With less than two months before the pledging conference to raise money for the World Bank’s International Development Association, its most concessional fund for the lowest-income countries, the bank’s annual meetings this week come at a pivotal moment in the negotiations.
Today, the bank is hosting an IDA Forum, where it is expected to share proposals for IDA’s 21st replenishment policy priorities — a draft of which Devex obtained. The discussions so far paint a complex picture of ambitious targets, competing visions, and high stakes for the world’s lowest-income nations, which have been buffeted by headwinds from debt distress to conflict and climate change.
IDA is a “lifeline” for the 77 lowest-income countries, World Bank President Ajay Banga said at a recent Reuters event. “We’re critical to their needs” and in many cases the source of half their development money, he added.
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.
