The World Bank Group has launched the next phase of its Private Sector Investment Lab, which will include an expanded membership of industry leaders with experience in generating jobs in developing economies.

The Private Sector Investment Lab has been focused on implementing proven solutions at scale to drive more development and job creation.

Over the last 18 months, the initiative has brought together leaders from global financial institutions to identify the most pressing barriers to private sector investment in developing countries and to test actionable solutions.

As the lab enters its implementation phase, its expanded membership will now include experts in infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and manufacturing. World Bank Group says these industries have a proven ability to translate investment into broad-based employment and economic opportunity.

Some new members of the lab include Bayer CEO Bill Anderson, Bharti Enterprises chairperson Sunil Mittal, Dangote Group CEO and president Aliko Dangote and Hyatt Hotels Corporation CEO and president Mark Hoplamazian.

These are in addition to the founding members of the initiative, which includes executives from AXA, BlackRock, HSBC, Ninety One, Standard Bank, Temasek and Sustainable Energy for All.

The work of the lab has been consolidated into five priority areas that are being integrated across the group’s operations, including regulatory and policy certainty, political risk insurance, foreign exchange risk, junior equity capital and securitisation.

World Bank Group aims to support governments more in creating stable regulatory framework, including in the electricity sector, to attract long-term capital, as well streamlining guarantee instruments to enhance investor confidence and help the bank meet its goal of tripling the use of guarantees by 2030.

Moreover, the bank is working to scale local currency financing to deepen domestic capital markets. Last year, International Finance Corporation, as an entity of World Bank Group, committed one-third of its long-term financing in local currency and aims to reach 40% by 2030.

Additionally, the other priority areas that are being integrated across the World Bank Group’s operations include more frontier opportunities to absorb early-stage risk and collaborating with institutions to standardise and securitise portfolios – which should unlock more capital from pension funds, insurers and sovereign wealth funds.

“With the expanded membership, we are mainstreaming this work across our operations and tying it directly to the jobs agenda that is driving our strategy. This is not about altruism – it is about helping the private sector see a path to investments that will deliver returns, and lift people and economies alike. It’s central to our mandate,” comments World Bank Group president Ajay Banga.

Private Sector Investment Lab chairperson Shriti Vadera adds that the lab leaders have helped to deliver important results in the initiative’s first phase. “We welcome our new members’ support in continuing our efforts in five key areas.”

Mittal notes World Bank Group is leading the way with initiatives to grow economies and create opportunities in emerging markets around the world. “I have seen first-hand the power of connectivity to transform lives by creating opportunities for businesses to grow and communities to thrive. I hope that the successes of the telecommunications sector will be valuable as the lab embarks on the next stage of its important work.”

Anderson concludes that, together, businesses and World Bank Group can unleash job creation in emerging markets by managing the risks and realising opportunities for the next generation of people in low and middle income countries.