Last year, the World Bank Group launched a single guarantee platform, bringing together what had been separate operations under its guarantee arm, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. It was a pilot for broader changes now rolling out across the bank, aimed at better integrating its public and private sector arms to mobilize private capital.
The platform — a one-stop shop offering guarantees that protect against political, project, and nonpayment risks — provided $12.3 billion worth of guarantees supporting 77 projects in its first year, according to MIGA. These guarantees primarily target potential foreign investors, aiming to de-risk projects that might otherwise struggle to attract private financing. Additionally, the platform offers guarantees to governments, making it easier for them to access financial markets.
“There is an inflection point that is happening inside the World Bank Group, and that inflection point is a recognition that we need to move from being solely or primarily a lending bank to becoming a leveraging bank,” Junaid Ahmad, MIGA’s vice president of operations, told Devex.
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.
