For years, energy advocates, key World Bank shareholders, and some borrowing countries have urged the bank to rethink its policy banning any work on or financing of nuclear energy — and now it seems this might actually come to pass. There’s still work to be done, though, and bank leadership, shareholders, and advocates are expected to be discussing the issue this week at the World Bank Spring Meetings.
World Bank President Ajay Banga has said he supports removing the ban on nuclear energy as part of orienting the bank around an “all of the above” energy strategy that helps countries provide affordable, accessible electricity.
“You’re not going to do that by thinking like yesterday. You have to change the paradigm,” he said at a Washington Economic Club event last month. Some 600 million Africans lack access to energy, and many countries on the continent and elsewhere need to expand capacity to meet basic and economic growth needs. This demand has sometimes clashed with climate objectives, but nuclear is seen as a solution that could address both objectives.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
