Lessons from IDA20—Delivering Impact in Times of Crisis

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you are joining us from. Welcome to the launch of the IDA20 Retrospective Report here on World Bank Life. I’m Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi from the African Center for Economic Transformation, ACET, and I will be your moderator today. ACET is an African-led institute that focuses on practical evidence-based solutions to accelerate Africa’s economic transformation. We chose to co-host this event with the World Bank because ensuring concessional finance delivers real impact for African countries is a key priority for us. Over the next hour, we will explore how IDA has delivered impact during an extraordinary period. It remains one of the most critical instruments supporting low-income countries. Africa receives 66% of IDA’s total commitment. IDA20 was launched in July 2022 amid a global polycrisis. Countries were grappling simultaneously with the lingering effects of COVID-19, war-driven food and energy price spikes, rising debt stress, and escalating climate shocks. IDA acted quickly and decisively, reinforcing its unique role as a vital lifeline for the world’s most vulnerable countries. Countries are still grappling with these issues, and this is why in the lead up to IDA21, ACET joined other civil society organizations to advocate for a strong and ambitious replenishment, which was realized. Today, Bank colleagues and all our speakers will share with you how the 97.4 billion IDA20 package delivered measurable results for the world’s poorest countries. And why that impact matters as we look ahead to IDA22 in 2026. The accounts of Ghana have a concept, Sankofa, which represents the importance of learning from the past to build a stronger future. This is what today’s conversation is all about. How can the lessons we learn from IDA20 help to shape IDA22? So, thank you for joining us. And to kick off, let’s watch a short video.

[Video begins playing]

[Narrator 1]
The world hit a staggering milestone Tuesday as it surpassed 100 million confirmed cases…

[Crosstalk between narrators]
.

[Narrator 2]
Another milestone this time as confirmed cases surpassed…

[Narrator 3]
300 million people have died.

[Narrator 4]
A pandemic rages across the globe. Uncertainty is everywhere. Hardest hit are the world’s poorest. Schools close, basic services halt, supply chains disrupted. What if IDA had stood still? The effects of the pandemic could have been worse. Food price inflation may have gone unchecked, casting millions more into hunger and poverty, and the debt crisis in developing countries could have spiraled out of control. Instead, IDA and its partners delivered an unprecedented response. Starting with the pivotal decision to move up the replenishment timeline. And then followed up with unmatched scale and speed, slashing the approval time for projects by a third. And when circumstances changed, showed flexibility in quickly directing resources to keep basic services running and make the greatest impact. IDA adapted to unforeseen demands by leveraging private capital to unlock investment in challenging markets, and innovative financial measures that made additional funding available. And finally, built-in resilience to future crises, whether through debt transparency, renewables, or new systems to respond to natural disasters. The echoes of IDA20 reverberate today. There will always be a next crisis. IDA proved there will always be a response.

[Video ends]

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
I hope now you appreciate why IDA matters so much. Now, I’d like us to take a deep dive into the findings of IDA20 Retrospective. World Bank Vice President, Aki Nishio and Gallina Vincelette, will guide us through IDA by the numbers and highlight some of the key results from that critical period. Aki, can we start with you, please?

[Akihiko Nishio]
Thank you, Mavis. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the World Bank Live. A few months after the end of every IDA financing cycle of the International Development Association, we produce a report that looks back at the impact and outcomes that are generated. We call these “IDA Retrospective.” Today, we are launching the IDA20 Retrospective, which tells the story of how far IDA went to deliver results over the remarkable three-year cycle, which ran from 2023 to ‘25. It was a period marked by polycrisis and uncertainty. And IDA provided countries with consistency, agility, and much-needed access to resources. Over the last two decades, global poverty has been reduced in half. However, in 78 countries that IDA serves today, progress has been slower. In fact, poverty is increasingly concentrated and growing in absolute numbers, especially in IDA countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence. At the same time, debt and risks associated with it continue to be a challenge, limiting fiscal space for investments and countries’ ability to access financing. For these countries, IDA has been a lifeline. IDA provides nearly one-third of non-emergency Official Development Assistance or ODA received by its client countries. And this number of countries is increasing. By the end of IDA20, there were 78 IDA-eligible countries, compared with 74 at the beginning of the cycle. IDA is a time-tested, effective, transparent, and financially innovative instrument for tackling some of the most present challenges in low-income countries. Its leverage, global reach, and sectoral expertise at scale makes IDA an indispensable tool for creating jobs and building stable, secure, and growing economies. And IDA delivers. The IDA20 Retrospective shows us the scale of this delivery and how it builds on past successes. Some highlights from three years are that, one, IDA helped provide over 120 million people with access to social safety net programs. Two, IDA helped generate over 11 gigawatts in renewable energy, and helped almost 55 million people obtain access to new or improved electricity services. Three, over the years, IDA reached tens of millions of people through job-focused interventions, expanded financial inclusion, and advanced reforms to cement jobs as the surest path out of poverty. IDA also delivered on its ambitious goals and commitments, meeting nearly 90% of its targets, or the policy commitments as we call them, under its five special themes and four cross-cutting issues. Now, let me hand over to my colleague Gallina Andronova Vincelette, our Vice President for Operations, Policy and Country Services, for a deeper dive on how IDA worked with countries and partners to achieve results that touched millions of lives. Over to you, Gallina.

