Private Sector

How can countries improve their business environment? Learn more about the new data shaping the future of global business.

How can we attract more private sector investment in developing countries?  

The World Bank’s new framework “Scaling Up to Phase Down” maps out a 6-step virtuous cycle to help these countries overcome critical barriers that are paralyzing their energy transition and catalyze investments.

Meeting urgent climate and sustainability goals may be the biggest challenge of our generation. How can we transform global supply chains to help meet these goals, and to better protect the environment, workers, and communities? Join the live discussion on April 14, 2023.

The financial services industry is undergoing a technological transformation, ushering in a new era of financial products, business models, markets, and even money. How can the industry and policymakers foster responsible innovation to improve financial inclusion and efficiency, while mitigating new risks?

This event, organized in collaboration with Morocco’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, underscores the role that women can play in unleashing the future of jobs as economies undergo structural transformation and the green transition. It brings together policy makers and thought leaders to facilitate knowledge exchange and inspire actions to accelerate equality and put women at the front and center of policy and resource decisions.

World Bank Group President David Malpass sat down with Adam Posen, President of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, to discuss the rapidly changing global trade landscape, reshoring, and the risks and opportunities for developing countries.

How can governments translate their climate goals and commitments into viable, bankable projects? What are the challenges and opportunities that both governments and the private sector face? 

This event will focus on the progress made to date on IFC’s mobilization platforms, including MCPP One Planet, SEED, and REGIO, as well as the next generation under development. 

The objective of this panel discussion is to explore the blue economy—how it is defined, what it encompasses, and what/where is driving the demand. 

This interactive, high-level panel will share successful climate finance investment instruments in Africa’s private sector banks, while highlighting the important role regulators play in greening the financial sector. 

Livestreamed event on female entrepreneurs working in male-dominated sectors, policies and programs that reduce sector-based gender gaps for women.

This event highlights the various roles that cities can play in addressing climate change: as regulators, project sponsors, fundraisers of capital, overseers of multi-connected systems, and as partners with the private sector, leveraging their relationship for green standards, innovation, technical expertise, and green finance.

Joins us to discuss how nature loss is an economic and development issue, and how it is linked to climate change, as well as pathways to undertake both nature and climate-smart development in the future, including through expanding our economic toolkit beyond GDP to account for the wealth provided by nature.

Global leaders, activists, and investors gathered Thursday to discuss the power of infrastructure and the critical role it plays in connecting people to opportunity. Through a series of TED-style talks, speakers shared compelling examples of how regional integration, investment and innovation in infrastructure have worked to deliver better outcomes for communities and countries.  Panelists reflected on the examples shared and discussed priorities for bridging the infrastructure gap, including greater accessibility, more and better data, innovative financing vehicles, and expanded partnerships.

Watch live to hear global leaders discuss how the power of partnerships can achieve the sustainable development goals of 2030, and the crucial role that the private sector plays in the development equation. Learn how multilateral development institutions, like the World Bank Group, governments, and development stakeholders can effectively work with the private sector to secure sustainable private sector solutions and finance to make the SDGs a reality for all.

IFC launches impact investing principles   Sixty global investors came together to adopt the Operating Principles for Impact Management—a new market standard for impact investing in which investors seek to deliver measurable, positive impact for society alongside financial returns. The Principles bring greater transparency, credibility, and discipline to the impact investing market, addressing concerns about “impact-washing.” IFC developed the Principles in collaboration with leading asset managers, asset owners, asset allocators, development banks, and financial institutions, including a three-month public stakeholder consultation. Impact investing represents a significant opportunity to mobilize additional resources from the private sector to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate goals. An IFC report launched on April 8 estimates that investor appetite for impact investing is as high as $26 trillion. This includes $21 trillion in publicly traded stocks and bonds, and $5 trillion in private equity, non-sovereign private debt, and venture capital.  

