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Daniel Adaji
The World Bank has launched the implementation phase of its Private Sector Investment Lab, expanding its leadership to include top private sector figures across industries known for job creation.
World Bank President Ajay Banga announced the expansion on Wednesday at the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington D.C.
“As the Lab enters its implementation phase, it will expand its membership to include private sector leaders from sectors critical to job creation, such as infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and manufacturing,” he said.
The Private Sector Investment Lab, set up by the World Bank, aims to identify and dismantle barriers to private investment in low- and middle-income countries. It focuses on promoting sustainable investments that directly generate employment.
Banga stressed that the move is part of a broader World Bank strategy to make job creation a central pillar of development.
“With the expanded membership, we are mainstreaming this work across our operations and tying it directly to the jobs agenda that is driving our strategy,” he said.
“This is not about altruism; it’s about helping the private sector see a path to investments that will deliver returns and lift people and economies alike,” he added.
Four high-profile industry leaders are joining the Lab: Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer AG; Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chair of Bharti Enterprises; Aliko Dangote, President & CEO of Dangote Group; and Mark Hoplamazian, President & CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
These leaders bring expertise from companies that have historically converted investment into large-scale employment and economic value.
According to Banga, over the past 18 months, the Lab has gathered leaders from global financial institutions to identify the most significant investment roadblocks and test practical solutions. This groundwork has now evolved into five priority action areas.
The first is regulatory and policy certainty. The Bank is supporting governments to create stable investment environments. For instance, efforts to connect 300 million Africans to electricity depend on predictable regulation to attract capital.
The second is political risk insurance. Streamlining guarantees has already boosted issuance by 30 percent over 2024 levels, helping the Bank move toward tripling its guarantee use by 2030.
Third is foreign exchange risk mitigation. The IFC is scaling up local currency financing to reduce dependency on volatile foreign exchange. In 2024, it committed one-third of its long-term financing in local currencies and aims for 40 percent by 2030.
The fourth focus is junior equity capital. The World Bank launched the Frontier Opportunities Fund, initially backed by IFC income, to absorb early-stage investment risk and attract donor and philanthropic contributions.
The fifth is securitization. The Bank is collaborating with institutions like S&P and BlackRock to standardize and bundle investment portfolios, making it easier to unlock institutional capital from pension funds, insurers, and sovereign wealth funds.
Banga acknowledged the original members of the Lab who laid the groundwork for this transition. “We’re building on that foundation by bringing in additional leaders from sectors central to job creation and transitioning from ideas to implementation,” he said.