World Bank Targets $19 Billion for Critical Minerals by 2030

The World Bank plans to quintuple its critical minerals business in five years. President Ajay Banga set the goal in Bangkok on Friday, and on Saturday the world's big development banks published a framework to work on minerals together.

The money is the clearest signal. The bank's new Metals and Minerals plan targets $19 billion in critical minerals financing over fiscal 2026 to 2030, against $3.6 billion over fiscal 2021 to 2025, Reuters reported. Banga said the bank has identified 20 countries it can partner with on minerals projects. "In critical minerals, we plan to quintuple our business in five years," he said in prepared remarks to a plenary session at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings. "This week, we launched our first country compacts with MDB partners, to build local industries and keep more jobs and value at home."

The Saturday framework

The outline published on Saturday widens the pledge beyond one bank. The World Bank, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank and Inter-American Development Bank will strengthen efforts to help mineral-rich developing economies add value at home, by moving beyond extraction into processing, refining and manufacturing.

The banks plan mineral corridors that bundle power, transport, logistics, water and digital infrastructure around mining projects. They will use co-financing and guarantees to pull in private capital, align environmental and social standards, and coordinate support to governments, according to the outline.

The politics underneath

Critical minerals are where the United States wants the bank to spend more. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this week he wanted the bank to play a bigger role in mining and processing capacity, through project de-risking, finance and enabling infrastructure. He said this includes deep-sea mining projects. Banga did not mention deep-sea mining. The bank's plan takes a precautionary approach to the sector, and says any work there must fit bank policies.

Banga also used the speech to report the bank's wider numbers. In fiscal 2026, which ended June 30, the group mobilized $112 billion in private capital, more than three times the fiscal 2022 figure, taking total group financing to $230 billion.

What happens next

Country compacts come first: named deals with some of the 20 partner countries, showing which mines, plants and corridors get financed. The test of the $19 billion is not the headline. It is whether processing plants get built where the minerals come out of the ground.