[Gallina A. Vincelette]
Thank you, Aki, and hello, everyone. Let me start off with reminding us what IDA brings to the table. It is IDA’s unique combination of financing, knowledge, and capacity building in pursuit of countries’ development objectives. Here is what IDA20 delivered. First, scale and volume. IDA20 delivered record financing of 97.4 billion to countries. This is almost 28% higher than in the IDA18 cycle. IDA was able to achieve this because of its financial model, which allows each donor dollar to go exponentially further. Put in perspective, IDA20 leveraged 23.5 billion dollars, contributions from donors nearly three and a half times. This resulted in a final 93-billion-dollar replenishment size, which eventually became a total commitment authority of 97.4 billion through innovative financial measures. The second aspect of what IDA brings to the table is that IDA goes where the need is highest. 89% of IDA20 resources went to sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the two regions where 80% of the world’s poor live. These resources delivered 80% of our biggest results in IDA20. Third, IDA’s global reach is instrumental to its success. IDA is a reliable and committed partner in fragile, conflict, and violence-affected countries. In fact, IDA’s support to FCV countries increased by nearly a third during the last three financing cycles and made up 40% of IDA20 commitments. Fourth, IDA also brings innovation and adaptability, supporting country priorities with flexibility, agility, and resilience, all while working closely with development partners. Let me give you a couple of examples. The INGA 3 dam, which when complete, will be transformational not only for DRC, but for the entire African continent is a great illustration of that. As is the first ever debt-for-development swap in Côte d’Ivoire, which replaces expensive debt with cheaper financing and channeling fiscal savings to the education sector. Last but not least, operational efficiency remains key to drive in impact with focus from strengthening preparation to supporting client countries in delivery and implementation of results on the ground. Let me close here by noting that the IDA20 Retrospective is a great opportunity for all of us to learn. It fits and informs the way we deliver IDA21 in four distinct ways. One, using jobs as our North Star. Two, leveraging more private financing. Three, scaling our impact like what we are doing in M300, for example, where we bring electricity access to 300 million people in Africa by 2030. And four, raising our game on domestic resource mobilization. IDA20 was a success, and IDA21 is building on that momentum. We delivered, we learned, and we are ready.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you, Aki and Gallina. That is really excellent. Now, behind these numbers that we’ve heard are real people and real lives. So, let’s hear from some of those people.

[Video begins playing]

[Narrator 5]
The results are in millions because that is the scale of what is at stake. But they land in a life, one person at a time. A person who now has support, a path, possibilities, and that means everything. Jumpstart a local market and every aspect of life can get just a little bit better for a family...

[Anisha]
Previously, the milk we produced did not find a market. Now that this REED project has come along, we take the milk we produce to the dairy.

[Tirpani]
The money generated from milk production and sales is making it much easier to run the household. Children’s education, healthy diet, and changes in sanitation and all things are easier now.

[Narrator 5]
To a teenager who feels like an outcast, a digital ID is a path to community and his dreams.

[Isaac]
If I were to get an ID today, I would go back to school, achieve my dream of becoming a motorbike rider, and become a nurse to heal people, especially my friends.

[Narrator 5]
Just a little more light in the world opens up new possibilities and makes a profound difference in someone’s life.

[Ferdinand]
Since I acquired this (solar) kit, I can increase my sales. Instead of an average of CFAF 20,000 per day, I now make at least CFAF 30,000 per day.

[Mbairané]
The solar kit allows us to have some classes at night. If students experience difficulties in class, I ask them to come back later at night, to review their lessons.

[Narrator 5]
Building roads is like building resilience. It makes the tough easy to traverse day after day after day.

[Rema]
We have challenges when it rains. Because when the river floods, we cannot cross the bridge (to the market). The project to improve road access is really good.

[Catherine]
We all believe that a road in good condition will help out women-owned businesses to grow. If we plan to travel to the market on a certain day, we should be able to access it now. It will help us so much.

[Narrator 5]
Confidence comes with encouragement and a backstop. Confidence that will take a young woman very far.

