Overview
- World Bank President Ajay Banga warned that developing countries are on track to create only about 400 million jobs for 1.2 billion new workers over the next 10 to 15 years, leaving an 800 million shortfall.
- The Bank’s Development Committee outlined plans to help countries remove barriers to investment, targeting opaque permits, weak anti‑corruption measures, and complex labor and land laws that slow hiring.
- The World Bank, working with other development lenders, is set to launch a drive to give one billion more people secure access to clean water, building on efforts to connect African households to electricity and to strengthen primary health care.
- Finance officials gathering in Washington are weighing near‑term risks from the Middle East war, as a two‑week ceasefire has not ended Iran’s hold on the Strait of Hormuz, which is disrupting global energy supplies and could lift inflation.
- The Bank highlighted five job‑rich areas seen as more resilient to trade shocks and early AI impacts: infrastructure, small‑farmer agriculture, primary health care, tourism, and value‑added manufacturing, with Banga warning that inaction could fuel more displacement.