The World Bank Group said on 17 September 2026 that it mobilised more private capital for developing economies in the fiscal year just ended than in any year in its history, with the figure rising from $35 billion in fiscal year 2022 to $112 billion in fiscal year 2026. Combined with the Group’s own financing, total financing and mobilisation in developing economies reached well over $200 billion for the year.
“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,” said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. “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.”
Africa sees the sharpest rise
Private capital mobilisation in Africa grew from about $9 billion to $22 billion over the period, an increase of nearly 150 percent, according to the World Bank. The Bank has framed mobilising private investment, rather than relying solely on public lending, as central to closing Africa’s large infrastructure and job-creation financing gaps, and has pointed to the near tripling of the mobilisation figure since 2022 as evidence that its internal restructuring toward this goal is bearing out in practice.
Why It Matters
Public development finance alone has never been large enough to meet the investment needs of low- and middle-income countries, particularly in infrastructure, energy and job creation. A sustained rise in private capital mobilised through World Bank-backed guarantees and partnerships suggests more investors are willing to take on risk in developing markets when the Bank helps structure and de-risk the deals, potentially widening the pool of financing available for development projects beyond what any single institution could provide alone.
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