World Bank Group mobilises record private capital for developing countries, driving job creation

KAMPALA, September 19, 2026 — The World Bank Group mobilised more private capital in fiscal year 2026 than in any year in its history and issued a record volume of guarantees, delivering on a goal shareholders and clients have pressed for years: putting more private capital to work alongside its own financing and expertise in developing economies.

Private capital mobilised by the World Bank Group has more than tripled over the past four years, rising from US$ 35 billion in financial year 22 to US$ 112 billion in FY26. Combined with the Group’s own financing, this brought total financing and mobilisation in developing economies to well over US$ 200 billion in FY26.

The growth was broad-based. Private capital mobilisation [PCM] to lower-middle-income countries rose from US$ 14 billion in FY22 to US$ 37 billion in FY26 — nearly tripling. In upper-middle-income countries, it increased from US$ 12 billion to US$50 billion — more than quadrupling. In low-income countries, among the most challenging settings for private capital, PCM was maintained at about US$3 billion. Across Africa, PCM rose from approximately US$ 9 billion to US$ 22 billion, an increase of nearly 150 per cent.

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.

The Group brought its operations 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 complemented that effort by helping to identify the practical barriers holding back investment in developing economies and developing a work plan to address them.

The World Bank Group has pursued that agenda across the institution by 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.

The Group issued more than US$ 25 billion in guarantees, surpassing its goal of US$20 billion in annual issuance by 2030, four years ahead of schedule. This growth was led by the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform. Created in 2024, the Platform gives clients and investors a single, simpler point of access to guarantee products from across the institution.

“Three years ago, our shareholders and clients were clear: utilise World Bank Group financing and knowledge to mobilise 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,” World Bank Group President Ajay Banga said.

“The result is US$ 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.”

Job creation is the World Bank Group’s central priority. In developing economies, 1.2 billion young people will reach working age over the next 10 to 15 years, while only around 420 million jobs are projected to be created. The private sector creates nine out of 10 jobs in these economies.

The World Bank Group’s jobs strategy is centred 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.

In FY26, 55 per cent of total financing — from the Group’s own account and capital mobilised — went to these job-rich sectors, helping turn stronger foundations and better policies into private investment, business growth and jobs.

That capital is not just concentrated in the most accessible markets. Private investment is reaching lower-income economies too, where regional and local investors increasingly complement global capital in financing businesses and creating jobs.

The World Bank Group is now working to build on that progress by expanding the range of investors able to participate. Through its originate-to-distribute [O2D] work, the Group is developing ways to package and distribute investments to institutional investors at greater scale, connecting more of the world’s pools of long-term capital with opportunities in developing economies.

The ambition is straightforward: mobilise more capital, from more sources, and put more of it to work creating jobs and economic opportunity.

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