Some Reflections on the World Bank 2024 Spring Meetings – and on the Closure of the Global Infrastructure Hub

MMM Infra Blog No. 7 22 April 2024

For those of us interested in encouraging private sector investment in infrastructure – particularly in emerging markets and developing economies – there was a mix of developments during the annual IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings which were held last week in Washington.

On the positive side, the Spring Meetings featured some very encouraging presentations focused on mobilising private capital for infrastructure development – including a session showcasing the work of the CEOs serving on the World Bank’s Private Sector Investment Lab. Facilitating greater private investment was also a key topic during the Flagship Event on Energizing Africa, and during the session on Accelerating the Renewable Energy Transition in East Asia and the Pacific. (And if you want to be inspired on the subject of infrastructure, I strongly recommend that you go to the recording of the Energizing Africa session, available at https://live.worldbank.org/en/event/2024/spring-meetings-energizing-africa-universal-energy-access, and listen to the special two-minute segment that begins at approximately 1:00:20).

I was, however, personally saddened by the news of the forthcoming closure of the Global Infrastructure Hub –  which was a frequent topic of discussion in the margins of the Spring Meetings. The GI Hub was a major initiative of the G20 organisation, and I was honoured to serve as its  Chief Operating Officer from 2017-2019. During its short lifespan, the GI Hub produced a number of well-received guidance documents and other resources which were designed to further the G20’s push for greater private investment in infrastructure – and it is unfortunate that its headquarters in Sydney, Australia, will now be closed. But the good news is that a number of the GI Hub’s programmes and research efforts will continue in a new form, as part of the World Bank's Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), a multi-donor trust fund. Let's hope that, under the PPIAF umbrella, the GI Hub's contributions to fostering infrastructure development will live on!

This blog is in a series that appears on this website. It has been written by Mark Moseley, the Principal of Moseley Infrastructure Advisory Services (Mark.Moseley@MMMInfra.com). Unless otherwise noted, the copyright in this blog is owned by Moseley Infrastructure Advisory Services. The blog is made available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence, whereby users are free to copy and redistribute the contents of the blog, if they give credit to the author, and clearly indicate any changes that have been made.