New Delhi, April 24 (IANS) The World Bank Group has announced the launch of the next phase of its Private Sector Investment Lab (PSIL), focused on implementing proven solutions at scale, and its new members include Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises.

This new chapter also expands the Lab’s membership to include industry leaders with experience generating jobs in developing economies, aligning directly with the Bank’s sharpened focus on job creation as a core driver of development, it said in a statement.

“With the expanded membership, we are mainstreaming this work across our operations and tying it directly to the jobs agenda that is driving our strategy,” said World Bank Group President, Ajay Banga.

“This isn’t about altruism — it’s about helping the private sector see a path to investments that will deliver returns, and lift people and economies alike. It’s central to our mandate,” Banga added.

New members of the Lab include Bill Anderson, CEO, Bayer AG; Sunil Mittal; Aliko Dangote, President and CEO, Dangote Group’ and Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

“The World Bank Group is leading the way with initiatives to grow economies and create opportunities in emerging markets around the globe. As President Banga has said, the private sector will play a pivotal role in this transformation, and I am delighted to join the PSIL alongside other distinguished business leaders,” said Mittal.

I have seen firsthand the power of connectivity to transform lives by creating opportunities for businesses to grow and communities to thrive. I hope that the successes of the telecommunications sector will be valuable as PSIL embarks on the next stage of its important work,” Mittal added.

Over the last 18 months, the Lab brought together leaders from global financial institutions to identify the most pressing barriers to private sector investment in developing countries — and to test actionable solutions.

“We are grateful to the original Lab leaders who helped us deliver strong results in the initial work period,” Banga said. “Now we’re building on that foundation — bringing in additional leaders from sectors that are central to job creation and moving from ideas to implementation,” he noted.

The Lab is chaired by Shriti Vadera, Chair of Prudential plc.

“We welcome our new members’ support in continuing our focus on five key areas: regulatory and policy certainty; guarantees, as the most widely used and understood instrument to address political and credit risks; foreign exchange risk; scaling different forms of equity; and creating an asset class and liquid market to attract institutional funds, said Vadera.