IFC Uses Art to Show Private Sector’s Role in Reducing Poverty

Welcome to IFC’s art exhibition! Renowned artist Ingo Günther and IFC have teamed up to make tangible some of the development challenges facing our globe and demonstrate how the private sector can contribute to poverty alleviation.

Günther’s collection of illuminated globes illustrates challenges of social and economic development in countries and regions around the world. The 15 globes are on display at IFC headquarters in Washington, D.C., as part of the organization’s 50th anniversary this year.

“The globes are a vivid and graphic representation of the work all of us in the international community have to do to address poor economic, environmental, and social conditions in emerging markets around the world,” explains Michael Klein, Vice President of Private Sector Development at IFC and the World Bank. “They are also a reminder of the significant advances that have occurred in many developing nations, in part because of IFC’s 50 years of private sector investment.” 

For the last half-century, IFC has provided capital to companies entering less developed and transition countries. Through private sector investment, IFC brings capital and jobs to developing countries, helping to reduce poverty, improve lives, and increase attention to the environment.

The artist believes that the globes are an interactive way to spark a debate about development challenges today. Günther is known for his socially conscious art, including video installations.  The globes on display at IFC depict social and economic factors including:

• Countries below the poverty line;
• Foreign direct investment flows among developing countries;
• Maturity of capital markets;
• Access to drinking water;
• The relative distribution of IFC’s investments in developing countries; and
• Countries’ rankings on the IFC/World Bank Doing Business index, which measures regulatory and structural impediments to private sector development.