RIYADH, October 24, 2023 - The Islamic Development Bank and World Bank unveiled a new partnership today to drive impact and improve the lives of people in the Middle East and North Africa. 

The new partnership, announced in Riyadh by World Bank President Ajay Banga and Islamic Development Bank President Dr. Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser, follows the World Bank’s new playbook for development—and its drive to reimagine partnerships that coordinate global action, catalyze change, and strengthen impact.

"The World Bank is recruiting new partners and reimagining partnerships. We are working to make purposeful what too often has been accidental — collaboration," World Bank President Ajay Banga said. "We will not deliver results overnight but together our impact will be greater than it would be on our own. That is why this partnership with the Islamic Development Bank has the potential to be transformative."

Through this partnership, the World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank are joining forces to accelerate action to support better management of water, energy, and food resources in the face of ongoing threats from climate change and fragility; empower women and young people with skills to grow in jobs and fully participate in the digital transition; and drive greater regional and cross border trade and cooperation.

The partnership is expected to support joint operations that could involve up to $6 billion in financing through 2026. MIGA, the political-risk insurance arm of the World Bank, will collaborate closely with the Islamic Development Bank to mitigate political risk, alongside the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, which will work to draw in more private sector investment.

Islamic Development Bank President Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser said: "Ancient wisdom tells us if you want to go far, go together. Our member countries continue to face overlapping crises in an increasingly uncertain global landscape, making a compelling case for Multilateral Development Banks to respond together. The forward-looking Islamic Development Bank-World Bank partnership announced today walks the talk, with a new sense of urgency and determination to give opportunities and hope to the people we serve."

The agreement was formalized on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative, a global gathering of business leaders, policymakers, investors and entrepreneurs.

This new partnership builds on the World Bank’s purposeful effort to strengthen and reimagine partnerships. A partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank launched in August, focuses on deforestation of the Amazon, resilience to natural disasters, and the digital access gap in Latin America and the Caribbean. And during this month’s World Bank-International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings, nine multilateral development banks announced an ambitious work plan to scale up financing, boost collective efforts on climate, enhance country level coordination, strengthen co-financing and catalyze private sector engagement.