Zanzibar (Tanzania), Dec. 6, 2023 – The World Bank is to earmark $5 billion to provide electricity to 100 million Africans by 2030.
Ajay Baanga, the World Bank President, announced this in Zanzibar, Tanzania, on Wednesday during the mid-term review of the International Development Association (IDA)’s $93 billion replenishment package.
He said this was part of his plans to wield funds from the bank’s IDA to provide zero or low-interest loans to low-income countries.
Banga called on World Bank shareholders, donor countries and philanthropies to increase their funding to help IDA deliver better development outcomes to low-income countries.
“The truth is we are pushing the limits of this important concessional resource and no amount of creative financial engineering will compensate for the fact that we need more.’’
He also said the World Bank needed to re-evaluate its performance to focus on improved outcomes, not numbers of projects or dollars disbursed. (GBN)
