Podcast Summary: World Bank | The Development Podcast
Episode: Everything Connected: Building Systems to Create Jobs
Date: November 6, 2025
Host: Tony Carasani
Duration: ~22 minutes

Episode Overview

This episode explores the interconnected systems needed to create jobs on a large scale in developing economies. The discussion covers essential infrastructure, sector-specific strategies, digital transformation, technological innovation like “small AI,” and the empowerment of agribusiness—especially through stories from Africa and South Asia. The episode features insights from leaders including World Bank President Ajay Banga, Nigeria’s Digital Economy Minister Dr. Bosun Tejani, Egypt’s Planning Minister Rania Al Mashat, tech and policy experts, and grassroots entrepreneurs.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Creating Jobs Is the North Star of Development

[00:14-02:10] Ajay Banga, World Bank President

• Jobs as the Outcome: Job creation is framed as the core outcome and the “ultimate goal” of development, not just a result. Everything—from healthcare to infrastructure—feeds into the ability for people to earn a living and shape their own futures.

  • Quote (Ajay Banga, 02:10):
    “Jobs are not an accidental byproduct of development or a trade off. They are the ultimate outcome of development done right.”

• Systemic Thinking: Building employment systems requires integrated investments, not siloed efforts. Major World Bank initiatives cited include connecting millions to electricity ("Mission 300") and expanding health services globally.

2. Ecosystem Approach to Sector Development

[03:02-04:36] Rania Al Mashat, Egypt’s Minister

• Tourism as an Example: Tourism accounts for 15% of Egypt’s GDP. Its “employment multiplier” shows that every tourism job creates two to three more in connected sectors like restaurants, infrastructure, and entertainment.
  • Quote (Rania Al Mashat, 03:56):
    “The employment multiplier...is quite significant. We’re talking employment multiplier of 2 to 3. So it means if we focus on tourism, we are able to generate multiples of jobs.”

3. Agriconnect: Supporting Smallholder Farmers for Food Security and Jobs

[04:36-05:40] Ajay Banga & Host Tony Carasani

• Agriconnect Initiative: Launched at Annual Meetings, aiming to double World Bank agribusiness financing to $9B/year by 2030 and mobilize an extra $5B with partners.
  • Quote (Ajay Banga, 05:06):
    “Africa has 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land and can boost yields...An enormous base that we can help lift with better technology, better finance, and better access to markets.”

4. Digital Transformation as a Foundation for Job Creation

[06:11-10:19] Dr. Bosun Tejani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy

• Layers of Digital Infrastructure:
  1. Foundational Connectivity: Nigeria is ~40% to universal, affordable internet. Eight subsea cables place Nigeria as West Africa’s data hub.
  2. Technology Stack: Digital ID (130M adults) and the continent’s best interbank system.
  3. Application Layer: Seven tech unicorns, growing digital innovation, but still gaps in data exchange and internal government digital solutions.
• Cross-Sector Impact: Digital progress boosts healthcare, education, agriculture (e.g., smart farming), and is crucial for coping with rapid population growth.
  • Quote (Dr. Bosun Tejani, 08:48):
    “If we plug the gap that exists...technology, particularly digital, can help enhance how we deliver health services…The same for education...Same for agriculture, for instance.”

5. Small AI: Purpose-Driven Technology for Job Creation

[10:19-15:18] Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business, Tufts University

• Big AI vs. Small AI:

  • Big AI: Developed in major tech hubs, resource-intensive, aiming for superintelligence.
  • Small AI: Purpose-specific, localized, uses less data, less power—enables targeted benefits in developing regions.
    • Quote (Bhaskar Chakravorti, 12:59):
      “Small AI is getting away from power...It’s purpose-driven....If a tiny injection of knowledge can move the needle even a small bit, it leads to a big change.”

• Practical Example: Agricultural apps (like Nuru, Plantex) help smallholder farmers instantly identify crop pests, potentially doubling yields and farmer incomes. Benefits ripple out to educators, extension workers, IT professionals, and local communities.

  • Quote (Chakravorti, 13:11):
    “If you can reduce [crop loss] to 20%, 25%,...massive swing in people’s incomes. It creates jobs for farmers. It potentially extends the livelihood...of women and creates new jobs for others in the community.”

