World Bank President Ajay Banga Outlines Jobs-Focused Development Strategy at 2025 Annual Meetings
World Bank Group (WBG) President, Ajay Banga, has outlined a new jobs-focused development agenda anchored on private sector-led growth, strategic sectoral investments, and smart development financing aimed at building resilience and fostering sustainable economic transformation.
Speaking at the 2025 Annual Meetings Plenary in Washington, D.C., Mr Banga said the World Bank has identified five sectors with the highest potential to create jobs globally—infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and value-added manufacturing, including critical minerals.
“These are not aid-dependent sectors,” he stressed. “They are engines of growth—capable of generating locally relevant jobs without displacing work from developed economies. And they help build the middle class that will fuel tomorrow’s global demand.”
According to the WBG President, these priority sectors form part of a broader framework to accelerate inclusive growth, reduce poverty, and support countries in creating conditions for sustainable employment.
Mr Banga underscored that the approach is holistic and coordinated, leveraging the full capacity of the International Development Association (IDA), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) under a single Country Partnership Framework tailored to national priorities.
Driving Jobs Through Targeted Sectoral Investments
Highlighting key initiatives, Mr Banga noted that the Bank’s Mission 300 aims to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030, while its healthcare strategy seeks to deliver primary healthcare services to 1.5 billion people.
Through AgriConnect, the Bank is supporting smallholder farmers to transition “from subsistence to surplus,” doubling its annual financing for agribusiness to US$9 billion and mobilising an additional US$5 billion to scale up productivity, market access, and value chain integration.
In the mining and minerals sector, the WBG is finalising a strategy to move resource-rich countries “beyond raw extraction” towards local processing and value-added manufacturing, expected to be unveiled in the coming months.
Mobilising Private Capital at Scale
Mr Banga emphasised that unlocking private capital is central to the Bank’s reform agenda, describing the private sector as the “engine of job creation,” responsible for nearly 90 percent of global employment.
To this end, the World Bank is developing the IFC2030 Strategy to strengthen private capital mobilisation and implementing key measures including regulatory clarity, expanded use of guarantees through MIGA, and the introduction of innovative financing mechanisms such as junior equity funds and the originate-to-distribute model.
Just weeks before the meetings, the WBG completed its first transaction under the new model—packaging US$510 million of IFC loans into rated securities, a move aimed at attracting institutional capital into emerging markets.
“Each step lowers risk, boosts confidence, and helps meet private capital halfway,” Banga stated.
Smart and Resilient Development
The WBG President also stressed the need for “smart development”—projects that build resilience, fiscal soundness, and institutional strength.
He disclosed that 48 percent of the Bank’s FY2025 financing qualified as climate co-benefit investments, with 43 percent of public sector lending directed towards resilience-related projects.
Under its Public Finance Reviews initiative, the WBG is assisting governments to improve spending efficiency and fiscal management, having completed 14 reviews and with 22 more underway. The institution is also advancing debt-for-development swaps and expanding transparency through the Debtor Reporting System to include all G20 members.
Scaling Development Impact
The World Bank’s annual financing rose from US$107 billion to US$119 billion over the past two years, while private capital mobilisation increased from US$47 billion to US$67 billion, bringing total commitments to US$186 billion.
Since launching its new Scorecard in 2024, the Bank has supported:
20 million farmers with access to technology and markets,
60 million people to gain electricity access,
70 million with education or skills training, and
300 million with quality healthcare and nutrition services.
“These aren’t just larger numbers—they reflect sharper focus and a shift in mindset,” Mr Banga remarked. “One that treats development not as charity, but as strategy. Because when we focus on jobs, we are not turning away from healthcare, infrastructure, or education—we are doubling down on all of them.”
