World Bank Group President, Ajay Banga, on Friday, called for close coordination among countries to manage the expected influx of the younger generation into the global workforce.
Noting that a demographic transformation is unfolding, he said the emerging adults will shape the next century, urging governments and institutions to make sound decisions.
“Over the next 10 to 15 years, 1.2 billion young people will arrive at a job market projected to offer only about 400 million jobs,” Banga said in Thailand at the 2026 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings Plenary.
The World Bank chief remarked that the future of development will depend on bringing public finance, private investment, philanthropy, and technology together around what each country needs.
Banga enumerated efforts over the past three years, including the reduction of project preparation from 19 months to 9, and the replacement of 153 scorecard measures with 22 focused on impact.
He highlighted over $100 billion in additional IBRD lending capacity, the increased co-financing pipeline to about 250 projects in two years, and the Jobs Council’s work to identify effective policies and programs.
Total financing exceeded $230 billion last year, while mobilization nearly tripled in lower-middle-income countries, quadrupled in upper-middle-income countries, and more than doubled across Africa.
Banga confirmed that almost 55 percent of the World Bank financing and private capital mobilized went to sectors such as agribusiness, health, tourism, energy, infrastructure, and manufacturing.
The MSME strategy, he explained, is designed to make firms more visible and funded, using digital records to improve access to finance, link smaller businesses to larger buyers, and simplify the rules.
Banga mentioned initiatives on AI adoption, connectivity, device access, and safeguards, citing the collaboration with the African Development Bank on electricity for 300 million people by 2030, and partnerships on water security for up to one billion people.
He announced a new critical minerals-focused first country compacts with Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to build local industries in 20 nations. Also, six MDBs are developing ways to transfer investments to investors, freeing funds for new projects.
Banga, however, eulogized the founders for establishing the World Bank at the Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire, where delegates from 40 countries gathered amid the war.
“They understood something we must never forget: prosperity is not a prize one nation wins from another,” the president said. “It is a fire that warms every house within reach.”
1.2 billion young people to jostle for 400 million jobs globally – World Bank president