Devex Podcasts

How can the World Bank play a role in attracting more private capital to address development and climate needs?

That is a challenge that World Bank President Ajay Banga has prioritized and was a key discussion in Washington, D.C., last week at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings.

From a Private Sector Investment Lab charged with helping the bank identify and scale what already works to a new loan guarantee platform and plans to bundle and sell some International Finance Corporation investments to private investors, changes are afoot.

But there are questions about how far existing proposals go, if they will succeed, and how exactly private sector mobilization will be measured.

In this podcast episode we hear from experts about how those efforts stack up and what more can be done to attract private money to these markets.

We dive into what the Private Sector Investment Lab has prioritized, why mobilization efforts have been stymied, and the importance of data transparency in these discussions.

Gavin Wilson, who leads DAI Capital; Nancy Lee, director for Sustainable Development Finance at the Center for Global Development; Ben Weisman, executive director of capital mobilization and public policy at the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero; and Gary Forster, CEO of Publish What You Fund share their insights.

How can the World Bank play a role in attracting more private capital to address development and climate needs?

That is a challenge that World Bank President Ajay Banga has prioritized and was a key discussion in Washington, D.C., last week at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings.

From a Private Sector Investment Lab charged with helping the bank identify and scale what already works to a new loan guarantee platform and plans to bundle and sell some International Finance Corporation investments to private investors, changes are afoot. 

But there are questions about how far existing proposals go, if they will succeed, and how exactly private sector mobilization will be measured. 

In this podcast episode we hear from experts about how those efforts stack up and what more can be done to attract private money to these markets. 

We dive into what the Private Sector Investment Lab has prioritized, why mobilization efforts have been stymied, and the importance of data transparency in these discussions. 

Gavin Wilson, who leads DAI Capital; Nancy Lee, director for Sustainable Development Finance at the Center for Global Development; Ben Weisman, executive director of capital mobilization and public policy at the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero; and Gary Forster, CEO of Publish What You Fund share their insights.

This week we are closely following the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings taking place in Washington, D.C. From having a capital increase to provide funding for the world's low-income countries to how the financial institution can support the fight against climate change, we dig into the key conversations we’re following at the conference.

In addition to increasing risk appetite to encourage private capital mobilization, we argue that multilateral development banks, as well as organizations under the World Bank Group umbrella should be collaborating better in order to maximize impact.

To discuss how the bank can be reformed for it to be a better partner in global development, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with World Resources Institute CEO Ani Dasgupta and Devex Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger for the latest episode of the podcast series.

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The World Bank is about 18 months into its efforts to reform the institution in response to shareholder demands and changing global needs. From stretching its existing funding to attracting more private capital, the bank has laid a laundry list of proposals on the table.

So what has been accomplished thus far and what more is needed? That’s what we tackle in the first episode of a special edition podcast during this year’s World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings, which take place in Washington D.C. this week. The bank has a new capital adequacy framework to get more out of its own money, a new mission statement making climate change part of its core ambition, and of course a new leader in Ajay Banga.

Listen in to hear Devex Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger in conversation with Clemence Landers, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, Kevin Gallagher, director of the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University, Stephanie von Friedeburg, managing director of banking and capital markets advisory at Citi, and Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Arkansas, who is vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee.

As the war in Gaza stretches past the six-month mark, this week we had an exclusive story on Israel’s efforts to disrupt and dismantle UNRWA, the United Nations agency leading the humanitarian response for Palestinians. The agency — caught in a political war — was forced to ground its fleet of trucks, cars, and security specialists used by other U.N. agencies delivering support to those affected by the conflict.

We have also been closely following the conversations around localization. A few months ago, a rural Sierra Leone-based nonprofit leader was unable to get a visa to a conference in Denmark — which led to an open letter demanding change in how convening spaces on locally led development should be organized. Four months later, it appears that some foundations, international organizations, and networks have committed to listening, including the U.S. Agency for International Development. We explore how localization can be more effectively carried out, including the need to move the headquarters of institutions closer to the communities they aim to serve, as well as having greater representation from the developing world in academia.

Also on the topic of localization, we dug into the analysis of how much of USAID’s money went to local grantees in 2023. We found that the agency allocated around $1.3 billion to local partners via grants and cooperative agreements in 2023, which is the same amount as the previous fiscal year.

