the achievement, World Bank Group President, Ajay Banga, said: “Three years ago, our shareholders and clients were clear: utilize World Bank Group financing and knowledge to mobilize more private capital and become a better partner to the private sector. We changed how we work to do that—faster, simpler, and as one World Bank Group.
“The result is $112 billion mobilised this year, more than three times where we started. But the number only matters if the capital goes where it can create opportunity and jobs. That is the work ahead: keep removing barriers, keep expanding the pool of investors, and keep driving more capital into developing economies.”
Noting that job creation is the World Bank Group’s central priority, the statement said that while 1.2 billion young people will reach working age over the next 10 to 15 years in developing economies, only around 420 million jobs are projected to be created, adding that the private sector creates nine out of 10 jobs in these economies.
“The World Bank Group’s jobs strategy is centered around three mutually reinforcing drivers: investing in human and physical infrastructure; creating business ready regulatory environments; and helping the private sector scale. It targets five job-rich sectors where these fundamentals can unlock investment and employment at scale: infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and value-added manufacturing,” the statement said.