[Alice]
This (SWEDD program) has brought a real change in her life. And she started developing ideas: ‘Mom, in the future, I plan on doing this, on doing that…’ Now, she’s thinking big. When I’m done with this (SWEDD) program, with all of the things that I’ve learned, I think that yes, I can make it.

[Narrator 5]
Support, a path, possibilities. Taken together, that is hope. When IDA delivers results, it’s the culmination of millions of hopes and dreams. IDA has always delivered and always will.

[Video ends]

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
The stories that we’ve heard just now, Catherine, Anisha, Isaac, Ferdinand, illustrate the real-world impact that IDA can have by assisting people to drive change and pursue productive futures. But with IDA, these are not stand-alone examples. As Aki said earlier, these are delivered at scale. So, for every single one of these individuals you’ve seen today, millions more are benefiting. And they add up to national impact. And in countries like Nigeria, we see IDA’s value from both sides. Nigeria is one of IDA’s largest recipients, but it’s also a contributing donor to IDA’s success. So, as more countries that benefit from IDA make progress, they can become contributors to IDA. So, let’s hear from Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Honorable Wale Edun.

[Wale Edun]
When IDA20 was launched in 2022, that was a time, really, of unprecedented challenges facing the world economy, and particularly developing countries, African countries, countries like my own, Nigeria. The challenges came from the aftershocks of the pandemic, came from the disruption of supply chains, and also rising food insecurity amongst other factors, and general rising inequality, I would say. For Nigeria, like other developing countries, these pressures were severe. But one thing is clear, IDA20, it did deliver. It did come to our help when it mattered most. Let me try and be a little bit more specific regarding IDA20 and how it was really beneficial to us. The first example I’ll give is that, as we know, Nigeria, since mid-2023, when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has undergone major macroeconomic reform that were long overdue, that were necessary, that there were removals of subsidies, putting in place a market-based mechanism for foreign exchange, and taking other measures that helped to lay the basis for what we really know we need, which is rapid, sustained, and inclusive growth. Growth that includes well-paying jobs for women, well-paying jobs for young people, 600,000 graduates a year, and we need to employ them gainfully. So, IDA support was critical at that time, not just financing, but also as a result of the process of IDA funding, the technical assistance, the thought leadership that also came with that financing. The second thing, really, I’ve mentioned it a bit, and that is inclusion. IDA helped us to put in place a social safety net that has now catered for 9 million households, around 45 million Nigerians and growing. That is becoming a feature of our budget, a feature of our society. And IDA was very instrumental in helping us to put in place that feature, that social safety net, to cater, particularly to the poorest and most vulnerable at a time when as a result of the necessary changes that were being made, we knew there would be a spike in the cost of living, a spike in inflation before those metrics eventually recede. To end up on the social safety net, essentially using technology, we were able to identify uniquely and biometrically those to be paid the direct benefit transfers and were able to pay them using a digital methodology so that there’s accountability, there’s transparency, there’s reconciliation of those records of payment. That is the package that we benefited from using IDA funding. As far as the partnership with IDA, of course, as I’ve said, it’s unique, it’s multifaceted. We also pay our own part by bringing our own ideas, by stating what we see as particularly important to us. I think that is a model that works, a model where each side contributes, it is not a top-down approach. It is one where everybody’s ideas are put on the table, reviewed, examined, and we make sure at the end of the day that two things happen: that IDA funding is used in a way that aligns with national priorities; and more and more, we get funding that is affordable, that is appropriate, that is long term, and that it comes at scale and also in a timely manner, at scale and affordable. Those are major elements and major features of IDA funding, which is of tremendous benefit.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you very much, Minister. So, the Minister touched on the partnership that the country has with the IDA program. And partnership is one of IDA’s unique strengths. It brings together donors, clients, the private sector, civil society, and multilateral development banks in global solidarity. So, today, it’s a great honor to have some of these partners join us as our panel of experts to share their perspectives. We are joined by Daiho Fujii. Daiho is the Deputy Vice Minister for International Tax Policy at the Ministry of Finance in Japan, and was also a former IDA Deputy. We have Hans Olav Kvalvaag, who is the CEO of Scatec, which is a leading renewable energy solutions provider. We have Kalpana Kochhar, who is the Director for Development Policy and Finance at the Gates Foundation. Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, who is the CEO of the ONE Campaign, and Paloma Anos Casero, who is the Director of IDA Resource Mobilization at the World Bank Group. Thank you all very much for joining us today. So, Paloma, I’d like to start with you. IDA20 spanned a period of pandemic, war, economic turmoil, and fiscal and debt crisis. What are the biggest lessons the Bank learned about how to deliver development impact during an unprecedented crisis?

