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Home / DFI Index / DFI Transparency Index 2023 / World Bank
DFI

DFI Transparency Index 2023

World Bank

Score:
65.4
Position:
4 / 9

Overview

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries. It consists of the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). IDA provides concessional or interest-free loans and grants to governments of the poorest countries, while IBRD lends to governments of middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries. It was established in 1944, and was among the first multilateral development banks to become an IATI member in 2008. 

Total asset size: $536.6bn
Key links
  • World Bank website
  • World Bank project database

Analysis

The World Bank came fourth in the sovereign assessment with a score of 65.4 out of 100. It is a publisher to the IATI Standard and has a free, bulk export available for its investment database. The World Bank performed well in the Impact Management component coming joint second, but came fourth and fifth in the other three components. The World Bank disclosed for the majority of project-level indicators for the index. However, it lost points for a number of indicators because it did not disclose consistently enough across the sample. 

World Bank came fourth in the Core Information component with a score of 20.69 out of 30. It scored in sixteen of the seventeen indicators of the assessment. World Bank did not score for the loan agreement/contract indicator as it did not publish them consistently enough. It scored 100% for ten of the indicators because it publishes to IATI and provides a bulk download file. However, it dropped points for other indicators as not all data points were disclosed in the bulk download file. 

World Bank came joint second in the Impact Management component with 25.33 out of 30. It scored for all five indicators of the component, getting 100% for the sector/country strategies, evaluation, and activity indicators/metrics indicators. On the project level, it was one of three sovereign DFIs to score for all questions in the indicators. 

World Bank came joint fifth in the ESG and Accountability to Communities component with 16.33 out of 30. It performed relatively well for project-level disclosure as it was one of two sovereign DFIs to get 100% for the summary of E&S risks indicator. It was the only DFI to score for the assurance of project-level grievance mechanism (PGM) community disclosure indicator. However, it lost points for the E&S project plans/assessments indicator as it did not consistently publish all E&S documents that were produced, including the minimum required for higher risk projects. World Bank failed certain organisation-level questions that many other sovereign DFIs passed, including early global disclosure policy, an explanation of project risk categorisation, and an investment exemption list. 

World Bank came fourth in the Financial Information component with a score of 3 out of 10. World Bank scored for the financial reports/statements and co-financing indicators but not for the currency of investment and instrument-specific disclosure indicators. 

Core Information 20.69 / 30
Impact Management 25.33 / 30
ESG & Accountability to Communities 16.33 / 30
Financial Information 3 / 10

Recommendations

  • World Bank should disclose more data points in its bulk download file that it already publishes elsewhere, including disbursement data, funding source, and last update date. 
  • It should publish client contact details and consistently publish the sub-national location to the IATI Standard, which are already disclosed on its data portal. 
  • It should consistently disclose loan agreements/contracts for its investments. 
  • World Bank should publish the date of activity disclosure and consistently publish the signature date. 
  • World Bank should review its access to information policy according to Publish What You Fund’s DFI Transparency Tool and current best practice, including detailing its procedure for early disclosure of investments. 
  • For Impact Management it should disclose the impact standards/initiatives it is aligned to and its approach to determining impact attribution. 
  • For ESG and Accountability to Communities it should disclose an explanation of project E&S risk categorisation and a list of investment exemptions. 
  • World Bank should publish E&S documents for all investments, including the minimum documentation required for higher risk projects.  
  • It should create a policy guiding the disclosure of the presence of the independent accountability mechanism (IAM) at community level. 
  • It should consistently provide assurance of community disclosure for investments when disclosure is required. 
  • World Bank should also consistently disclose further Financial Information, including the currency of investment, interest rate, and loan tenor. 
Core Information 20.69 / 30
Impact Management 25.33 / 30
ESG & Accountability to Communities 16.33 / 30
Financial Information 3 / 10

Deep Dive

Core InformationImpact ManagementESG & Accountability to CommunitiesFinancial Information

Core Information

20.69 / 30
4 / 9
About component

The basic information that describes a DFI’s organisational policies and investments. This type of information is typically found in key organisation documents and represents the first tier of project information, typically disclosed on project web pages or in files available for bulk download. At the organisation level this includes access to information policies and annual reports. At the project level, this includes project titles, locations, and key dates.

Disclosure / access to information policy

Score: 1.5 out of 3

Accessibility

Score: 2 out of 2

Annual reports

Score: 1 out of 1

Project identification

Score: 1.5 out of 1.5

Status

Score: 1.5 out of 1.5

Project description

Score: 1.5 out of 1.5

Location

Score: 0.94 out of 1.5

Sovereign / non-sovereign

Score: 1.5 out of 1.5

Sector

Score: 1.5 out of 1.5

Investment instrument

Score: 1.5 out of 1.5

Project costs

Score: 0.63 out of 1.5

Funding source

Score: 0.75 out of 1.5

Client

Score: 1.5 out of 1.5

Contacts

Score: 1.31 out of 1.5

E&S risk category

Score: 1.5 out of 1.5

Progress dates

Score: 0.56 out of 1.5

Contract (sovereign only)

Score: 0 out of 4.5

Impact Management

25.33 / 30
2 / 9
About component

The ways in which a DFI predicts, measures, and evaluates the impacts of their investments. At the organisation level, this includes an impact measurement approach. At the project level, this includes activity indicators/metrics and results.

Impact measurement approach

Score: 2 out of 6

Sector / country strategy

Score: 4 out of 4

Evaluations

Score: 4 out of 4

Activity indicators / metrics

Score: 8 out of 8

Results

Score: 7.33 out of 8

ESG & Accountability to Communities

16.33 / 30
5 / 9
About component

The ways in which a DFI predicts, mitigates, and communicates the ESG aspects of their activities. At the organisation level this includes E&S global disclosure policy and E&S community disclosure policy. At the project level this includes E&S plans and assessments, and assurance of community disclosure.

E&S global disclosure policy

Score: 2.5 out of 5

E&S community disclosure policy

Score: 4 out of 4

IAM global disclosure documentation

Score: 2 out of 2

IAM community disclosure policy

Score: 0 out of 2

PGM community disclosure policy

Score: 2 out of 2

Summary of E&S risks

Score: 2 out of 2

E&S project plans / assessments

Score: 1.33 out of 4

Assurance of E&S community disclosure

Score: 1 out of 3

IAM global disclosure

Score: 1 out of 1

Assurance of IAM community disclosure

Score: 0 out of 2.5

Assurance of PGM community disclosure

Score: 0.5 out of 2.5

Financial Information

3 / 10
4 / 9
About component

This information provides details on the financial performance of DFIs and the structuring of investments. At the organisation level, this includes audited financial reports. At the project level, this includes currency of investment, mobilisation, and concessionality

Financial reports / statements

Score: 1 out of 1

Currency of investment

Score: 0 out of 2

Co-financing

Score: 2 out of 4

Instrument-specific disclosure

Score: 0 out of 3
DFI

DFI Transparency Index 2023

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