W/Bank mobilizes record $112bn in private capital in FY2026

By Onu Okorie

World Bank Group mobilized a record $112 billion in private capital during fiscal year 2026, more than tripling the amount raised four years earlier and marking the largest annual mobilization in the institution’s history.
The figure represents a sharp increase from $35 billion in fiscal year 2022. Combined with the World Bank Group’s own financing, total financing and private-capital mobilization in developing economies exceeded $200 billion in FY2026.
The increase was recorded across income groups and regions. Private capital mobilization in lower-middle-income countries climbed from $14 billion in FY2022 to $37 billion in FY2026, while mobilization in upper-middle-income countries rose from $12 billion to $50 billion.
In low-income countries, where attracting private investment remains particularly difficult, mobilization held at about $3 billion. Across Africa, private capital mobilization increased from approximately $9 billion to $22 billion, representing an increase of nearly 150 percent.
The World Bank Group attributed the growth to reforms introduced over the past three years aimed at making the institution faster and simpler in its engagement with the private sector and at bringing its public- and private-sector operations closer together.
The institution said it has established a single point of contact for its public and private-sector work in individual countries and has begun developing integrated country strategies based on national development priorities.
The Private Sector Investment Lab has also helped identify practical barriers to investment in developing economies and develop measures to address them. These efforts include improving business and regulatory environments, expanding guarantees and local-currency financing, addressing foreign-exchange constraints, increasing the use of equity instruments and creating new ways for institutional investors to participate at scale.
The World Bank Group also issued more than $25 billion in guarantees during FY2026, exceeding its target of $20 billion in annual issuance by 2030 four years ahead of schedule.
Much of the increase was driven by the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform, established in 2024 to provide clients and investors with a single access point for guarantee products across the institution.
“Three years ago, our shareholders and clients were clear: utilize World Bank Group financing and knowledge to mobilize more private capital and become a better partner to the private sector,” World Bank Group President Ajay Banga said.
“We changed how we work to do that—faster, simpler, and as one World Bank Group. The result is $112 billion mobilized this year, more than three times where we started,” Banga said, adding that the focus now would be on directing capital toward opportunities and job creation in developing economies.
Job creation has become a central focus of the World Bank Group’s strategy. The institution estimates that 1.2 billion young people in developing economies will reach working age over the next 10 to 15 years, while only about 420 million jobs are projected to be created.
The private sector currently accounts for about nine out of every 10 jobs in developing economies, making private investment a key component of efforts to expand employment.
The World Bank Group’s jobs strategy focuses on three areas: investment in human and physical infrastructure, business-friendly regulatory environments and helping private-sector companies scale.
The strategy prioritizes five sectors considered capable of generating substantial employment and investment: infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and value-added manufacturing.
In FY2026, 55 percent of the World Bank Group’s total financing, including its own financing and mobilized capital, went to these job-rich sectors.
The institution said investment is also reaching lower-income economies rather than being concentrated exclusively in more established markets. Regional and local investors are increasingly complementing international capital in financing businesses and supporting job creation, it said.
Looking ahead, the World Bank Group plans to broaden the pool of investors participating in developing-economy opportunities. Through its originate-to-distribute (O2D) initiative, the institution is developing mechanisms to package and distribute investments to institutional investors on a larger scale.
The objective, the World Bank Group said, is to mobilize more capital from a wider range of sources and channel it into developing economies to support businesses, jobs and economic opportunity.