[Paloma Anos Casero]
Thank you. Very nice to be with you today. Thank you for this great question. I’m going to run through seven key lessons and our view in response to this question. It goes from IDA20 lessons for greater impact, now and beyond. So, the first one would be how to stretch further, how to maintain agility and flexibility at times of unprecedented shocks, as you mentioned. So, IDA20 did deliver results with unprecedented agility and scale, and it demonstrated its value as a platform for global solidarity and financial efficiency. It did deliver, as our speakers have mentioned, a massive surge response, thanks to a combination of generosity of donors and IDA financial innovations and critical partnerships. And the total envelope, as Gallina had mentioned, reached a record financing of 97.4 billion dollars. Now, these resources helped countries restore human capital after losses during so many shocks. It advanced digital transformation, catalyzed private investment, and supported climate action and resilient development, as well as reforms that supported gender equality, governance, debt transparency, and corporate sector management. So, the lesson learned is how to continue to balance emergency search for crisis response that is timely and agile while protecting development progress in very challenging markets and fragile economies, combining the strengths of country-led delivery, financing innovations, and partnerships. The second lesson is how to maintain the agenda of simplification for IDA clients. IDA must continue to make efforts to be simpler, faster, and more efficient, to respond and deliver to clients, and focus on implementation and results, and ultimately impact, development impact. And so, that’s what IDA20 started, and the lesson learned is also picked up in IDA21. The angle is really to continue responding by simplifying policy actions, and also focusing on more outcome-oriented tracking and aligning with the new World Bank Group Scorecard. So, simplification, it’s also the name of the game to allow countries to achieve results. The third lesson is the jobs agenda. So, the jobs agenda is critical because it really enables people to earn a dignified living, to support economic growth, and to provide a path out of poverty. If you look at IDA20, and if you see the cumulative results all the way to IDA20, 88 million people did benefit from job-focused interventions. Now, what is the challenge and the lesson? It’s that IDA countries today have only 28% of workers with waged jobs. And yet, when we look at the working age population in IDA countries, it’s projected to double by 2050. This underscores the criticality of the jobs agenda and the need to increase the availability of the jobs, ensuring that youth and women can also access them. Another lesson that is important that we also learned from IDA20 is how to stay the course as a One World Bank Group to boost private investment. So, the private sector accounts for 96% of employment in IDA countries. That keeps the magnitude of the challenge. IDA20 helped promote private sector investments.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Paloma, I’m going to ask you to move a little bit faster for me, please.

[Paloma Anos Casero]
Yes. To the risk in investments and also to provide technical expertise to unlock challenging markets. So, this is another important lesson. The other lesson that we have is ensuring that we deliver in the most fragile environments. IDA20 delivered 40% of resources to fragile environments. And the challenge ahead is that we see 60% of the world’s poor will live in these environments. And the final lesson that we learned is how to expand the global coalition for IDA, given that we see continuing rising needs in client countries, donor partners facing constraints, and that requires continued innovation. Over. Thank you.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you, Paloma. Sorry to make you rush. I want to hear all the wonderful inputs from everybody. Kalpana, the Gates Foundation navigates three key development areas: health systems, agricultural development, and poverty alleviation. And I know you are a great partner of IDA. So, IDA helped countries to navigate a polycrisis that took a toll on these sectors, that and the toll is still ongoing. What do you think IDA did well? And what is one key question you would like to take into IDA 2022?

[Kalpana Kochhar]
Thank you, Mavis, and thank you all from the World Bank for having me on this program. Yes, I won’t repeat what many of the other speakers have said before about the difficulties facing developing countries, but just to say, it is hard to exaggerate the challenges of the last five years that these countries have faced, particularly in Africa, but all low-income countries. So, in that context, IDA did three things particularly well. One, it moved quickly and at scale. The front loading of resources during COVID helped countries maintain essential services and avoid even deeper reversals in poverty and human capital development. Second, IDA helped countries pivot from emergency responses towards health systems’ resilience. So, beyond financing vaccines and oxygen supplies during COVID, IDA supported stronger primary health care systems, including community health worker programs in countries like Ethiopia and DRC, investments in surveillance, lab networks, and data systems. These are not just crisis tools. They are the backbone of routine immunization, M&C, maternal and child health, and preparedness for the next shock. And third, IDA stayed engaged on debt sustainability and fiscal reform. Its work on debt transparency, public financial management, and prioritization of high impact spending has helped, it has really been essential in helping countries navigate these severe fiscal constraints. Looking ahead to IDA22, the key question is, how can IDA help countries maintain investments in people in the face not only of fiscal constraints and of aid cuts, but really in the new age of development cooperation, where aid cuts, there’s a much sharper focus on graduation, we are seeing some of that happening as we speak, and a much greater focus, actually a welcome focus, by countries in Africa, especially, on moving faster towards sovereignty. So, for me, I think IDA22, the key question is, how can IDA really transform how it operates in these countries, keeping in mind that the development cooperation framework has completely shifted and probably permanently shifted. Just talking about the aid cuts, they fall in disproportionately on low-income countries, particularly in health and education. I think IDA needs to play a central role in helping countries manage these pressures, which ultimately drives a longer-term growth and poverty reduction, but with an eye to this new development co-operation landscape and a much greater urgency for low-income countries to move to greater sovereignty in their own development journey. Over.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you, Kalpana. I fully agree with you. It’s an excellent question. How does IDA position itself in the future of development co-operation and remain relevant and continue to have a huge impact? Now, Libérat, I’d like to come to you. We’ve heard both Kalpana and Paloma talk about the flexibility and nimbleness of IDA. Now, you lived through IDA20 and represent not just Burundi, but borrowers across your region. What do you think that flexibility and agility actually mean on the ground? And what would you like to see different in IDA 2022? Libérat, can you unmute? We can’t hear you, sir.

