The pressure on developing economies to find more money for infrastructure, businesses and jobs is growing, with public finances unable to meet the scale of investment required.
That is putting greater emphasis on private investors and on the ability of development institutions to make projects in emerging markets attractive enough for commercial capital.
The World Bank Group says it mobilised a record $112 billion in private capital in fiscal year 2026, more than three times the $35 billion mobilised in FY2022.
Together with the Group’s own financing, more than $200 billion was provided or mobilised for developing economies during the year.
Africa was among the regions where mobilisation increased sharply, rising from about $9 billion in FY2022 to $22 billion in FY2026, an increase of nearly 150 percent.
The figures come as developing economies face a difficult employment challenge. The World Bank estimates that 1.2 billion young people will enter working age in developing economies over the next 10 to 15 years, compared with about 420 million jobs expected to be created.
With the private sector responsible for nine out of every 10 jobs in developing economies, investment by businesses is expected to remain central to efforts to expand employment.
Guarantees used to attract investors
The World Bank Group is increasingly using guarantees to help bring private investors into developing markets.
It issued more than $25 billion in guarantees during FY2026, exceeding its target of $20 billion in annual issuance by 2030.
The World Bank Group Guarantee Platform, created in 2024, brings guarantee products from across the institution together under one platform.
The guarantees are intended to address some of the risks investors face when putting money into developing economies.
The Group has also expanded local-currency financing and equity instruments and is working on ways to address foreign-exchange constraints.
Investment concentrated in key sectors
The World Bank Group said 55 percent of its total financing and mobilised capital in FY2026 went into five sectors: infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism and value-added manufacturing.
These areas are among those with potential to support both investment and employment.
For African economies, where infrastructure gaps remain a constraint on business activity, increased private investment could provide additional financing for projects that governments may struggle to fund on their own.
Low-income countries still struggle to attract capital
The increase in private capital has not been evenly spread across income groups.
Mobilisation for lower-middle-income countries rose from $14 billion in FY2022 to $37 billion in FY2026, while upper-middle-income countries recorded an increase from $12 billion to $50 billion.
For low-income countries, mobilisation remained at around $3 billion.
The relatively small figure highlights the difficulty of attracting commercial investors into poorer economies, where perceived risks can make projects harder to finance.
The World Bank Group has therefore been working on ways to reduce those barriers, including regulatory reforms, guarantees, local-currency financing and other forms of risk-sharing.
Seeking larger pools of investors
The Group is also looking beyond traditional development finance through its originate-to-distribute initiative.
The programme is intended to package investments in developing economies in ways that can attract institutional investors and connect projects with larger pools of long-term capital.
That could broaden the sources of financing available to developing economies and reduce reliance on government budgets and development-bank lending.
World Bank Group President Ajay Banga said the institution would continue removing barriers to investment and expanding the number of investors able to participate in developing economies.
For developing countries, the significance of the record mobilisation will ultimately depend on where the money goes and what it finances.
If more private capital reaches infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, agriculture and other productive sectors, it could help businesses expand and create jobs. The challenge remains making that investment work in the countries where private capital has been hardest to attract.
