Africa takes its case for more investment and jobs to the World Bank and IMF
At the annual meetings in Bangkok, the AU asked for more World Bank money for cross-border infrastructure and industry, and Ajay Banga stressed working with and through the African Union.
PANM — The African Union used the 2026 World Bank Group–IMF Annual Meetings in Bangkok to press for more investment in Africa's industry, infrastructure and young workforce, the AU Commission said.
Africa's asks
Presenting the AU's position to the 114th Development Committee meeting, the Commission's deputy chairperson, Ambassador Selma Malika Haddadi, called for:
- More private capital and development finance to drive Africa's economic transformation and create jobs for its growing youth population
- More World Bank financing for Africa, including through IDA22, with a focus on regional integration, cross-border infrastructure, industrialisation, regional value chains and the African Continental Free Trade Area
- Affordable, sustainable financing and new financial instruments to unlock investment at scale
A promise of coordination
At the meeting of the African Caucus with World Bank Group president Ajay Banga, discussion centred on mobilising private capital, supporting small businesses and skills, mineral beneficiation and local value addition, and building economic corridors. Banga stressed working with and through the African Union rather than through fragmented initiatives across the continent, and acknowledged the new AU Commission leadership's commitment to closer cooperation.
On the sidelines, Haddadi met the finance ministers of Zambia, the Republic of Congo and Burundi to discuss sustainable funding for the AU itself, ahead of an extraordinary meeting of foreign and finance ministers in Accra on 13 November on reforming the Union.
Sources: African Union Commission, 16 October 2026; AU Commission, 14 October; AU Commission, 15 October.
