World Bank's Banga sets goal of quintupling critical minerals financing in five years

World Bank President Ajay Banga announced a bold ambition for his institution - to quintuple financing for critical minerals within a mere five-year span. Speaking to a plenary session at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Banga unveiled the new objective while also announcing the bank's intent to partner with 20 countries on critical minerals development projects. "In critical minerals, we plan to quintuple our business in five years," Banga stated.

The World Bank's Metals and Minerals implementation plan is set to allocate $19 billion towards critical minerals financing over the fiscal period of 2026-2030, compared to a previous figure of $3.6 billion during fiscal years 2021-2025. This significant increase comes as the United States, being the World Bank's largest shareholder, has urged the bank to ramp up its financing resources for critical minerals.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed this sentiment, calling for the bank to play a more substantial role in facilitating critical minerals mining and processing capacity through project de-risking, finance, and investment in enabling infrastructure. This includes deep-sea mining projects. While Banga did not explicitly mention deep-sea mining, the bank's metals plan emphasizes a "precautionary approach" to the emerging sector, stipulating that any engagement and investments must adhere to the bank's existing policies.

Banga also highlighted the World Bank's broader financing increases during the 2026 fiscal year that concluded on June 30, with the institution mobilizing an impressive $112 billion in private capital - a more than threefold increase from the 2022 fiscal year. This surge in private financing, combined with the bank's own lending, resulted in a total financing amount of $230 billion for fiscal year 2026, as Banga reviewed during his tenure.