To discuss these stories, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with Aude Darnal of the Stimson Center and Devex’s U.N. correspondent Colum Lynch for this week’s episode of the podcast series.

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Last week, we launched Roots of Change, a Devex series on locally led development, which explores how the localization agenda can be elevated from rhetoric to reality. We have been following the discussions around localization for the past couple of years and the progress made toward empowering local communities in shaping global development initiatives. As part of the series, we published an article that outlines five key takeaways we learned about the current state of the debate based on our coverage. We highlight that while progress is slow, change is inevitable.

At the Inter-American Development Bank, major developments are underway. From changing how they operate to identifying new metrics of success, we dig into how the financial institution plans to become a better partner in development as it urges other MDBs to undergo reform as well.

We also touch upon an interactive article we published on the U.S. Agency for International Development’s spending plan for the upcoming months. Find out how the agency is planning to distribute $25.6 billion, including the sectors and countries targeted.

In the latest episode of the This Week in Global Development podcast, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with Nasra Ismail, U.S. enterprise executive director at Alight, and Devex Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger to discuss the global development stories above.

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Doing meaningful work doesn't have to come at the expense of your whole life. In fact, Alex Amouyel argues that anyone can create a life full of impact. In this episode of the Devex Book Club, Alex takes us through her own winding career trajectory, from her time as a scientist to her current role as President and CEO of Newman's Own Foundation, and shares that with enough will and determination, everyone has what it takes to make a difference. 

For more information on upcoming episodes and to sign up for our mailing list, visit the Devex Book Club here: https://pages.devex.com/devex-book-club.html

This week, we reported that at the Employees at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems — a 37-year-old pro-democracy organization based outside Washington, D.C. — employees formed a new staff union to confront their organization’s president and CEO over labor rights. The issue is entangled within the wider debates of localization. While employees most certainly want to provide technical support to local partners, they do not believe that the process should undervalue the employees who provide it.

At the end of last week, The Locally Led Development and Humanitarian Response Act was passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, legislation that would ease complexities in USAID's grantmaking process. While the bill still needs to clear the U.S. Senate, most seem hopeful it will do so. It is believed that the legislation would help USAID reach its localization targets, especially if it is passed before the U.S. general election in November.

On the other side of the pond, a spending watchdog found that the creation of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has undermined the United Kingdom’s ability to carry out aid work. The report also raises the alarm that "staff have experienced change fatigue and are unhappy that key issues such as terms and conditions and career pathways have yet to be resolved.”

To dig into these stories, and others, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with George Ingram and Fiona Zublin for the latest episode of the podcast series.

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Reframing six centuries of world history in a single book is no easy feat. Doing it in lively, engaging prose that keeps you hooked the whole way through is even harder. But such is the talent of Howard French, longtime foreign correspondent and author of Born in Blackness, our Devex Book Club selection for this month.

For more information on upcoming episodes and to sign up for our mailing list, visit the Devex Book Club here: https://pages.devex.com/devex-book-club.html

This week, Devex is at the South by Southwest, or SXSW, conference and festival exploring innovations in food systems and agriculture, but we’ve also got stories on food as a weapon of war, the accusation that USAID meddled with Zimbabwe’s democratic process, and the utility of the Pandemic Fund.

Hunger and starvation have become a standard weapon in combatants’ war arsenal everywhere from Afghanistan to Gaza to Syria, Sudan, and Ukraine, writes Senior Global Reporter Colum Lynch. But recently, some observers have seen a broader erosion of international laws and norms that promote the prohibition of food as a weapon of war or as a lever in diplomatic or humanitarian negotiations.

We’ve also got an exclusive from Global Development Reporter Elissa Miolene on the accusation by the Zimbabwean ambassador to the United States that the U.S. Agency for International Development is interfering in the country’s democratic processes — calling USAID’s human rights and governance work a “gross violation” of Zimbabwe’s sovereignty.

Finally, the Pandemic Fund wants to be the “main fund” for strengthening pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, and has called against duplicated efforts as countries push for creating yet another fund in pandemic treaty negotiations, writes Senior Reporter Jenny Lei Ravelo.

Joining President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar to break down these stories — and more — are Ertharin Cousin, founder and CEO of Food Systems for the Future, and Devex Executive Editor Kate Warren.