6. Empowering Agribusiness and Women: Field Stories

[15:48-21:56] Nidhi Pant, S4S Technologies; Chege Karundi, Kenya Tea Development Agency

• Women Farmers as Entrepreneurs:

  • S4S provides women with renewable-energy food processors, enabling them to produce value-added products (e.g., ketchup from surplus tomatoes), earn higher incomes, and access better markets.
  • Quote (Nidhi Pant, 15:48):
    “We are empowering smallholder women farmers to become food processors...they can access more higher valued markets and capture more value for their produce.”
  • Real-life impact story: Rekha Tai, a woman able to work from home processing food, allowing her daughter to return to school and shifting household dynamics toward equality and dignity.
    • Quote (Nidhi Pant, 18:10):
      “What we realized was that with the men farmers, they are great at producing...But what they lack is the information about markets...So we started creating these opportunities...provide them with dignity, have more control over their time.”

• Tea Aggregation and Export:

  • Kenya Tea Development Agency supports 700,000 small-scale tea growers, focusing on improving export revenues, foreign currency generation, and family livelihoods. Aggregation and market access remain key.
  • Quote (Chege Karundi, 20:17):
    “Our farmers depend on tea revenue...We need to find ways and means of increasing revenue for the farm.”

Memorable Quotes and Moments

• Ajay Banga (02:10):
  “Jobs are not one development goal among many. They are the one that sits atop all the others.”

• Rania Al Mashat (03:56):
  “Each direct job [in tourism] creates 2 to 3 indirect jobs.”

• Dr. Bosun Tejani (08:48):
  “Technology, particularly digital technologies, can help enhance how we deliver health services...Better government can be a lot more informed...The same for education...for agriculture…”

• Bhaskar Chakravorti (12:59):
  “Small AI is getting away from the power...It’s purpose, purpose-driven. Narrower data sets with models trained for a specialized purpose.”

• Nidhi Pant (18:10):
  “What we realized...is to create everything designed, keeping [women] at the center and create opportunities which provide them with dignity as well as financial independence.”

• Chege Karundi (20:17):
  “It becomes very important therefore to commercialize our tea...We have to double the revenue of tea farmers, and we can’t do that without reaching out the market.”

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Content | |------------|----------| | 00:14 | Strategic, interconnected World Bank initiatives overview (Ajay Banga)
| 02:10 | Ajay Banga’s “jobs as the outcome” argument
| 03:56 | Rania Al Mashat on tourism's job multiplier effect
| 05:06 | Ajay Banga introduces Agriconnect investment for smallholders
| 06:21 | Dr. Bosun Tejani on Nigeria’s digital transformation layers
| 08:48 | Tejani on digital transformation’s impact across sectors
| 10:54 | Bhaskar Chakravorti explains “small AI”
| 13:11 | How “small AI” creates jobs and raises incomes (agriculture example)
| 15:48 | Nidhi Pant on women’s entrepreneurship in agribusiness
| 16:50 | Chege Karundi explains tea aggregation for smallholder farmers
| 18:10 | Nidhi Pant’s story on transformative impact for rural women
| 20:17 | Chege Karundi on commercialization and revenue for farmers
| 22:21 | Wrap-up poem by Mufasa, reinforcing agriculture’s centrality

Closing Reflection: Mufasa’s Poem on Agriculture

[22:21 - end]

• Concludes with a poetic reflection on agriculture’s critical, often underappreciated, role in nourishing families, communities, and economies, as well as the need for youth engagement and innovation in the sector.

  • Quote (Mufasa):
    “I watched a three-acre farm raise a banker, a pharmacist, an entrepreneur...agriculture has done way more for the people—held families more than hands, handed a future to even those who know nothing about plants.”

Takeaways

• Sustainable job creation demands systems-level thinking—linking infrastructure, education, tech, sector ecosystems, and policy.
• Technology, especially purpose-driven “small AI” and widespread digital access, holds transformational potential for developing economies.
• Sector strategies (e.g., tourism, agribusiness) must be inclusive, interconnected, and grounded in local realities.
• Women’s economic empowerment and value addition redefine rural livelihoods.
• The private sector, innovation, and international cooperation are crucial.
• Agriculture’s legacy and future hinge on investment, inclusion, and imagination—“What are we waiting for?”