Tag Archives: IDA

Development is security: The case for IDA in an unstable world

Posted on by

Last month, I sat in a room in Lyon, France, alongside President Macron, health ministers, and global leaders for the G7 One Health Summit. One thing kept coming up in the room and across the two-day summit, panel after panel, in the corridors, and over dinner in Lyon and beyond: the link between development and security.

It is a link that I have been thinking about for years, and one that I believe is becoming the defining argument of our time for why development finance matters.

Continue reading →

Why bridging Africa’s skills gap is crucial for growth

Posted on by

Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic promise is clear. It has the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population; by 2050 a quarter of the world’s working-age population will be living in Africa, with vast natural resources, and expanding regional markets. Yet these strengths are undermined by a persistent weakness: the region’s skills gap. 

Continue reading →

Unlocking Futures: How the IDA Private Sector Window Is Creating Jobs Where They Are Needed Most

Posted on by

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • By leveraging IFC and MIGA business platforms, the IDA PSW creates an opportunity for the strategic use of public resources to catalyze private investment, making it possible for companies and industries to operate in high-risk, fragile, and conflict-affected settings.
  • A total of $5.4 billion from the IDA PSW has catalyzed over $31 billion in commercial investments in low-income and fragile countries and is expected to create 3 million jobs, provide 4 million additional loans to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and expand digital connectivity to 31 million subscribers.
  • From agribusiness in Mozambique to telecom infrastructure in West Africa and clean water access in Haiti, IDA PSW-supported investments are building the ecosystems needed to sustain jobs, boost resilience, and spark inclusive economic growth.
Continue reading →

Slovenia Increases Contribution to World Bank’s IDA by 30%

Posted on by

The Radical Debt Transparency report—an update to 2021’s Debt Transparency in Developing Countries—shows that despite significant improvements in recent years, major debt transparency deficiencies continue to plague many developing countries. As the global financing environment tightens, several governments are turning to off-budget and increasingly complex debt instruments such as collateralized loans, private placements, and central bank swaps, that risk giving rise to new hidden debts. Gaps in legislative frameworks, institutional fragmentation, and limited oversight can contribute to debt reporting challenges, as seen in recent experiences. Transparency in debt restructuring processes also remains uneven. This report calls for a radical shift toward debt transparency as critical to debt sustainability, urging legislative reforms, stronger oversight of unconventional debt, broader loan-level reporting, and greater use of automation and reconciliation tools.

REPORT

Small Grants for Big Global Impact

Posted on by

The world faces a collective action problem: countries naturally prioritize domestic investments while global challenges like climate change, pandemics, and food crises demand joint action. This creates systemic underinvestment in global public goods. Join country and development leaders at the 2025 Hamburg Sustainability Conference, as they explore ways to reshape the international finance to unlock transformative solutions. Discover the World Bank’s Framework for Financial Incentives and IDA’s Global and Regional Opportunities Window—innovative mechanisms that reward countries for projects with cross-border benefits. From energy transformation to water management, learn how small grants through the new Livable Planet Fund make big global impact possible.

South Asia’s Development Journey: How IDA is Transforming Lives

Posted on by

For over six decades, the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) has2024-sar-ida-1140x500_1140x500 been a lifeline for low-income countries, providing them with affordable development funding when few other options exist. IDA has helped improve millions of lives and supported development results that have moved countries forward.

Continue reading →

An Open Letter on IDA21 to Our Shareholders, Clients, Partners, and the Global Development Community

Posted on by

Over the past year, we have navigated an incredibly challenging global landscape—one marked by economic uncertainty, rising debt levels, climate shocks, and an ever-pressing need for human development. Yet, amid these challenges, something remarkable has unfolded: a collective effort, driven by the shared belief that we can do better, that we must do better, for the world’s most vulnerable.

Continue reading →

Spain Announces Early Financial Commitment of €400 Million to IDA, a Near 40% Increase in Pledge

Posted on by

Washington, D.C, October 24, 2024 — Spain has announced an early financial commitment of €400 million to the International Development Association, the World Bank’s fund for low-income countries. This is a 37% increase compared to the previous IDA replenishment cycle and underscores Spain’s continued commitment to sustainable development worldwide. This raises Spain’s total contribution to over €5 billion since IDA’s creation.

Continue reading →

Five Ways the World Bank Group Will Achieve “Mission 300”

Posted on by

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Roughly 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity. mission-300-b-780x439
  • The World Bank Group, together with the African Development Bank, has committed to providing access to electricity to 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.  
  • Known as “Mission 300,” this ambitious plan is attracting widespread support.

Continue reading →

Why inclusive finance must be central to the climate response

Posted on by

As we approach the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly and the UN climate change conference COP29, the global climate agenda is being defined by intense discussions around climate finance. But largely missing from this debate is the question of who has access to this funding.

The need to channel climate finance into the hands of those most affected by climate change is well recognized. The issue is at the heart of the loss and damage talks and was central to UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s speech on World Environment Day, where he underscored how it’s “a disgrace that the most vulnerable are…struggling desperately to deal with a climate crisis they did nothing to create,” and argued that “the global financial system must be part of the climate solution.” It has also been key to COP negotiations ever since the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage was established in 2013.

Continue reading →