Remarks by World Bank Group President Ajay Banga at Laying the Groundwork for Jobs in Africa : Core Infrastructure & Business Environments Conference

Overview & Synopsis

These remarks were delivered by the World Bank Group President Ajay Banga at Laying the Groundwork for Jobs in Africa: Core Infrastructure and Business Environments Conference on March 4, 2026. He speaks to the global urgency of job creation as the central economic and strategic challenge of the coming decades, driven by rapid population growth in developing countries. He emphasizes that closing the widening gap between young people entering the workforce and available jobs is essential for poverty reduction, stability, and shared prosperity, and argues that growth in developing countries benefits advanced economies through stronger markets, diversified supply chains, and greater global stability. He outlines the World Bank Group’s jobs focused strategy built on three pillars including investment in physical and human infrastructure, business friendly regulatory environments, and support for private sector scale through financing, guarantees, and risk mitigation. Highlighting alignment with Italy’s Mattei Plan, he illustrates how this approach is being applied across sectors such as energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and manufacturing to create local jobs at scale. He concludes by stressing that sustained employment growth depends on predictable rules, access to finance, and coordinated public and private action to turn demographic change into a powerful engine of inclusive growth.