The World Bank’s Sole Solutions Sop
New World Bank President Kim won member endorsement for his one-stop group knowledge and advisory strategy to end poverty in two decades through “ transformational” public and private sector partnerships. The reorganization builds on previous blueprints and will entail overhead and staff reductions and regional alignments of Bank, IFC and MIGA efforts. It encourages lending and technical assistance innovation that will be measured against quantitative metrics and qualitative surveys while encouraging “historic risk-taking” within the boundaries of economic, social and environmental sustainability. The post-2015 Millennium Development Goal period will continue to work with governments, the UN and other bilateral and multilateral donors, as well as with business and advocacy organizations. The shift intends to harness the central forces of developing country growth and private capital which move increasingly South-South but still bypass poorer nations and large populations in middle-income economies. Banking and securities markets are now “critical” for company fundraising and infrastructure as demand spikes for sophisticated pension and insurance products along with basic financial services for an estimated 2.5 billion citizens without access according to the latest data. Fragile states pose dire physical and health security problems with conflict typically exacerbating disease, illiteracy and malnutrition. Climate change is a common global threat which may invite collective technology response in the same way that inter-connectivity has introduced fresh anti-corruption and transparency channels, the document asserts. The Bank’s “value proposition” lies in 200 field offices, its 60-year track record, and AAA credit rating but improvement is needed on cross-cutting multi-sector approaches and the separate arms with different mandates often lack joint purpose and project cooperation. Clients criticize lengthy administrative and approval delays, and the depth and relevance of industry and policy expertise in comparison with peer providers. The IBRD and IDA facilities handle distinct commercial and concessional borrowers, and the IFC and MIGA are known respectively for financial markets and political risk focus which engage direct and portfolio investors. Occasionally the units have collaborated well as in East Africa’s Efficient Securities Market Program which has cut bond issuance processing time by 75 percent in Kenya and Tanzania and trained 2000 participants.
Future unified operations will include shared country diagnostic and monitoring reports and a permanent regional evaluation and implementation mechanism to succeed “ad hoc” attempts. The partnership range will be formally expanded to “better off” developing nations offering advice and assistance in their own right. Learning will join financial support across multi-disciplinary priority issues such as green energy, gender and infrastructure, and for fee-based transactions the aim will be cost-recovery either on a stand-alone basis or with trust fund partial coverage to promote savings and fairer competition with outside consultants. Annual meeting attendees described the reform agenda as the most urgent since the Wolfensohn Presidency’s Comprehensive Development Framework, where the intellectual and bureaucratic stream was later diluted by internal lethargy and swamped by external currency crises.
