World Bank to Sharpen Focus on Projects With Measurable Impact

World Bank President Ajay Banga wants the lender to focus on more "scalable, replicable" projects across Latin America and elsewhere for transport and infrastructure and digitization of government and financial services to speed development, Reuters said Tuesday. Banga, on his first foreign trip since taking office, told the news agency in Lima on Monday that he wanted the bank to prioritize its work and "pick a few things and push them really hard, so that in my lifetime, I can measure the impact." While that may mean fewer projects in some countries, it will focus more resources on those that promise bigger improvements in people's lives, incomes and productivity. Bank staff have developed and implemented many successful projects, but often do not standardize them and apply the lessons learned to other countries, Banga said. "I'm trying to get away from bespoke stuff to scalable, replicable things," Banga said, adding that standardization can help draw more private-sector capital into development by making it easier to securitize groups of loans. Banga has been tasked with transforming the World Bank to vastly expand its lending capacity and revamp its business model to fight climate change, pandemics, food insecurity and other crises, in addition to its traditional anti-poverty mission. Projects that should be replicated in other crowded cities include Lima's Metropolitano Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, Banga said after touring a World Bank-financed expansion line. The bank has given a $93-million loan for a 10-km (six-mile) extension into some of Lima's poorest areas.