Throughout this Report you will see what the work of the World Bank Group means for countries and people striving to overcome poverty in all regions, especially in Africa. The World Bank Group is working with partners on more than 620 projects: to give both boys and girls a chance to learn; offer health services to those in need of care; promote the development of the private sector so as to put local savings to work creating jobs and property for the poor; and build infrastructure and secure, sustainable energy sources that are prerequisites for growth. We also strive to streng then governance, institutions, and the rule of law so people have a fair opportunity to forge a future for their families and their countries.
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The face of the World Bank is the rural electrification project I visited in Vietnam that frees time for a girl to go to school because she can now grind rice and maize with a machine—and gives her light to study by. It is the publicprivate water partnership we helped finance in Senegal, which pipes safe water and removes wastes, that is cutting waterborne diseases and malaria while saving a valuable resource that now meets the needs of almost a million people. And it is the irrigation project we backed in Armenia that enables a farmer to expand his apple orchards while promoting transparency in payments for government services. During fiscal year 2007, the World Bank Group committed $34.3 billion in loans, grants, equity investments, and guarantees to its members and to private businesses in member countries—up $2.7 billion (7.8 percent) from fiscal year 2006. The World Bank Group institutions contributing to this financial outcome are: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which provides financing, risk management products, and other financial services to members; the International Development Association (IDA), which provides interest-free loans and grants to the poorest countries; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which makes equity investments, and provides loans, guarantees and advisory services to private-sector business in developing countries; and the Bank Group’s political risk insurance agency, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Investment Agency (MIGA). IDA commitments were $11.9 billion, 25 percent higher than the previous year, and the highest in IDA’s history. IBRD commitments in fiscal year 2007 totaled $12.8 billion. IFC committed $8.2 billion for private sector development in developing countries, an all-time high, which topped last year’s total by $1.5 billion—and $3 billion of the total went to IDA countries. Of MIGA’s $1.4 billion in guarantees, $387 million went to projects in IDA countries. MIGA’s exposure in IDA countries now stands at 41 percent of its portfolio. In addition, IBRD carried out $5.4 billion in interest rate and currency risk management transactions on behalf of its members. This is an increase of more than three-fold over totals for the past several years and highlights the expanding portfolio of financial services we offer. Furthermore, IFC mobilized an additional $3.9 billion through loan participations, structured finance, and parallel loans. The World Bank Group can and should do much more. Given the great needs among diverse developing countries, the World Bank Group can make its capital, knowledge, and expertise work for people by creating customized development solutions for all. We will be investing in practical plans to move from poverty to prosperity. Working with partners and supporters from around the world, guided by a commitment to results, we will strive to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. This is the way we can advance an inclusive and sustainable globalization.The world has changed enormously since the World Bank was created some 60 years ago. This unique and accomplished institution of development, reconstruction, and finance not only needs to adapt: it must find the ways to help all countries, particularly the poorest, to seize the benefits of changes in the world economy while better managing the risks. The World Bank Group needs to be a strategic partner to clients, donors, and those that are both. It should be a development innovator in fragile states and those struggling to come out of conflicts. It can be a designer and implementer of local solutions to global challenges of the environment and disease, while serving as a steward of our natural environment and a first responder to climate change. It must be a facilitator of rules, institutions, and markets that can tap trade and finance for people in developing countries seeking hope, opportunity, and the dignity of personal enterprise. This year has not been an easy one. Yet we are regaining momentum and building energy. I have seen that the World Bank Group’s most valuable resource—the talented and dedicated people who bring its work to life—are highly motivated by the Bank’s core mission: to end poverty. They are moving forward. It is a privilege to get to know them and to work with them. 
Robert B. Zoellick © 2007 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank |
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