Bridgewater Associates and advocacy group Global Citizen have joined forces to offer macroeconomic research aimed at assisting the World Bank in securing approximately $5 billion to extend loans to developing nations, Reuters reported. The collaboration, announced on Monday, sees the $112.5 billion hedge fund stepping in to provide crucial insights. The research will empower governments worldwide to make well-informed decisions regarding potential contributions to the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) fund. Nir Bar Dea, CEO of Bridgewater, emphasised that the research will particularly concentrate on Africa, a region that has been a beneficiary of the IDA fund in recent years. He highlighted the continent's evolving demographic landscape, noting projections that suggest sub-Saharan Africa will encompass a quarter of the global working-age population within a few decades, surpassing even China in about ten years. Bar Dea stressed the urgency of scaling up strategic investments by the public sector, particularly in critical areas such as access to electricity and healthcare. Drawing on nearly five decades of experience as a macro hedge fund trading various assets across multiple countries, Bridgewater has a history of leveraging economic research to inform its investment strategies. Its track record, placing it as the fourth most profitable fund according to LCH Investments, underscores its expertise in this domain. While Bar Dea did not disclose the current allocation of Bridgewater's investments in African assets, Global Citizen's role will be to utilise Bridgewater's research to raise awareness of the continent's pressing needs. Hugh Evans, co-founder and CEO of Global Citizen, expressed optimism that this partnership would bolster the World Bank's fundraising efforts. He highlighted that the research would be accessible to Global Citizen's 12 million members and G20 countries, crucial donors to the IDA fund.
