10. Speeches of World Bank Presidents [collection under construction]

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Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass at the Ninth World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-03-21) Malpass, David

These remarks were delivered by World Bank Group President David Malpass at Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass at the Ninth World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal on March 21, 2022. At the Fragility Forum at the World Bank in early March, we showed that 23 countries, with a combined population of 850 million people, are facing high, or medium-intensity conflict. Over 300 million people in fragile and conflict settings experienced acute food insecurity in 2021, and the war in Ukraine is making shortages and food price spikes even worse. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought dramatic reversals in development outcomes. Indicators of poverty, growth, nutrition, education, and security are all deteriorating, rather than improving as is needed for the world to truly develop. The latest hammer blow is inflation and rising interest rates. They hit the poor the hardest and make inequality worse. Today’s world faces other enormous challenges. The Water Forum today focuses on the importance of water security for development and peace. Population growth and increased use of water are creating water scarcity and intense competition for water. Ongoing climate change heightens the water crisis, which is starkly evident in Africa. Only 58 percent of Africans have access to safe drinking water. Only 10 percent of hydroelectricity potential is being put to work. Globally, 2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water and over 3.6 billion people lack safely managed sanitation.
Remarks at the Global Health Summit Co-Hosted by the European Commission and Italy

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-05-21) Malpass, David

World Bank Group President David Malpass highlighted that in the first year of the pandemic, the World Bank Group committed $180 billion to help countries respond to the health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic. The Bank authorized $12 billion to help countries access and deploy vaccines, with the goal of vaccinating a billion people in developing countries. The World Bank launched a website to make all information about our vaccination projects easily accessible in one place. He urged countries with excess supplies to release their surplus doses as soon as possible to developing countries that have vaccination operations already in place, and he also urged all of them to increase the transparency of these delivery commitments. At Tuesday’s Summit on Financing of African Economies, he announced his commitment to provide $150 billion in financing for sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years. Pandemic preparedness means investments across sectors, not just in health. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has shown that social safety nets that provide digital cash transfers are particularly valuable, adding to the resilience of food security, basic health, and education. He concluded that the World Bank Group is committed to the health agenda. By working together, we can help developing countries build the resilience they need when they face major threats to their people’s health.
Remarks at the Western and Central Africa Regional Media Roundtable

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-05-20) Malpass, David

World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has taken a toll on African lives, economies, and livelihoods. The World Bank intends to invest and mobilize about $150 billion over the next five years in Africa to support the continent’s recovery from the pandemic and its long-term development. He urged countries that expect to have excess vaccine supplies to release their excess as soon as possible to developing countries that have delivery programs in place. He emphasized the need for greater transparency in contracts between governments, pharmaceutical companies, and organizations that are involved in vaccine production and delivery so that financing can be directed effectively, and countries can plan for receipt and deployment. The World Bank yesterday launched a comprehensive online portal that provides easy access to information about their projects, including individual country-financing operations. He spoke about comprehensive debt solutions which will involve at least four elements: debt suspension, debt reduction, debt resolution, and debt transparency. He stated that without private creditors fully onboard, the Common Framework will not deliver a sustainable solution for Chad, Ethiopia, or Zambia. As countries work to recover, tackling climate change will be key for the region. The Bank is also working to address fragility, conflict, and violence. He concluded that while we know that the road to recovery will be long, countries in the region have applied lessons from previous crisis such as the West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2014, and many countries have strengthened their social safety nets to help protect the poor that have been most affected by the crisis, and to move faster on key reforms and investments that will be crucial for long-term development.
Remarks at the Summit on Financing African Economies

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-05-18) Malpass, David

World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the World Bank Group using all possible resources, financing tools, and dedicated staff across the continent to improve African lives and business prospects. He mentioned the Board-approved financing operations in many African countries to obtain safe doses and to administer them quickly and fairly as soon as the producer countries, COVAX, or manufacturers are ready. Over the past decade, the World Bank Group has invested two hundred billion dollars in Africa. Over the next five years, the Group intends to invest and mobilize another one hundred fifty billion dollars to support the continent’s development. He focused on the need for large inflows of long-term resources for Africa. Another important part of Bank's support to Africa will be mobilization of the private sector, either directly through IFC and MIGA, or indirectly through funding by IDA and IBRD on capital markets. He concluded by highlighting the initiatives for Africa that he discussed with the President Macron recently.
Remarks at the Virtual Meeting on the Africa COVID-19 Vaccine Financing and Deployment Strategy

