The World Bank Group has mobilised a record $112 billion in private capital for developing economies in 2026, marking a major expansion in efforts to attract private investment into countries facing large financing gaps.
The figure is more than three times the amount recorded four years earlier, when the World Bank Group mobilised about $35 billion in private capital.
The latest increase underscores the growing role of private investment in financing development as governments and international financial institutions struggle to meet rising demands for infrastructure, energy, healthcare, manufacturing and job creation.
According to the World Bank Group, total financing and private capital mobilisation exceeded $200 billion in fiscal year 2026 when its own financing is combined with the private capital attracted through its operations.
The sharp rise reflects a deliberate shift towards using public development finance to unlock significantly larger pools of private investment.
Rather than relying solely on traditional development lending, the World Bank Group has increasingly deployed guarantees, equity instruments, local-currency financing and other mechanisms designed to reduce investment risks and encourage private-sector participation.
DDM News reports that the growth has been particularly pronounced in middle-income developing economies.
Private capital mobilisation in lower-middle-income countries increased from $14 billion in 2022 to $37 billion in 2026.
In upper-middle-income economies, mobilisation rose from $12 billion to $50 billion during the same period.
The figures point to stronger investor participation in markets where businesses and governments are seeking additional funding to expand productive capacity and develop infrastructure.
However, the distribution of private capital remains uneven.
Low-income countries attracted about $3 billion in private capital mobilisation in 2026, roughly the same level recorded four years earlier.
The gap highlights one of the major challenges facing development finance.
While private investors can be attracted to markets where projects have relatively predictable returns and manageable risks, investment becomes more difficult in poorer economies where infrastructure shortages, limited access to finance, foreign-exchange exposure and regulatory challenges can increase the cost and risk of doing business.
Africa nevertheless recorded significant growth.
Private capital mobilisation on the continent increased from approximately $9 billion in 2022 to $22 billion in 2026.
The increase comes at a time when African economies require substantial investment to address infrastructure deficits and support expanding populations.
Investment in electricity, transport, telecommunications, agriculture, manufacturing and healthcare remains critical to improving productivity and creating opportunities for businesses.
The World Bank Group’s increased mobilisation therefore provides another channel through which capital can be directed towards these areas.
A major part of the institution’s strategy has been the expansion of its guarantee business.
The World Bank Group issued more than $25 billion in guarantees during fiscal year 2026, exceeding its $20 billion annual target that had originally been set for 2030.
The achievement came four years ahead of schedule.
Guarantees are designed to help reduce specific risks faced by investors and lenders, potentially making development projects more attractive to private capital.
The World Bank Group has also sought to make it easier for investors to access its various guarantee products through its Guarantee Platform, which was established in 2024.
For developing economies, the significance of this approach extends beyond the amount of money mobilised.
Private capital can provide businesses with funding for expansion, support new infrastructure projects and increase investment in sectors capable of generating employment.
This is particularly important given the scale of the employment challenge confronting developing countries.
The World Bank estimates that around 1.2 billion young people will reach working age in developing economies over the next 10 to 15 years, while only about 420 million jobs are expected to be created.
The disparity means that governments will need significantly higher levels of economic activity and private-sector investment to create employment opportunities for growing working-age populations.
The private sector already accounts for roughly nine out of every 10 jobs in developing economies, making private investment an important component of any strategy aimed at expanding employment.
The World Bank Group has consequently directed a significant share of its financing and mobilisation towards sectors with strong potential for job creation.
In fiscal year 2026, about 55 per cent of the Group’s combined financing and mobilised private capital was directed towards sectors such as infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism and value-added manufacturing.
DDM News notes that the World Bank Group is also looking beyond traditional institutional financing as it seeks to expand the pool of investors participating in developing economies.
Its originate-to-distribute initiative is intended to structure investments in ways that can attract institutional investors with large pools of long-term capital.
These investors include pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers, whose participation could increase the amount of capital available for development projects.
World Bank Group President Ajay Banga has positioned private capital mobilisation as a central part of the institution’s broader effort to increase the impact of its resources.
The strategy is based on the idea that development institutions cannot finance the full scale of investment required in developing economies through their own balance sheets alone.
Public funding can instead be used strategically to help unlock larger amounts of private capital.
The record $112 billion mobilised in 2026 provides evidence of the scale that approach can achieve.
However, the continuing difficulty of attracting private investment into low-income economies shows that the increase in overall mobilisation does not automatically translate into equal access to capital across developing countries.
For governments, the challenge will be to create conditions that can attract sustainable private investment while improving infrastructure, strengthening institutions and reducing barriers that increase the cost of doing business.
For the World Bank Group, the focus will increasingly be on directing private capital towards economies and sectors where financing gaps are greatest.
The latest figures consequently mark more than an increase in the amount of money mobilised.
They reflect a broader transformation in development finance, with international institutions increasingly using their capital and risk-management tools to bring private investors into projects that could support economic growth, infrastructure development and employment across emerging and developing markets.
Source: World Bank Group
