World faces 800 million jobs gap: Ajay Banga

Washington, October 16 (IANS) The world faces a staggering shortfall of nearly 800 million jobs over the next 10 to 15 years, World Bank President Ajay Banga has warned, calling for a fundamental shift in global development financing to create employment opportunities for a rapidly growing young population.In his address to the World Bank Group's 2026 Annual Meeting plenary in Bangkok, Banga said about 1.2 billion young people would enter the global workforce over the next decade and a half, while only 400 million jobs were projected to become available."The jobs gap is a projection. It does not have to be our future," Banga said, outlining an ambitious strategy to combine public finance, private investment, philanthropy and technology to accelerate economic development.He warned that persistent conflicts, mounting debt burdens, shrinking fiscal space and high energy and fertiliser costs were making the challenge more difficult for developing economies.Banga said the World Bank had undertaken sweeping institutional reforms since he assumed office in June 2023, aimed at increasing lending capacity, reducing bureaucracy and mobilising private capital.Project preparation time had been reduced from 19 months to nine months, while the institution's performance indicators were cut from 153 to 22.The reforms had also created more than $100 billion in additional lending capacity for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development over a decade.Private capital mobilisation had risen from approximately $35 billion in fiscal 2022 to $112 billion last year, a threefold increase. Combined with the World Bank Group's own financing, total financing exceeded $230 billion.India emerged among the leading sources of private investment mobilised by the institution."Last year, we mobilised capital from investors in 110 countries. The United States, United Kingdom, and India led the way," Banga said.However, attracting commercial investment to the poorest countries remained difficult. Private capital mobilisation in low-income economies had remained around $3 billion.Banga said the institution was placing greater emphasis on micro, small and medium enterprises, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected economies where large companies often had limited operations.The institution committed $40 billion last year to infrastructure, healthcare, education and skills development, while 30 per cent of its public-sector financing supported policy and institutional reforms.Banga also highlighted artificial intelligence as an emerging development tool.While advanced AI systems require expensive computing infrastructure and specialised expertise, smaller applications could help farmers improve productivity, teachers personalise instruction and entrepreneurs reach new markets.On energy, he said 59 million Africans had gained electricity access under Mission 300, which aims to connect 300 million people by 2030.The World Bank also plans to increase its critical minerals business fivefold within five years, supporting local industries and employment generation.Banga announced efforts by six multilateral development banks to standardise the packaging and transfer of investments, allowing institutional investors to finance existing projects and freeing development bank capital for new projects.