Page 9 of this World Bank brief showcasing Bridge International emphasizes the shared values between Bridge International (a private for-profit tech start-up) and the IFC. The excerpt from the brief (pasted below) also highlights the shared emphasis on scale (which is a requisite for the growth of capital). Here we see the increased convergence between World Bank and Silicon Valley logics, with Silicon Valley perhaps increasingly better placed to export neoliberalism to parts of the global South (especially in the aftermath of critiques of development from the 1980s).
"By 2013 Bridge had opened 213 academies across Kenya, reached 57,000 students, recruited and trained over 2,000 people, and attracted investments from the Omidyar Network, Learn Capital and NEA. The organization knew it would need additional capital and investors if it wanted to continue to improve learning outcomes and expand beyond Kenya. So Bridge leadership sought investors that shared its goals. Bridge approached IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, to become a lead investor with a $10 million investment as part of an equity fundraising. Beyond seed financing, Bridge was also looking for advice in addressing the regulatory challenges that come with cross-border expansion. In addition to IFC, Bridge brought on other key investors such as the U.K.’s CDC, Novastar, PanAfrican Investment, Rethink Education, as well as high profile individuals like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. Bridge also got a loan from the U.S.’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation."
