On Wednesday, the World Bank Group announced the inauguration of the next phase of its Private Sector Investment Lab, which is focused on implementing proven solutions at scale.

It announced this in a statement on Wednesday. The statement said the new chapter also expands the Lab’s membership to include private sector leaders in sectors critical to job creation in developing economies.

The bank said these sectors included infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and manufacturing.

World Bank president Ajay Banga said, “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 isn’t 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 is central to our mandate.”

It said over the last 18 months, the Lab 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.

The statement said that the work had now been consolidated into five priority focus areas that were being integrated across the bank operations, including regulatory and policy certainty.

It said Shriti Vadera, chair of Prudential Plc, chairs the Lab.

Mr Vadera said, “We are grateful to the lab leaders who helped deliver such important results in the first phase. We welcome our new members’ support in continuing our focus on five key areas.”

(NAN)