When Makhtar Diop took the reins at the International Finance Corporation in 2021, he pushed to diversify and invest in areas the institution hadn’t historically done much business — think music, film, and fashion.
Since then, he’s released about 20 podcast episodes, interviewing the likes of movie stars Don Cheadle and Idris Elba and Kenyan Afropop group Sauti Sol about everything from guitar riffs to poverty and the role of the creative industry in growing economies and job creation. He’s also hosted a couple of events about the industry.
However, thus far, IFC, the World Bank’s private sector arm, has only made a handful of investments in the sector, totaling about $500 million if you count its own commitments as well as the private funds it expects to attract. It wouldn’t specify how much IFC contributed individually, but Devex calculations put it around $114 million.
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.
