The World Bank Group has announced the addition of several prominent business leaders, including Aliko Dangote, President/CEO of Dangote Group, to its Private Sector Investment Lab, which focuses on generating jobs.
Other new members joining the Lab are Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer AG; Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chair of Bharti Enterprises; and Mark Hoplamazian, President & CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
On Wednesday, the World Bank Group revealed the launch of the next stage of its Private Sector Investment Lab, which will concentrate on implementing successful solutions on a larger scale.
This new phase also expands the Lab’s membership to include industry leaders with a track record of creating jobs in developing economies, directly aligning with the World Bank’s increased emphasis on job creation as a key driver of development.
“With the expanded membership, we are mainstreaming this work across our operations and tying it directly to the jobs agenda that is driving our strategy,” stated World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. “This isn’t about altruism, it’s about helping the private sector see a path to investments that will deliver returns, and lift people and economies alike. It’s central to our mandate.”
Over the past 18 months, the Lab brought together leaders from global financial institutions to identify the main obstacles to private sector investment in developing countries and to test practical solutions.
This work has now been consolidated into five key priority areas that are being integrated across the Bank Group’s operations.
According to the World Bank, as the Lab moves into its implementation phase, it is also broadening its membership to include private sector leaders in sectors vital for job creation, such as infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and manufacturing.
“These industries have a proven ability to translate investment into broad-based employment and economic opportunity”, the Bank said.
“We are grateful to the original Lab leaders who helped us deliver strong results in the initial work period,” said Banga. “Now we’re building on that foundation—bringing in additional leaders from sectors that are central to job creation and moving from ideas to implementation.”
Shriti Vadera, Chair of Prudential plc and Chair of the Private Sector Investment Lab, commented, “We are grateful to the Lab leaders who helped deliver such important results in the first phase. We welcome our new members’ support in continuing our focus on five key areas: regulatory and policy certainty; guarantees, as the most widely used and understood instrument to address political and credit risks; foreign exchange risk; scaling different forms of equity; and creating an asset class and liquid market to attract institutional funds.”
Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chair of Bharti Enterprises, said, “The World Bank Group is leading the way with initiatives to grow economies and create opportunities in emerging markets around the globe. As President Banga has said, the private sector will play a pivotal role in this transformation, and I am delighted to join the PSIL alongside other distinguished business leaders. I have seen firsthand the power of connectivity to transform lives by creating opportunities for businesses to grow and communities to thrive. I hope that the successes of the telecommunications sector will be valuable as PSIL embarks on the next stage of its important work.”
Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer AG, stated, “I am honoured to join the Private Sector Investment Lab during its next phase focused on implementation. Together, businesses and the WBG can unleash job creation in emerging markets by managing the risks and realising the opportunities for the next generation growing up in low and middle-income countries.”
The Lab’s founding members included senior executives from AXA, BlackRock, HSBC, Macquarie, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Ninety One, Ping An Group, Royal Philips, Standard Bank, Standard Chartered, Sustainable Energy for All, Tata Sons, Temasek, and Three Cairns Group. The Lab is chaired by Shriti Vadera, Chair of Prudential plc.
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