The World Bank Group says it mobilised a record 112 billion dollars in private capital in fiscal year(FY) 2026, more than tripling the 35 billion dollars recorded in FY22.
Combined with the Group’s own financing, the mobilisation brought total financing and mobilisation in developing economies to well above 200 billion dollars during the fiscal year.
The bank announced this in a statement issued on Thursday, and a copy made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
According to the statement, the bank mobilised more private capital in fiscal year 2026 than in any year in its history.
It said that bank issued a record volume of guarantees, delivering on a goal shareholders and clients have pressed for years.
“This has put more private capital to work alongside its own financing and expertise in developing economies,” the statement said.
It said Private capital mobilisation to lower-middle-income countries rose from 14 billion dollars in FY22 to 37 billion dollars in FY26, while upper-middle-income countries increased from 12 billion dollars to 50 billion dollars.
The statement said that in low-income countries, private capital mobilisation remained at about three billion dollars.
“Mobilisation across Africa increased from approximately nine billion dollars to 22 billion dollars, representing an increase of nearly 150 per cent, ” it said.
It attributed the increase to reforms introduced over three years to make the World Bank’s operations faster and simpler, and strengthen collaboration between its public and private sector arms.
“We brought the Group together in each country, with a single point of contact across our 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, helping to identify the practical barriers holding back investment in developing economies and developed a work plan to address them.
“The group has pursued that agenda across the institution: improving the business and regulatory environment, expanding guarantees and local-currency financing, and addressing foreign-exchange challenges.
“It is also increasing equity tools, and advancing new ways for institutional investors to participate at scale,” it said.
The statement said that the Wold Bank Group issued no fewer than 25 billion dollars in guarantees during FY26, exceeding its annual target of 20 billion dollars by 2030, four years ahead of schedule.
It said the growth was led by the bank’s Guarantee Platform, established in 2024 to provide clients and investors with simpler access to guarantee products across the institution.
The statement said job creation remained a central priority for the bank, with 1.2 billion young people expected to reach working age in developing economies over the next 10 to 15 years.
It said only about 420 million jobs were projected to be created during the period, while the private sector currently provided nine out of every 10 jobs in developing economies.
The statement said the group’s jobs strategy was focused on investing in human and physical infrastructure, creating business-ready regulatory environments and helping the private sector scale.
It listed infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and value-added manufacturing as five sectors with the potential to generate investment and employment at scale.
It said in FY26, 55 per cent of total financing, including the group’s own account and mobilised capital, went to those five job-rich sectors.
“Private investment is also reaching lower-income economies, where regional and local investors were increasingly complementing global capital in financing businesses and supporting job creation.
“The World Bank is seeking to expand the number of investors participating through its originate-to-distribute(O2D) initiative, which aims to package and distribute investments to institutional investors.
“The initiative is intended to connect more long-term institutional capital with investment opportunities in developing economies, while broadening the sources of financing available for development,” it said.
It said that the objective was to mobilise more capital from more sources and direct greater amounts towards job creation and economic opportunities in developing economies.
Meanwhile, Ajay Banga, World Bank Group President, said that the FY26 achievements were made possible with the encouragement of the bank’s shareholders and clients.
“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.
The result is 112 billion dollars 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, while continuing to remove barriers and expand the investor base and driving more capital into developing economies, ” Ajay said.
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