[Libérat Mfumukeko]
Yes, can you hear me now? Hello?

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Yes, we can hear you clearly. Please, go ahead.

[Libérat Mfumukeko]
Okay. Well, I guess you allow me again to really present my deepest gratitude for what IDA has been doing in the region. I think that would be really my first statement, because IDA has done a lot. So much so that I can actually not even talk about everything. But for you to know, IDA still remains the principal source of funding for most of the countries in my region, which is basically East Africa. Now, IDA was very flexible. If we go back to the pandemic period, IDA was basically one of the first developing partners to respond. And for some of the countries, we know it was absolutely impossible for them to respond without that fast response from IDA, and that is the case for Burundi. Now, IDA, I mean, overall has been, I would say, very smart in understanding what the countries in this region need. Not only focusing on emergency response, but also actually investing in all the critical sectors which can allow future economic and social development. Now, just to be very brief, I can tell you that within our community, which is the East African Community, we have been really trying to see how we can have an integrated market, how we can actually help landlocked countries to have access to the ocean. And many programs were actually able to be achieved because IDA was there. Now, billions were invested in the Northern Corridor, for example, which crosses many countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and a lot of resources have also been invested in the Central Corridor. Now, basically, you can go from Rwanda to Mombasa. You can go from Burundi to Dar es Salaam.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
I think we’ve lost Libérat, so why don’t I move? I’ll come back to him when he’s back. What I’d like to do now is, Daiho, Japan has been a steadfast IDA partner for decades and was instrumental during IDA20’s overlapping crisis. Looking at the results and approach, did IDA live up to the expectations for reaching the world’s poorest as far as you see? And what will you be pushing for in IDA 2022?

[Daiho Fujii]
Thank you, Mavis. Can you hear me?

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Yes, I can.

[Daiho Fujii]
Yes. Okay, so good evening from Tokyo. On behalf of all IDA deputies, I am very honored to be participating in this important event to celebrate the launch of the IDA20 Retrospective Report. IDA has been playing the central role in international development. IDA20 was an unprecedented journey against the global polycrisis, including the COVID-19. I’d like to first emphasize that IDA20 demonstrated great solidarity of IDA stakeholders, donors, clients, IDA management, and civil societies, and delivered 97.5 billion. IDA has been instrumental in providing not only concessional resources, but also strong comprehensive policy framework. In response to the crisis, the IDA20 policy framework appropriately focused on the immediate challenges of agility, resilience, and scale, especially health, social safety nets, disaster risk management, and FCV issues, while also aiming at long-term development agenda such as jobs, debt, and governance. IDA20 also has a great results framework. IDA20 successfully minimized the negative impacts from the crisis and maintained development momentum and path. Based on IDA20, IDA21 replenishment, which I joined as IDA deputy, made further innovation of policy framework and results framework, including IDA21 Scorecard and Bento Boxes. Now, let me briefly share some of my expectations for future discussion towards IDA22. The key questions are regarding achieving a country-led development, keeping investments in future, and how IDA and its partnerships can promote sustainable country-led efforts. Three points. First, domestic resource mobilization and debt sustainability. Fiscal management is not just to secure necessary resources for public service and investments, rather the foundation of public institutions, social contracts, and trust from the people. Second, private capital mobilization. This is not new. Rather, how to mobilize PCM and achieving the best mix of DRM, international assistance, and PCM is becoming more critical. Third, refining clearer outcome goals in the IDA Scorecard with evidence-based monitoring, and a continued enhancement of stakeholders’ partnership. Finally, I’d like to say that Aki has always been the anchor of the IDA journey. He has been the DFI Vice President, IDA19, pre-COVID, IDA20, during COVID, and IDA21, post-COVID. With a continued challenge ahead before us, I encourage Aki to remain the anchor in the IDA family towards IDA21 MTL later this year and beyond. Thank you very much.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you, Daiho. And I think at this point, we are all celebrating your suggestion that Aki stays on. Aki, I hope you heard that message. Hans, Scatec operates in some of the world’s most challenging markets. Many of them are IDA countries. Now, we know that the IDA20 window played a really big role in a private sector-led approach where energy needs are dire. How did IDA20 create an enabling environment for a business like yours? And how do you think IDA22 could do even better? Can I please ask you to stick to two minutes? Thank you.

