The World Bank Annual Meetings this week offer a good moment to reflect on some ways its priorities have played out in its work over the past year. Devex takes a look at how some of the key themes have manifested in funding approvals, as well as the upcoming pipeline.
Since 2009, the bank’s total funding commitments to projects in fragile or least-developed countries have grown, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of total approvals. In 2018, approved funding for these economies reached the highest levels in the bank’s history at nearly $17.8 billion, or 38.3% of total funding approvals for the year.
So far in 2019, the bank has approved $11.8 billion for projects in these countries, including $1.13 billion to Angola, $1.16 billion to Ethiopia, and $950 million to Côte d’Ivoire.