Devex Impact House
@ The World Bank/ IMF
Annual Meetings

AIIB President Zou Jiayi discusses how member countries’ priorities will shape the bank’s next chapter — from climate and resilient infrastructure to closer cooperation with other development banks.

• Zou Jiayi, president and chair of the board of directors, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
• Interviewed by: Raj Kumar, President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex

Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet CEO Woochong Um explores how philanthropy, development banks, and governments can work together to expand reliable electricity — and what emerging economies’ energy needs mean for the next development model.

• Woochong Um, CEO, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet
• Interviewed by: Jesse Chase-Lubitz, Global Development Reporter, Climate, Devex

Africa Finance Corporation President and CEO Samaila Zubairu explores how African capital, businesses, and partnerships can turn growing global demand for the continent’s resources into stronger industries, more jobs, and greater economic influence.

• Samaila Zubairu, president and CEO, Africa Finance Corporation
• Interviewed by: Raj Kumar, President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex

How can Asia’s philanthropists and investors turn growing wealth into lasting development gains, and what opportunities, incentives, and partnerships will shape where their money goes?

• Komal Sahu, senior advisor, AVPN
• Mei Chel Tan, global managing partner, 500 Global
• Interviewed by: Adva Saldinger, Senior Reporter, Devex

As some development banks pull back from explicit climate commitments and the politics grow more difficult, how can leaders make the case for investing in climate action? Rachel Kyte explores what this means for countries seeking finance — and how to build support around tangible benefits, from affordable electricity to cleaner air and protection from extreme heat.

• Rachel Kyte, UK special representative for climate, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
• Interviewed by: Raj Kumar, President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex

How can philanthropy and development finance work together to build local capital markets that bring domestic investors into financing growth — and keep that financing flowing over the long term?

• Nicholas Colloff, executive director, Argidius Foundation
• Andrew Shaw, managing director, Impact, FMO (Dutch Development Bank)
• Interviewed by: Adva Saldinger, Senior Reporter, Devex

With limited resources and competing demands, how can governments and global funders weigh investments in health coverage and preparedness — and what happens to the needs left unfunded?

• Priya Basyu, executive head, The Pandemic Fund Secretariat, World Bank
• Matthias Helble, head of WHO’s Tokyo Office and UHC Knowledge Hub
• Interviewed by: Kate Warren, Executive Vice President & Executive Editor, Devex

Join an audience discussion on priorities struggling for attention and investment — from health and climate to gender equality and LGBTQ+ inclusion — and how to advance them in a difficult political environment.

• Kate Warren, Executive Vice President & Executive Editor, Devex

With LGBTQ+ protections still on the books but increasingly unused, can development banks preserve funding and enforce inclusion commitments as other donors retreat?

• Midnight Poonkasetwattana, Executive Director, APCOM
• Manana Kochladze, human rights and democracy strategic area leader, Bankwatch
• Interviewed by: Kate Warren, Executive Vice President & Executive Editor, Devex

How can regional development banks expand their role in financing growth and attracting capital as aid declines, and what are the limits of their balance sheets?

• Serge Ekué, president, BOAD (West African Development Bank)
• Interviewed by: Jesse Chase-Lubitz, Global Development Reporter, Climate, Devex

How can development banks, catalytic capital, and insurance share risks that deter investment in frontier and fragile economies — and when does public support actually bring private investors in?

• Hodan Osman, president, Somali Development and Reconstruction Bank
• Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, executive secretary, United Nations Capital Development Fund
• Interviewed by: Adva Saldinger, Senior Reporter, Devex

Dealmakers unpack what it takes to turn development investment ambitions into actual transactions — from bringing partners together and sharing risk to overcoming obstacles and delivering financial returns and development impact.

• Faheen Allibhoy, Managing Director, Global Head of Development Finance & Advisory, J.P. Morgan
• Roland Siller, CEO, DEG - Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH
• Interviewed by: Adva Saldinger, Senior Reporter, Devex

As development finance increasingly focuses on getting deals done and mobilizing capital, leaders of the Future of Development Cooperation Coalition explore which purposes and principles should guide investment — and how to navigate competing country priorities, donor interests, and global needs.

• Alexia Latortue, head of secretariat, Future of Development Cooperation Coalition
• Interviewed by: Adva Saldinger, Senior Reporter, Devex

Children’s Investment Fund Foundation CEO Kate Hampton explores how philanthropy can use its growing influence to break down silos across health, climate, and education, strengthen country-led systems, and drive lasting development impact.

• Kate Hampton, chief executive officer, Children's Investment Fund Foundation
• Interviewed by: Raj Kumar, President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex

British International Investment CEO Leslie Maasdorp explores how development finance can rethink risk and financing models to unlock investment, grow businesses, and create jobs across Africa and Asia.

• Leslie Maasdorp, chief executive officer, British International Investment
• Interviewed by: Raj Kumar, President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex

How should aid evolve to help countries withstand shocks? Carsten Staur discusses how the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee is rethinking aid eligibility, vulnerability, and fragility — and what its wider reforms could mean for financing more resilient economies and systems.

• Carsten Staur, chair, OECD Development Assistance Committee
• Interviewed by: Adva Saldinger, Senior Reporter, Devex

A year after the World Bank Group launched AgriConnect, Anup Jagwani joins Devex to examine what it will take to turn its push for greater agribusiness investment into higher farmer incomes and more jobs. Where is financing reaching smallholders, what is holding back private investment, and what are early projects revealing about the promise — and limits — of making agriculture an engine of economic transformation?

• Anup Jagwani, director for farming and agribusiness, World Bank Group
• Interviewed by: Jesse Chase-Lubitz, Global Development Reporter, Climate, Devex

Inter-American Development Bank President Ilan Goldfajn explores how Latin America and the Caribbean can build resilience through critical minerals, AI, and private capital — and the bank’s potential role in Venezuela.

