World Bank Inducts Ogunbiyi, 14 Other CEOs into Private Sector Investment Lab
Gilbert Ekugbe
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sustainable Energy for All, Damilola Ogunbiyi and 14 other CEOs have been inducted by the World Bank to make up the private sector investment lab.
Announced last month, the Lab is expected to identify and focus on specific approaches that can be implemented and scaled by the World Bank to mobilise capital more effectively, with the ultimate goal of crowding in greater levels of private finance.
According to a statement obtained from its website, the founding members comprise a core group charged with developing solutions to address the barriers to private sector investment in emerging markets, stressing that the quality of their individual and combined expertise, leadership, and success in business and finance underscores the growing momentum, and level of commitment, for public and private collaboration to address global challenges and urgently scale development solutions.
Drawing on the experience of the 15 CEOs and Chairs that comprise the Lab’s core membership including leaders from AXA, BlackRock, HSBC, Macquarie, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Ninety One, Ping An Group, Royal Philips, Standard Bank, Standard Chartered, Sustainable Energy for All, Tata Sons, Temasek and Three Cairns Group, the Lab would build on the World Bank’s current work to address existing barriers and develop solutions which support private sector investment in emerging markets.
“This includes ideas for improved financing structures, ways to better align the World Bank with the needs and speed of private finance, approaches to balancing and allocating risks across investors, and reimagine new partnerships,” World Bank said.
The Lab will begin work in the coming weeks, initially focusing on scaling transition finance in renewable energy and energy infrastructure.
The World Bank, President, Ajay Banga, said the multilateral institution is on a mission to create a world free of poverty, but on a livable planet. “Achieving this vision demands that we build a better bank, but also reimagine partnerships and pull in the private sector to confront and beat – intertwined development challenges like poverty, climate, and fragility,” the World Bank President said.
Banga stated that the business leaders who are lending their time, talents, and expertise to this work are a crucial piece of the puzzle.
In his words: “I am beyond grateful to have them onboard. Results won’t come overnight, but if successful this group has the potential to unlock significant investment that will deliver jobs and better quality of life for people living throughout the Global South – the surest way to drive a nail into the coffin of poverty.”
Reacting to the announcement, Ogunbiyi said the multiple ongoing global crises affect developing countries around the world disproportionally, noting that despite already having the solutions to scale up renewable energy-based solutions to deliver development and climate progress, finance needs to be unlocked at scale in developing countries and underserved sectors.