[Hans Olav Kvalvaag]
Thank you. First of all, I’d like to say that we do not only focus on FCS countries, rather the opposite, actually. We are the largest African developer of solar and batteries, but primarily maybe in South Africa and in Egypt. But we really wanted to also do something for the FCS countries and made this co-operation, we’re calling it a partnership, with the World Bank Group called Release, where we are focusing on offering solar and batteries for the least developed countries. And the goal is obviously to provide affordable or reliable power and reduce dependency on expenses. We’ve signed contracts since… Lately, we have operational plants in Cameroon, in Liberia. We’ve signed contracts in Chad, in Sierra Leone, in São Tomé, and also operating and looking at many other countries. The cooperation we have with the World Bank Group and IDA… The primary part of it is the guarantee that is issued by the IDA PSW structure, which is a prerequisite for us to be able to go in with the offering and the simplified solution that we are providing for large scale projects to the utilities in these countries. We believe that the private sector is going to be instrumental to offer energy at scale, even if IDA22 is becoming even bigger than it is today. I think that this is the part where we see that there is a massive role in incentivizing also the private sector to come in. It is through this guaranteed solution. We really appreciate the setup as it works. I guess I have the opportunity now to talk about a wish from the private sector is for the IDA programs for 2022, I would say that it is to maybe distinguish a bit more between what is identified programs that are going directly from IDA and what are programs that are meant to be private sector funded and supported by the IDA PSW, because I think there’s a lot from the beneficiary sides, and there’s a lot of confusion, and it’s hard to distinguish. Sometimes, we, as the private sector, are competing against IDA-funded solutions, and that should not be the case. We should have clarity on this, because we need predictability for us to come in. And so, that’s a point I would make here. Thank you.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you so much, Hans. And that is a really important point, distinguishing the role of IDA in business so that IDA doesn’t crowd out the private sector, but complements it. And this takes me to you, Ndidi. IDA is committed to strengthening its accountability and transparency mechanisms. And civil society has a very important role to play in holding IDA accountable for that. Now, one holds development institutions accountable. So, looking at IDA20’s track record, 88% of commitments were achieved, 122 million were reached through safety nets, tens of millions were supported into jobs. How do you score IDA’s performance? A, A+ or a D? Has it done well, but not sufficient? Thank you so much.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
And what more could it do?

[Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli]
Thank you so much, Mavis. It’s always hard to come after such great speakers. So, thank you to all of you for your great insight and for your commitment. Clearly, we are big fans of IDA, and that’s why we have continued to champion IDA. I personally was a champion for IDA21. Like you said, we looked across the track record, 88% of commitments achieved, 122 million reached through safety nets. So, good on face value, I would say I would give it a B+ because obviously, there’s always room for improvement. We actually went around before we started championing IDA21 to visit different African leaders and see what was going on the ground. And we spoke to seven African governments, and they were all really positive that IDA had made a huge difference. And we’ve heard some of that resonated in the videos today. So, on face value and from the ground, very positive feedback. I also want to commend Aki and the team for actively engaging civil society and hearing from civil society voices. Now, when we dig deeper, though, we see opportunities for improvement. When we look at IDA20, for example, which was designed to address overlapping crises, COVID-19, climate impact, food and energy shocks, one area that was underutilized was the catastrophe deferred drawdown funds. This could have been, and should have been really helpful for countries at a time when they needed it the most. But many countries lack adequate disaster risk frameworks or technical capacity to meet the policy preconditions. Going forward, we’d like to see IDA do a little more to prepare countries to take advantage of this because some of the debt distress we are seeing today, and the high levels, and many of our countries crippled at this moment are linked to the fact that they were not able to push on those effects. And so, this is key. And I think some of my colleagues have addressed this. We also would love to see a greater youth voice. And I know this is a commitment that the World Bank and Aki and the team have made. And we champion and we’re excited that we created this IDA Youth Champions Circle, and we really want to see it maximized in the next cycle because the youth voice is critical in continents like Africa, where 70% of our population is under 35. We need their voices because this is their future. They have to be at the forefront of designing it. Finally, to build on the last two comments from both Daiho and Hans, I really believe we need to bring the African private sector along. When we think about the private sector, oftentimes we are thinking about not private sector organizations, the African private sector is vibrant. The bilateral agencies, the regional banks all have to play a role, and we cannot edge them out, and they have to be part of this puzzle. For me, I want to underscore that. Finally, the agency, and I know I pushed many of you at the World Bank, we need a stronger African voice at the highest levels of the Bank. We have been talking to a lot of deputies and others about the fact that we only have three seats at the World Bank. I think as we think about IDA22, the voice of Africa at the Bank at the highest levels and at the leadership levels is key. And we cannot just champion IDA for Africa without seeing ownership at the Bank fighting alongside us. Thank you.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you very much, Ndidi. And I think your point really builds on how IDA supports the evolving priorities of Africa. At this point, I’d like to hear from the audience. I have so many follow-up questions, but I’m not going to be selfish. I’m going to hand it over to the audience now. And the first up is Ajay Yadav from Nepal.

