Live from Bangkok: An update from the World Bank and IMF annual meetings

This Week in Global Development · Oct 15, 2026 · 22m

This week we are coming to you live from Devex Impact House, our summit on the sidelines of the World Bank and IMF annual meetings. We unpack the bank’s push for “small AI” in developing countries to avoid the considerable costs of building data center architecture, while weighing the risks of deepening technological dependency on the U.S. and China.

Alongside exploring the institution’s drive for private capital mobilization, we also note a shift in how it approaches climate change. Despite a year of extreme weather emergencies, the World Bank has dropped its 45% finance target in favor of…