World Bank Mobilizes Record Private Investment for Developing Nations to Spur Job Creation

Washington D.C., September 17, 2026 — The World Bank Group announced a record mobilization of private investment for developing countries in fiscal year 2026, a significant increase that responds to years of shareholder and client demand to leverage private capital more effectively. The institution has also announced record-high financial commitments for development, with the volume of guarantees reaching unprecedented levels. Private capital mobilized by the World Bank Group has more than tripled in the past four years, rising from $35 billion in fiscal year 2022 to $112 billion in fiscal year 2026. Including the World Bank's own financing, the total volume of financing and resource mobilization in developing countries exceeded $200 billion in fiscal year 2026. This growth has been broad-based. Mobilization of private capital for lower-middle-income countries increased by nearly threefold, from $14 billion in fiscal year 2022 to $37 billion in fiscal year 2026. For upper-middle-income countries, the figure rose more than fourfold, from $12 billion to $50 billion. In low-income countries, one of the most challenging environments for private capital, the level of private capital mobilization has been maintained at around $3 billion. Meanwhile, across Africa, private capital mobilization has increased by nearly 150 percent, from approximately $9 billion to $22 billion. These results reflect three years of changes across the World Bank Group to work more effectively with the private sector, making processes faster and simpler, strengthening the ties between the institution's public and private sector arms, and increasing the range of instruments available to investors. Work has been streamlined in World Bank country offices, creating a single point of contact for both public and private sector engagement, and a unified country strategy has been developed based on the country's development needs and priorities. The Private Sector Investment Lab initiative has complemented these efforts by identifying concrete obstacles to investment in developing countries and developing action plans to address them. The World Bank has implemented this agenda across the institution, focusing on improving the business and regulatory environment, expanding guarantees and local currency financing, addressing foreign exchange challenges, increasing equity investment tools, and promoting new approaches for institutional investors to participate at scale. The World Bank Group announced guarantees totaling more than $25 billion, surpassing its annual target of $20 billion and reaching its 2030 goal four years ahead of schedule. This growth has been driven by the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform, established in 2024 to provide clients and investors with a single, more accessible entry point to the full suite of guarantee products from across the Group. "Three years ago, our shareholders and clients clearly said: You must use the World Bank Group’s financing and expertise to mobilize more private capital and be a better partner for the private sector," said Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group. "We have changed how we work to achieve this, making it faster, simpler, and more unified as a Group. As a result, we mobilized $112 billion this year, more than triple what we did when we started. But this number only matters if that capital is delivered where it can create opportunities and jobs. That is the work that continues: continuing to remove obstacles, continuing to expand the network of investors." Source: CEN Cambodia