[Ajay Yadav]
Namaste. My name is Ajay Yadav. I’m an educator based in Nepal, helping young people to enhance their critical thinking and innovation-related skills. With the rise of artificial intelligence, traditional career pathways are being disrupted continuously. In this context, how is IDA22 planning to equip youth, especially in developing countries, to thrive in this changing situation? Thank you.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you very much, Yadav. So, Hans, I’d like to pass over to you for 30 seconds to a minute and Paloma afterwards.

[Hans Olav Kvalvaag]
Well, it’s fair to say that I’m contributing with energy and providing power in Africa and also elsewhere. I’m not an expert on artificial intelligence. I also have four kids at home that are, well, the same age as the one that raised the question that I think have exactly the same question as him. What are we going to do? I think there will be jobs out there eventually, but this is, I think, a global question. I think from what I can contribute, which is obviously providing affordable and reliable energy, any job creation cannot happen in darkness. That’s my contribution. We need energy, electricity for any value creation. We provide direct jobs, obviously, during the construction of our plants. We use 200 to 300 local people to support and build the constructive plans that we are doing. But the indirect effects and value, job creation of having energy is the most important thing. We’ve seen that in Cameroon, where we have some operational plants, 36 megawatts and the same on the storage sites, where we see that suddenly power is on and SMEs are prospering, and the cement plant that has been running on half a capacity is now on full capacity. So that’s my contribution. On artificial, I don’t know.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thanks, Hans. Okay. Paloma, can you help us? I agree with you, Hans. Reliable, stable energy is critical. Paloma.

[Paloma Anos Casero]
Thank you. And I just wanted to comment that leveraging connectivity issues today really points to the challenge that we have at hand. And it goes right to your question. I think it’s important to think about connectivity as well as the AI skills and enabling environment. So, a few thoughts. One is, if you think about a concrete example, we have a successful example in Ghana called RORI, which is an AI math tutor that you can access just through your WhatsApp. It costs very little, 5 dollars per student in a year, and it delivers personalized practice, which results in additional years’ worth of learning games. Now, what is the foundation for that kind of successful engagement on AI? We need the readiness. We need electricity, as Hans mentioned. We need computer power. But very importantly, we also need data and skills. And so, the idea is, how can we support connectivity and allow people, governments and enterprises to digitally enable services in a secure manner, to leverage AI for jobs and for growth? So that’s the challenge, and that’s why they’re very much focused also on IDA21 and what goes to IDA22 is to support countries to access AI with an angle to support youth.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you very much, Hans and then, Paloma. And, Ajay, I hope we’ve answered your question. So, I’d like to now move to Hassana. Sorry?

[Libérat Mfumukeko]
Yes, I just want to tell you--

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
I’d like to move to Hassana in Nigeria.

[Libérat Mfumukeko]
I have been back for some time.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Oh, Libérat, I’ll come to you in a minute.

[Libérat Mfumukeko]
Okay.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
c So, Hassana, over to you.

[Hassana Maina]
My name is Hassana. I’m from Nigeria, and I run an organization that works on ending sexual violence. IDA20 happened during a time of rising conflict and fragility. I’m curious, what were the lessons learned, and how will those lessons inform what will be done differently for IDA22?

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you, Hassana. So, Libérat, I’d love to start and give this question to you first. And whilst you are answering Hassana, also give us your views on what IDA22 should do differently within the minute, please.

[Libérat Mfumukeko]
Well, I’m sure you heard me actually praising the work that IDA has been doing in this region. I didn’t finish, of course, but even if we got disconnected, let me point out the fact that IDA has been very critical in the digital transformation in this region. As an example, the first backbone system in Burundi was financed by IDA. And across East Africa, more than 600 million dollars have been invested in actually deploying fiber optic networks. Actually, the Internet is working much better than it used to thanks to IDA. Now, I’m not sure I really understood well the question of this lady. Can you please clarify a little bit?