• Ilan Goldfajn, president, Inter-American Development Bank Group
• Interviewed by: Raj Kumar, President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex

In partnership with FinDev Canada

• Lori Kerr, CEO, FinDev Canada
• Rizki Hasan, president director/chief executive officer, PT Indonesia Infrastructure Finance (IIF)
• Interviewed by: Kate Warren, Executive Vice President & Executive Editor, Devex

GIZ Managing Director Ingrid-Gabriela Hoven discusses what happens when development commitments meet local realities, how partnerships adapt and what implementers need to make progress.

• Ingrid-Gabriela Hoven, Managing Director, GIZ
• Interviewed by: Jesse Chase-Lubitz, Global Development Reporter, Climate, Devex

Join Devex journalists for a live recording of This Week in Global Development, breaking down what’s making news in Bangkok — and what it means for the people and institutions shaping development.

• Adva Saldinger, Senior Reporter, Devex
• Jesse Chase-Lubitz, Global Development Reporter, Climate, Devex

In partnership with the Open Society Foundations

• Faris Abdurrachman, executive director and lead economist, Industrial Policy Lab Indonesia
• Deprose Muchena, director of programs, Open Society Foundations

African countries are strengthening their financial institutions, mobilizing their own capital, and coordinating demands for global reform. Yet international progress on debt, concessional finance, and voting power remains slow. Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi discusses what Africa and its partners must deliver next to turn reform into investment, economic transformation, and jobs.

• Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, president and CEO, African Center for Economic Transformation
• Interviewed by: Adva Saldinger, Senior Reporter, Devex

SouthBridge Investments CEO Frannie Léautier explores how African countries can mobilize domestic savings and attract long-term investment on better terms to create jobs and expand opportunity as aid recedes.

• Frannie Leautier, CEO and senior partner, SouthBridge Investment
• Interviewed by: Adva Saldinger, Senior Reporter, Devex

An open conversation on what it takes to build effective partnerships across Asia’s diverse markets. Regional leaders from development organizations, foundations, and investors join the stage throughout the discussion, with audience contributions on aligning with local priorities, finding the right partners, and turning shared interests into practical collaboration.

• Kate Warren, Executive Vice President & Executive Editor, Devex

In partnership with Public Digital

• James Stewart, partner and global chief technology officer, Public Digital
• Raine Lester, global communications expert, Public Digital
• Interviewed by: Kate Warren, Executive Vice President & Executive Editor, Devex

Windfall Trust CEO Adrian Brown explores how governments can prepare for AI’s effects on jobs, tax revenues, and economic security — and the policy models that could help countries manage disruption.

• Adrian Brown, founder and CEO, Windfall Trust
• Interviewed by: Raj Kumar, President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex

UNOPS Executive Director Jorge Moreira da Silva discusses efforts to protect fertilizer and humanitarian shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, and what that work and development system reforms reveal about the U.N.’s ability to deliver amid geopolitical confrontation.

• Jorge Moreira da Silva, Under-secretary-general, United Nations and executive director, UNOPS
• Interviewed by: Raj Kumar, President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex

How can regional risk pools attract private capital to close the disaster protection gap and get financing in place before climate shocks hit?

• David Maslo, CEO, African Risk Capacity Limited
• Benedikt Signer, CEO, SEADRIF, SEADRIF Insurance Company
• Interviewed by: Adva Saldinger, Senior Reporter, Devex

World Bank Group Director of Data and AI Jonathan Gen Nagao discusses how the Bank is helping developing countries turn AI’s promise into better services, stronger businesses, and more jobs — and move beyond pilots to lasting impact.

• Jonathan Gen Nagao, Director of Data and AI, World Bank Group
• Interviewed by: Jesse Chase-Lubitz, Global Development Reporter, Climate, Devex

How can the development community help countries turn AI’s promise into better services and more jobs — and what role should development finance play in building local capacity, managing risks, and ensuring countries help shape the technologies they adopt?

• Edward Tsoi, CEO, AI Safety Asia
• Interviewed by: Jesse Chase-Lubitz, Global Development Reporter, Climate, Devex

Rachel Glennerster explores how philanthropy fueled by AI wealth could finance health and climate breakthroughs that markets won’t deliver — by committing to pay for innovations that meet defined goals.

• Rachel Glennerster, president, Centre for Global Development
• Interviewed by: Raj Kumar, President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex

Ahead of the 2026 U.N. Water Conference, His Excellency Abdulla Balalaa joins Devex to discuss how the UAE and Senegal aim to put water on the agenda of finance ministers and investors — and turn global commitments into bankable projects and lasting partnerships.

• Abdulla Balalaa, assistant minister of foreign affairs for energy and sustainability, UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Interviewed by: Kate Warren, Executive Vice President & Executive Editor, Devex

This conversation explores how stronger utilities, viable projects, and smarter use of public finance can unlock investment in water systems — and where private capital can realistically help close the gap.

• Saroj Kumar Jha, global director, World Bank Group's Water Department
• Tim Wainwright, CEO, WaterAid
• Interviewed by: Jesse Chase-Lubitz, Global Development Reporter, Climate, Devex

Following the World Bank Group’s inaugural Philanthropy Forum, we’ll explore how its philanthropy strategy can turn foundations’ capital, expertise, and networks into stronger development partnerships — and what both sides must change to deliver results at scale.

• Arturo Franco, director, Group Strategy Office, World Bank Group
• Elizabeth Yee, executive vice president, Programs The Rockefeller Foundation
• Interviewed by: Adva Saldinger, Senior Reporter, Devex

Wrap up the week with refreshments, light bites, and a chance to connect with peers.