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-01-27) Malpass, David

World Bank Group President David Malpass provided an update on the World Bank Group’s vaccination efforts. Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a heavy toll on the people of Africa in terms of lives lost and the severe economic impact that is hitting the most vulnerable the hardest. The Group is preparing emergency vaccine financing projects in twenty-one countries in Africa. He highlighted IFC work to mobilize financing for vaccine production and therapeutics focused on developing countries. In implementing the vaccines programs, the World Bank Group is working directly with governments, including finance for their purchases from vaccine manufacturers and via COVAX, and for deployment efforts working with partners such as WHO and UNICEF. He urged the leaders of African countries to move quickly to secure vaccinations for their populations, and to avail themselves of the financing available from the World Bank Group and other partners to help with this.
Remarks at the Mobilizing with Africa II Event

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10-09) Malpass, David

David Malpass, President of the World Bank, remarked that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and global recession are wiping out more than a decade of poverty alleviation. He focused on crisis response and supporting recovery.
Remarks at the Second Investing in Africa Forum

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-09-07) Kim, Jim Yong

Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank, discussed the partnership to promote development, investment, and multilateral cooperation in Africa. There are ample opportunities to accelerate growth, productivity, and Africa’s economic transformation. He pointed to four key things: first, close the large gap in infrastructure -- in roads, energy, water, sanitation, broadband, and transport; second, make agriculture more productive; third, improve the fundamentals needed to accelerate industrialization; and fourth, invest in people – in health and education – which is increasingly vital in the digital age. He believe the partnership will continue, and this relationship will help millions of people lift themselves out of poverty and realize opportunities for a better life.
Address at the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development Opening Session

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-08-27) Kim, Jim Yong

Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank, noted that African countries face key policy challenges including adjusting to a new era of low commodity prices, increasing economic vulnerabilities and the challenge of finding new sources of growth. He feels better at leveraging funds from development partners, stopping illicit financial flows and helping countries mobilize more money domestically. African countries can dramatically increase the flow of private capital to fund infrastructure projects. The World Bank Group is working with African countries and development partners to implement the African Climate business plan which is a comprehensive program and investments totaling US$19.3 billion between 2016 and 2020. Ending stunting everywhere but especially here in Africa is an urgent mission. Universal health care is a critical element to achieve that. Kim called for massive investment, public and private, in infrastructure and universal health coverage for all of Africa.
Remarks on Universal Health Coverage in Africa

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-08-26) Kim, Jim Yong

Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank, argues that investing in universal health coverage (UHC) is an investment in the future. He mentioned three: First, UHC confronts poverty head on by protecting people from major disease outbreaks and from catastrophic health expenses; Second, UHC accelerates inclusive growth; and Third, UHC stimulates the health sector and creates jobs. The Bank is working with partners to identify the best ways to scale up interventions to improve nutrition and early child development, and to eliminate childhood stunting. He welcomes the government of Japan’s decision to support the annual production of the World Bank and World Health Organization global monitoring report on universal health coverage, with a strong focus on Africa.
Commemorating End Poverty Day

( 2015-10-16) Kim, Jim Yong

Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank, discusses the goals of the World Bank Group, aligned to support the poor and the vulnerable, and to preserve our planet for future generations. He talks about the report "Poverty in a Rising Africa" that traces two decades of unprecedented economic growth on the continent with messages that are both encouraging and sobering. He speaks about how economic growth coupled with specific health and education interventions have contributed to improving people’s lives, and contributed in many countries, such as Ghana, to major reductions in poverty. He talks about the structural transformation, a shift out of agriculture that led to an increase in non-agricultural self-employment and, to a lesser degree, wage jobs in Ghana. He speaks about how improving the agricultural sector will be critical to further reduce extreme poverty in the country. He commends Ghana that has invested in its people, specifically in education in most parts of the country. He appreciated the country’s urban areas that have grown quickly, creating more and higher-paying jobs.