The World Bank Group says it mobilised a record $112 billion in private capital for developing economies during the 2026 fiscal year (FY26), more than tripling the $35 billion recorded in FY22.
Gatekeepers News reports that the global financial institution disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, saying the mobilisation, combined with its own financing, pushed total financing and capital mobilisation in developing economies to more than $200 billion during the year.
“Combined with the Group’s own financing, that brought total financing and mobilization in developing economies to well over $200 billion in FY26,” the statement said.
The World Bank also said it issued more than $25 billion in guarantees during the year, exceeding its $20 billion annual issuance target for 2030 four years ahead of schedule.
According to the bank, the increase was driven largely by its guarantee platform, established in 2024 to simplify access to guarantee products across the institution.
World Bank Group President Ajay Banga attributed the growth to changes in the institution’s approach to working with the private sector.
“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,” Banga said.
“We changed how we work to do that—faster, simpler, and as one World Bank Group.”
The bank said private capital mobilisation to lower-middle-income countries increased from $14 billion in FY22 to $37 billion in FY26.
In upper-middle-income countries, mobilisation rose from $12 billion to $50 billion, while mobilisation in low-income countries remained at about $3 billion.
Across Africa, private capital mobilisation increased from approximately $9 billion to $22 billion over the same period.
The World Bank said the increase followed three years of reforms aimed at improving its engagement with the private sector.
“We brought the World Bank 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,” it said.
The institution said its Private Sector Investment Lab also helped identify barriers to investment in developing economies and develop measures to address them.
It said efforts had included improving business and regulatory environments, expanding guarantees and local-currency financing, addressing foreign-exchange challenges, increasing equity tools and developing new ways for institutional investors to participate at scale.
Private sector creates nine out of 10 jobs
The World Bank said private capital mobilisation was particularly important because developing economies face a significant challenge in creating enough jobs for their growing working-age populations.
It said 1.2 billion young people in developing economies would reach working age over the next 10 to 15 years, while only about 420 million jobs were projected to be created.
“The private sector creates nine out of 10 jobs in these economies,” the bank said.
The institution said its jobs strategy focuses on investment in human and physical infrastructure, creating business-ready regulatory environments and helping the private sector expand.
It identified infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism and value-added manufacturing as five sectors where investment could generate jobs at scale.
“In FY26, 55 percent of total financing—own account and capital mobilized went to these job-rich sectors, helping turn stronger foundations and better policies into private investment, business growth, and jobs,” the World Bank said.
Banga said the institution would continue working to expand the pool of investors and channel more capital into developing economies.
“But the number only matters if the capital goes where it can create opportunity and jobs,” he said.
“That is the work ahead: keep removing barriers, keep expanding the pool of investors, and keep driving more capital into developing economies.”
The World Bank also said it was developing an “originate-to-distribute” (O2D) model to package and distribute investments to institutional investors on a larger scale.
According to the institution, its objective is to “mobilize more capital, from more sources, and put more of it to work creating jobs and economic opportunity”.
