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World Bank Group President Ajay Banga has warned that developing countries face a projected shortfall of about 800 million jobs over the next 10 to 15 years, as 1.2 billion young people enter labour markets expected to create only about 400 million jobs.
Speaking at the 2026 IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings plenary in Bangkok on Friday, Banga said the demographic challenge coincided with tighter fiscal space, rising debt, persistent conflicts and high costs of essentials such as energy and fertiliser.
“Those are the twin challenges we have been working to address: making scarce resources go further, while helping countries create jobs at scale. They must be addressed together,” he said.
Banga argued that the future of development would depend on combining public finance, private investment, philanthropy and technology around each country’s needs. “The partnership—and mix—should evolve as countries do,” he said.
Reforms and financing
The World Bank president said reforms over the past three years had cut project preparation time from 19 months to nine, replaced 153 scorecard measures with 22 impact-focused indicators, and created more than $100 billion in additional International Bank for Reconstruction and Development lending capacity over a decade.
He disclosed that the Bank mobilised about $112 billion in private capital last year, up from roughly $35 billion in fiscal 2022, while total financing exceeded $230 billion. Private-capital mobilisation more than doubled across Africa, although it remained at about $3 billion in low-income countries.
“More countries are attracting investment. More are supplying it,” Banga said, noting that investors from 110 countries participated in the Bank’s mobilisation last year.
Jobs-first agenda
Banga said the Bank’s jobs strategy rests on physical and human infrastructure, regulatory certainty, and scale. Last year, it committed $40 billion—nearly one-third of its financing—to electricity, water, transport, digital connectivity, health, education and skills.
He also emphasised support for micro, small and medium enterprises, especially in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
“In low-income countries, where attracting commercial capital remains hardest, mobilisation held at roughly $3 billion,” he said. “The path to the poorest and most fragile economies runs through their small businesses.”
On technology, Banga said practical “small AI” could help farmers raise yields, teachers tailor learning and health workers make better decisions, provided countries invest in power, connectivity, devices and safeguards.
Africa and energy
For Africa, Banga highlighted Mission 300, a partnership with the African Development Bank to connect 300 million people to electricity by 2030. So far, 59 million people have gained access, with annual connections rising from 12 million in fiscal 2024 to 28 million last year.
He said the Bank would pursue a balanced energy mix, including renewables, hydro, gas where appropriate, nuclear where feasible, transmission, grids and storage.
“Homes, mines, factories, farms, and growing cities need reliable, affordable baseload power,” he said.
Banga also announced plans to quintuple the World Bank’s critical-minerals business within five years, with country compacts designed to build local industries and retain more jobs and value in producer countries.
‘A job is dignity’
Concluding his address, Banga said the jobs gap was not inevitable. “The jobs gap is a projection. It does not have to be our future,” he declared.
“A job is not a statistic. A job is dignity,” he added. “It is the difference between a young person who can build a future… and a young person awaiting one.”
He called for public money where markets cannot yet reach, private capital where it can create jobs and scale, philanthropy to take early risks, and technology to make every dollar go further. “Let us build,” Banga said.
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