On April 11th over 250 people attended the MIGA 2019 Spring Meetings Event: Driving Private Investment to Fragile Settings.  The event discussed the unique challenges countries in fragile settings face in attracting private capital.  The Rikweda Project was showcased as an innovative way MIGA guarantees have mobilized private finance in the agribusiness sector in Afghanistan.  The event opened with a speech from David R. Malpass, the World Bank Group President, followed by a presentation on the Rikweda project, and a panel comprised of: Jacob Jusu Saffa, Minister of Finance, Sierra Leone; Mase Rikweda, CEO, Rikweda Fruit Processing Company; Hartwig Schafer, Vice President, South Asia Region, World Bank and Keiko Honda, Executive Vice President & CEO, MIGA

This is a Facebook Live interview. Watch the replay! As part of our Spring Meetings 2018 Interview Series, we will be talking with Keiko Honda, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), about the work of MIGA and its outlook. 

This is a Facebook Live interview. Watch the replay! As part of our Spring Meetings 2018 Interview Series, we will be talking with Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Founder and CEO, Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism, to discuss how innovative partnerships between the World Bank Group, investors, and governments can lead to win-win financial solutions that help countries meet 21st century aspirations and support sustainable and inclusive growth, while offering investors sound returns.  

Islamic finance has been growing rapidly across the globe. According to a recent report, the Islamic finance market currently stands around $1.9 trillion. With this growth, its application has been extended into many areas—trade, real estate, manufacturing, banking, infrastructure, and more. However, it is still a relatively untapped market for public-private partnership (PPP) financing. A new PPIAF-funded report by the World Bank Group and the Islamic Development Bank Group represents the first systematic effort to capture and disseminate knowledge on deploying Islamic finance for infrastructure PPPs. Our discussion will address how Islamic finance has already been applied in infrastructure projects through PPP schemes, what are the structural challenges and solutions, and what can be done to deepen and maximize the use of Islamic finance for this purpose. To see the detailed agenda, please click here.  Visit Our Partners:  

Want to hear some big ideas on how to #EndPoverty? As part of our Annual Meetings 2017 Interview Series, we will be meeting with Anta Babakar, Executive Director of Sedima, and Nour Al Hassan, Founder and CEO of Tarjama, to discuss how women entrepreneurs play a critical role in economic development. Join us live on Friday, October 13th, 4:00pm. 

On Friday, October 13th, 12:00 pm, find out why partnerships are crucial to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Tune in for the live interview with Jeremy Oppenheim, Program Director, Business and Sustainable Development Commission, and Steve Waygood, Chief Responsible Investment Officer of Aviva Investors, during the World Bank/IMF 2017 Annual Meetings and leave your questions in the comments below.

As part of our Annual Meetings 2017 Interview Series, Kathy Calvin, President and CEO of United Nations Foundation will be speaking with World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva to discuss how working with partners can help build resilience and #EndPoverty by 2030. Join us live on Wednesday, October 11 at 10:45AM. Have a question for Kristalina? Ask in the comments!

As part of the series of interviews during the 2017 Annual Meetings, we will meet with the mayors of the millennium, founder and president of council, to discuss how entrepreneurs can be engines of development in difficult environments. Join us directly on Wednesday, 11 October, at 08:00 a.m. Washington time. Leave your questions in the comments below.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim spoke with Chobani CEO & Tent Foundation Founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, about his mission to rewrite the rules of business to create shared prosperity and help refugees. The session put a spotlight on the issue of forced displacement and the role the private sector can play. He mentioned how little the world of business is involved in tackling the forced displacement issue, adding that the topic of refugees has a branding issue that needs to be fixed. He discussed the need to move beyond typical “corporate social responsibility” programs and use the core business to drive change for refugees. He shared the story of how he first learned about the refugees resettled in the city of Utica in New York state and his efforts to employ refugees – currently a third of the company’s workforce are refugees. Ulukaya also highlighted the need to address income inequality, which he described as "a major issue." Not only ...