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
So, she wanted to know what lessons have been learned from IDA20 that will ensure that things are done differently for IDA 2022?

[Libérat Mfumukeko]
Well, I think we have to go back to some of the recommendations which have been made in terms of basically trying to increase the funding because the countries we are talking about here, in this region, are facing very important financial constraints. So, of course, most of the country feels that the World Bank and other development partners could do more so that we achieve our project faster. So basically, the call for more funding remains there.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
That’s excellent. I’m going to move to Daiho very quickly because we’re running out of time. So, I agree with the call for more funding. Thank you very much. Daiho, any input onto Hassana’s questions? 30 seconds.

[Daiho Fujii]
Thank you. So again, I would say that flexibility and partnership are key. And on the policy side, IDA20 emphasized that the importance of crisis preparedness and also cross-cutting things like climate and others. I think that such a cross-cutting lens is very important in policy. It’s to be flexible in any actions and also strong partnership and increasing the donor basis to mobilize the donor resources. Then this could be mobilized for the private sector and domestic resource mobilization. Those kinds of combinations will be the key for the sustainable growth in the developing countries. Thank you.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Excellent. Thank you so much, Daiho. Now, I promised Chimwemwe that we were going to take their questions. So very quickly, Chimwemwe, could you ask your question?

[Chimwemwe John Paul Manyozo]
I am Dr. Chimwemwe Manyozo, IDA Champion for Youth from Malawi. My question is around youth participation and youth empowerment. What are some of the lessons that (you) have been able to learn in terms of youth participation and youth empowerment in IDA20? And what are the plans to carry some of those lessons forward in IDA22? Thank you.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you. Ndidi, I’d like you to help us with this as it touches on one of the three points.

[Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli]
Thank you. Yes, definitely. Youth are so critical, and I would love to see more youth voices engaging in the design process, the tracking and monitoring process, and the implementation. It’s beyond having this Youth Champions Network across the board. With the private sector engagement, we have youth-led businesses. They have to be at the table. The public sector engagement, we have young people in government. They must be at the table. Even at the World Bank, your young people, the young professionals need to be at the table across the board, it’s not just packing it with the IDA Youth Champions. I think youth, just like gender, need to be a visible and integrated part of everything we do with IDA22, and will increase our chances of success, but more importantly, ownership for results.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you so much, Ndidi. Kalpana, anything you’d like to add to that?

[Kalpana Kochhar]
Yes, Mavis. Very quickly, two things. Youth empowerment, for me, is no different from investments in human capital. So, IDA20 reinforced the importance of this, as I mentioned earlier, but we need to continue that. If young people aren’t healthy, if they don’t master basic literacy and numeracy, this demographic dividend just isn’t going to materialize. Second, the jobs agenda is equally critical. Aki mentioned it. IDA20 underscored that youth aspirations depend on access to productive employment, whether it’s in agriculture, small enterprises, participation in the growing sectors, skills, connectivity, access to finance. For me, looking towards IDA22, the opportunity is to better connect these two agendas, ensuring that investments in health and learning are aligned with countries’ strategies for job creation and economic transformation in a much more deliberate and purposeful way. Over.

[Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi]
Thank you. Thank you all so much for that insightful discussion. I feel like we need another hour. You have so much wisdom that we haven’t touched on. So, thank you. As we move into IDA21 and begin preparations for IDA 2022, the focus is clear. From what we’ve heard today, IDA must focus its emphasis on tangible results. This includes supporting evidence-based policies, stronger public finance systems, quality public services, a just sustainable economic transformation, engagement with the youth, and ensuring that it is facilitating private sector engagement, not crowding it out. We must remove all the unnecessary burdens on countries, and also, as Ndidi said, build country capacity so that borrowers can utilize both lines effectively. We need more private sector investment, and we need many more jobs. I know this is a priority for the Bank, but sitting where I am sitting, it is a priority for the continent. At the time when growing pressure on global aid and high debt means fiscal space is crowded, IDA represents a continued commitment to multilateral partnerships that can demonstrate that development finance, effectively applied, can help realize our shared global future. So, I’d like to say thank you to all of our speakers and all of our panelists for their great insights, and to all of you online for joining us today. I hope you found this conversation as stimulating as I did. And Aki, please stay. We have a call to action to keep you, so please stay. So, colleagues, please continue this conversation. It is a critical conversation. Continue it online and share with us all your thoughts using the hashtag #IDAworks. We look forward to hearing from all of you. Have a wonderful day, and thank you very much for allowing me to be your host today. We have finished.

[Daiho Fujii]
Thank you, Mavis!