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
Capital Market Development and the FinTech Revolution: Opportunities and Challenges As follow up to the Bali Fintech Agenda, a flagship event of the 2019 Spring Meetings on Thursday, April 11 brought together a panel of fintech experts for a lively conversation on the wide-ranging opportunities and challenges of technological innovation in the capital markets, along with important legal, regulatory and competitive considerations. Shaolin Yang, Managing Director and CAO of the World Bank Group set the scene by highlighting the Bank’s issuance of “Bond-i”—the world’s first legally binding bond operated on a global blockchain platform throughout its life cycle—which enables the Bank to learn firsthand how blockchain can change financial markets and be embraced for development. In introducing the panelists, moderator Tomicah Tillemann, Director of the Blockchain Trust Accelerator at New America, described them as the “dream team of fintech.” Fintech holds huge potential to transform finance and capital markets for the better. The discussion provided insights for policy ...
Leaders grapple with how to make growth work for the poor Mexico’s finance secretary and experts from the private sector, academia, and the World Bank Group held a lively discussion Thursday on Making Growth Work for the Poor. Moderator Melinda Crane, chief political correspondent at Deutsche Welle, asked the panelists to consider questions such as whether there is a tradeoff between boosting growth and reducing poverty and inequality. MIT Professor Esther Duflo responded that we don’t actually know how to make economies grow in a consistent way. World Bank Group Chief Economist Pinelopi Goldberg pointed out that while growth drove China’s immense reduction in poverty, that country also deliberately pursued growth as a means to poverty reduction, and achieved it through careful experimentation. Mexican Finance Secretary Carlos Urzúa highlighted the way different regions of a country can diverge, citing disparities between northern and southern Mexico. Goldberg echoed those concerns, saying that we need to think more ...
Young people are the drivers of Africa’s economy and future. With eleven million youth expected to enter Africa’s labor market every year for the next decade, now is the time for urgent action to build and nurture the region’s human capital. The event focused on the future of Africa’s youth through the lens of inspirational youth leaders, policy makers, and civil society to collectively highlight the challenges, aspirations, and actions taken to help build the human capital of the next generation. It kicked off with a presentation of the “The Future is Me” video showcasing Africa’s youth and the future of the continent, followed by World Bank Vice President for Africa Hafez Ghanem’s announcement of the launch of the ambitious Human Capital Plan for Africa. His Majesty King Letsie III of Lesotho in the keynote address stressed why investments in human capital are essential for long term, sustainable economic growth, and urged everyone to ...
World Bank Group President David Malpass will address the press during the World Bank Group/International Monetary Fund 2019 Spring Meetings. The Spring Meetings are attended by approximately 2,800 delegates from our member countries, 350 observer organization representatives and 800 members of the press. Approximately 550 accredited civil society members also participate in the Meetings. The Meetings and related ancillary events will be held from April 9 - 14, 2019 in Washington, D.C. The meetings are comprised of events open to all attendees, ministerial-level invitation-only sessions, closed bilateral meetings, and events open only to the Press.
