A billion young people need jobs

1.2 billion young people in emerging markets will reach working age in the next 12 to 15 years. They need employment opportunities to escape poverty and gain dignity.

“A chance to get a job to earn, but also to have a chance for dignity and opportunity.”

Jobs come from the private sector

Governments enable job creation, but the private sector, especially small and medium enterprises, actually creates them. This is the foundation of Banga's strategy.

“Jobs are created in the private sector, overwhelmingly so, and within that, overwhelmingly so by micro, medium, and small enterprises.”

Three pillars of job creation

Infrastructure (physical and human), private-sector investment climate, and de-risking private capital form the World Bank's framework for enabling employment growth.

Infrastructure is the first pillar

Roads, bridges, airports, digitization, water, and electrification are essential. So is human infrastructure: education, skilling, healthcare, and a healthy labor force.

Investment climate is the second pillar

Private capital flows to countries with clear rules: rule of law, bankruptcy law, labor law, land law, and the ability to start and close businesses easily.

De-risking is the third pillar

Even with good infrastructure and rules, investors face risks. The World Bank reduces these risks through guarantees and insurance, changing the risk-reward equation.

Private capital mobilization tripled

The World Bank mobilized $112 billion in private capital in fiscal year 2026, up from about $30 billion three years earlier. The bank is on track to increase this further.

Political risk insurance quadrupled

The World Bank offers political risk insurance to protect investors if governments fail to honor agreements. This tool has more than quadrupled in four years.

Reinsurance markets share the risk

The World Bank collects premiums from companies and lays off insurance into reinsurance markets, where specialized firms underwrite and pay claims if investments go bad.

Local currency financing grows

The World Bank now finances 35 percent of projects in local currency and aims for 40 percent. It's working with 80 countries to build local capital markets.

First-loss funds attract investors

The World Bank launched the Frontier Opportunities Market Fund, which takes lower returns to help investors rebalance risk. If you invest $50 million, the bank accepts 8 percent while you earn 12 percent.

India's infrastructure is self-sufficient

India builds tens of thousands of kilometers of roads yearly and has renovated 280 airports, ports, and bridges. The World Bank now helps with water, energy, and regulatory policy instead.

India mobilized $13 billion in private capital

Last year, the World Bank mobilized close to $13 billion of private capital in India for minerals, metals, batteries, energy, and water projects.

Argentina's lithium strategy

The World Bank coordinated with Rio Tinto mining group, the Argentine government, and its own agencies to build roads, modernize ports, and train workers for lithium mining in northwest Argentina.

“Hope is not a strategy.”

AI threatens jobs in rich countries

Studies suggest up to one-third of jobs in developed countries could be exposed to AI. In middle-income countries, that number drops to single digits; in lower-income countries, it's negligible.

AI boosts productivity for farmers

In Uttar Pradesh, illiterate women farmers point old phones at diseased leaves and get instant advice on which insecticide to buy. Predictive AI, not large language models, drives this productivity gain.

AI improves healthcare access

In Indonesia, nurses photograph rashes and send them to shared doctors who use local AI models to diagnose. This expands primary healthcare reach across dispersed populations.

Five sectors for job creation

Infrastructure, agriculture, primary healthcare, tourism, and value-added manufacturing are the World Bank's focus areas. These sectors create jobs before AI automation becomes a major factor.

World Bank's financial firepower

The World Bank has a triple-A rating and can leverage its balance sheet 10 times from bond markets. It gives away one-third of its resources to the 78 poorest countries without repayment.