The World Bank Group will centralize operations across its public and private sector arms. The restructuring aims to speed up delivery, improve collaboration, and focus knowledge work on real-world results.
Also in today’s edition: Can the cost of nature be calculated? We look at diaspora giving, and step inside the EU’s Global Gateway Forum.
Happening today: How does the public feel about aid communications? Does the message resonate, and how can the aid sector communicate better? At 11 a.m. ET (5 p.m. CET), we’ll host research experts from Focaldata for a conversation on how to talk to the public about aid. You can still register here. We’ll send you a recording if you can’t attend live.
The World Bank Group is shaking up its structure, bringing public and private sector divisions into centralized operations, according to an email from President Ajay Banga to staff seen by Devex. The changes officially kick in Jan. 1, writes Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger, though some are already in the works.
“These changes are about creating a culture of urgency, collaboration, quality and efficiency, allowing us to solve problems together at speed and achieve impact at scale,” Banga wrote. “By breaking down silos, we will unlock resources, strengthen internal partnerships, learn more from each other, and ultimately deliver better results for our clients.”
First up: The knowledge teams of the bank’s public sector arms — International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or IBRD, and International Development Association, or IDA — will merge with the private sector-focused International Finance Corporation, or IFC, to form one unit working across five verticals — people, prosperity, planet, infrastructure, and digital. A new managing director and chief knowledge officer will lead the shift.
“This is a fundamental shift — from a model that rewards production to one that rewards impact,” Banga said.
The reforms also unify treasury operations across IBRD/IDA and IFC, while integrating human resources, IT, budget, real estate, communications, and eventually legal functions. The goal, Banga said, is to “develop more scalable, collaborative solutions for our clients while protecting our triple-A credit rating.”
Banga ended with a rallying cry: “I need your help to make the World Bank Group better, faster, and more effective — so we can help the countries we serve create jobs, grow their economies, and offer people a better life.”
Exclusive: World Bank president announces restructuring in staff email
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For centuries, rivers, oceans, and forests were treated as free goods, fueling an economy of unchecked extraction. Now, the concept of natural capital is reframing nature as an asset class — one that should be protected, not depleted.
The challenge? No one agrees how to value it, writes reporter Elissa Miolene. “We’re a bit in the crunch point,” said Martine van Weelden of Capitals Coalition at the recent Building Bridges conference in Geneva. “Our economic system doesn't adhere to the natural systems that provide us with the economy that we have.”
Brazil shows what’s at stake. Nearly 60% of the Amazon sits within its borders, but 18% of that has been lost just in the last 40 years. The World Bank values the rainforest’s services at $317 billion a year.
The Amazon is “the air conditioner and water pump of our planet, so we have a huge responsibility to deal with it,” said Marcelo Furtado, head of sustainability at Brazilian conglomerate Itaúsa, at the Building Bridges conference. The Brazilian government is trying to do just that, via a formal recognition of nature’s importance at the Group of 20 major economies’ summit it hosted last year, which spawned the Tropical Forest Forever Facility that will be a centerpiece of this year’s U.N. COP30 climate summit, also hosted by Brazil.
Still, governments are paying for the vast majority of nature-based solutions. But the private sector may now be realizing nature’s importance — Furtado mentioned the disastrous floods in Pakistan in 2022 as “an incredible wakeup call.”
“Every single company stopped and started thinking about how important adaptation and nature, and climate risk assessment is for your business,” he said. “And I think that this change of mindset is accelerating a lot of opportunities.”
Read: Can nature be placed on the balance sheet?
ICYMI: Brazil's forest finance plan takes shape ahead of COP30
When a fire destroyed Mount Selinda Orphanage in eastern Zimbabwe this July, RemitHope — a new giving platform founded by philanthropist Tsitsi Masiyiwa that focuses on local donations and diaspora remittances — faced its first test. In less than three weeks, more than 1,000 donors across 10 countries raised over $40,000, instantly doubled by partner foundations to $81,000. The orphanage is now being rebuilt.
Masiyiwa, who co-founded Higherlife Foundation and Delta Philanthropies and chairs The END Fund, sees it as part of a bigger shift: “Now, as the aid from the Global North dwindles, we are stepping up. My audacious goal? $50 million in the next five years, and with faith guiding us, I believe we can achieve even more.”
With USAID gone and Western aid shrinking, remittances — $685 billion globally in 2024, per the World Bank — are becoming a critical lifeline, writes my colleague Ayenat Mersie. RemitHope matches every donation, connecting diaspora givers and local donors with vetted groups in 13 African countries. “No amount is too small,” said Chief of Staff Rejoice Nharaunda. “Someone sending $5 back home can see it become $10 and know it is reaching a trusted organization.”
Head of operations Musa Muleya called the Selinda campaign a glimpse of what’s possible, uniting Zimbabweans donating a dollar or two via mobile money with diaspora supporters giving $50 to $100. “The question was — what can we do now as Africans to leverage remittances to support the organizations that are making a real impact in communities?” Muleya said. “There’s a certain level of, we are all from Africa. And so we want to ride on that.”
Read: RemitHope looks to diaspora giving to fill Africa’s widening funding gap
Related: Remittances outstrip aid 3 times over. Can they transform development? (Pro)
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The European Commission and the World Bank Group are teaming up to roll out 18 big-ticket projects in energy, transport, and digital infrastructure across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Announced on the sidelines of the Global Gateway Forum, which begins today in Brussels, the partnership aims to turn investments into “jobs, services, and results.”
“Creating jobs is a strategic choice,” said World Bank’s Ajay Banga. “Together, the European Commission and the World Bank Group can align investments, unlock private capital, and deliver results at a scale neither could reach alone.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen added: “Today, we are taking our partnership with the World Bank to the next level. … This will make sure that Global Gateway’s strategic investments … can crowd in maximum private capital.”
ICYMI: How to access the EU’s €300B Global Gateway — key tips from the experts (Pro)
See also: Energy projects dominate new EU Global Gateway ‘flagships’ list
Background: What is the EU’s ‘Global Gateway’ anyway? (Pro)
As Brussels rolls out the blue starry carpet for its second Global Gateway Forum, the EU is talking up “strategic investments, sustainable infrastructure, equal partnerships” with Africa. But the reality is stark: Europe isn’t exporting or investing nearly enough, writes Michael Jongeneel, CEO of Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO, in his opinion piece for Devex. In 2023, EU exports to Africa were under 3% of its global trade, and investment remains concentrated in a handful of sectors and countries.
The blind spot? Development finance institutions, he argues. While export credit agencies and big EU firms get the attention, DFIs such as FMO know how to navigate risk, build trust, and back African entrepreneurs. He predicts, “Europe’s external business ambitions will stall unless it works closely in tandem with the institutions that have the local knowledge and networks.”
DFIs fund agribusiness, renewable energy, and SMEs — competitive partners “ready to trade with Europe, if Europe shows up.” In Ethiopia, for example, FMO and the U.K.’s DFI, British International Investment, invested $40 million in Dashen Bank, helping coffee exporters modernize. With Europe importing 30% of the world’s coffee, the benefits flow both ways.
Opinion: Europe is missing its moment in Africa
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire deal which will include the release of hostages and prisoners and could open the way to ending the devastating two-year war in Gaza. [Reuters]
People from Pacific island nations most affected by climate change should have legal and feasible pathways to migrate to other countries, according to climate experts and human rights advocates. [The Guardian]
The International Committee of the Red Cross has sounded the alarm in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after last month’s assessment found that about 85% of health facilities in North and South Kivu are facing shortages of medicines, and about 40% have experienced exodus of staff. [The Telegraph]
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