With over 1.2 billion people living in countries affected by conflict and instability, promoting the development of a robust private sector is a critical challenge on the global development agenda. In these fragile environments, private enterprises face complex political, regulatory, operational and security-related challenges. IFC is taking a new approach to promoting market growth and opportunity in these areas – expanding its presence on the ground and deploying new financial instruments to stimulate greater investment levels and local currency financing. This session will focus on how private firms operate in conflict-affected contexts, and seek to provide innovative ideas for how the development community can support private enterprise in these markets. 

The need for sustainable and resilient infrastructure is enormous. Some 1.2 billion people in the world don't have access to electricity; At least 663 million people lack access to safe drinking water. About one billion people in low-income countries lack access to an all-weather road – cutting them off from basic health, education, trade, and employment opportunities: more than 4 billion people (60% of the global population, most in developing countries) do not have access to the internet – this is a significant opportunity gap for those without it. Much work is needed to make projects "investor ready" and to develop innovative frameworks to leverage private investment in order to mobilize the trillions of dollars needed to close the infrastructure gap. This event is hosted by the Global Infrastructure Facility, a partnership among governments, multilateral development banks, private sector investors and financiers designed to provide a new way to collaborate on preparing, structuring and implementing complex projects. The seminar will feature high-level panelists who will provide ...

Join Dr. Jim Yong Kim and Professor Michael Porter for an examination of the global context for private sector engagement in helping achieve development outcomes through shared value. This unique conversation will glean insights from Dr. Kim’s visionary leadership of the World Bank and will illuminate the role that the public sector and multilateral donors can play in advancing shared value, as well as opportunities for public-private collaboration. Submit questions for Professor Porter and Dr. Kim using Pigeonhole with the event passcode: SVLEADERS About the Shared Value Leadership Summit The 2016 Shared Value Leadership Summit will feature a series of exciting plenary and lab sessions designed to share insights, celebrate successes and challenge the business community to see the strategic advantage in tackling the world’s most pressing problems. Headline speakers include Jim Kim, President of the World Bank Group; Barbara Bush, CEO and Co-Founder of Global Health Corps and Alan Murray, Managing Editor of Fortune. Related Links: 2016 Shared Value ...

This livestreamed discussion will share perspectives on why civil registries and national identification systems are smart public investments. 

This livestreamed event explores how to facilitate an effective launch of the post-2015 agenda with all partners.

How can economic growth benefit more people? Why and how should the public and private sectors work more closely together to create the conditions for inclusive growth? Join UK Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, and other speakers from the private sector and national governments for a live-streamed discussion of transforming economies to benefit the poor. Participants will talk about their experiences in hugely varying country contexts and identify common factors for success.

Over the next decade, one billion people will enter the job market --the global economy will need to create 5 million jobs each month simply to keep employment rates constant. Securing good jobs for youth is a global priority. This event will unveil a global initiative that addresses the pervasive challenge of youth employment and underemployment. It is closely associated with the World Bank Group’s ambitious goal: to eliminate extreme poverty and to boost shared prosperity for the bottom 40 percent by 2030. For the first time, this partnership will link the relevant actors from different spheres—governments, corporate actors, international organizations and civil society—to generate and share learning about what works, and to leverage this shared understanding through increased investments in proven solutions.

Join World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Japanese entrepreneurs for a dialogue on the challenges and solutions for scaling-up social enterprises.

Over 2.5 billion adults do not have access to quality, affordable financial services, using instead informal methods to save, borrow, and secure their assets. Access to finance also remains a considerable obstacle for small and medium size enterprises, as financial systems remain too underdeveloped to serve their needs. Challenges remain toward building a more inclusive financial sector that can spur economic growth and reduce poverty levels. Join World Bank Group President Kim, H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, Honorary Patron of the G20 GPFI, government ministers, and banking CEOs for a panel on how broader financial inclusion can be achieved through the use of multi-stakeholder partnerships and technology to enable business model innovation. In partnership with the World Economic Forum.