World Bank report ties AI’s promise for education to power and internet gaps in rural schools
World Bank’s World Development Report 2026 says AI could improve schooling in developing countries, but a third of rural African schools lack power.
Photo by Tosin Olowoleni on Pexels
The World Bank Group released its “World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence” on August 4, 2026, arguing that AI could help developing countries improve education, health care and other public services within a decade, but only if governments close gaps in electricity, internet access, skills and institutions first. The report states that in Sub-Saharan Africa, nearly one-third of rural schools still lack reliable electricity and more than two-thirds lack dependable internet access, conditions the Bank says must be fixed before AI in education can reach most students.
What the World Development Report found
The report, described by the World Bank as the first comprehensive assessment of AI’s implications for developing countries, found that jobs in high-income countries are more than three times as likely to face automation risk from generative AI as jobs in low- and middle-income countries: 14.2% of existing jobs at risk in high-income countries compared with 4.5% in developing economies. At the same time, the productivity upside is closer between the two groups, with 16.2% of jobs in developing economies positioned for a meaningful AI productivity boost, against 18.7% in high-income countries.
| Metric | High-income countries | Developing economies |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs at risk of AI automation | 14.2% | 4.5% |
| Jobs with meaningful AI productivity boost | 18.7% | 16.2% |
Source: World Bank Group, “World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence,” press release (August 4, 2026).
The infrastructure gap in schools
Indermit Gill, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank Group, said developing economies “do not need large models or big data centers” to benefit from AI and can adapt “small, low-cost AI tools to local conditions” to bring “better medical care, education, judicial services and agricultural extension within reach of millions.” He added that governments “must hurry” because AI is spreading faster and is more context-specific than earlier general-purpose technologies like electricity and the internet.
The report warns that none of this is possible without first investing in basic infrastructure. In Sub-Saharan Africa specifically, nearly one-third of rural schools lack reliable electricity and more than two-thirds lack dependable internet access, a gap the World Bank says it is addressing through Mission 300, a partnership aiming to provide energy access to 300 million people across Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. Gaurav Nayyar, Director of the World Development Report 2026, said “the window to get this right is narrow” and that countries building “power, connectivity, skills, and institutions” now will be positioned to adopt and adapt AI for their people.
This infrastructure-first framing echoes findings in the OECD’s 2026 Digital Education Outlook on generative AI, which similarly found that AI tools deliver sustained gains only when paired with deliberate pedagogical design rather than open, unstructured access. It also aligns with the World Economic Forum’s AI readiness framework for education, which assesses whether school systems have the connectivity and teacher capacity needed before scaling AI tools.
What the report recommends
The World Bank sets out a three-step path for developing countries: adopt available AI tools, adapt them to local conditions, and over time advance toward frontier AI development, an approach intended to help countries avoid costly attempts to replicate advanced AI systems before basic conditions are in place. The report also calls for expanding access to computing power, improving the availability of local-language data so AI tools can be tailored to local populations, and building clearer procurement and evaluation frameworks so governments can determine which AI pilots actually deliver results.
On trust, the report states that “improved public services and better learning outcomes in schools will reinforce trust” in AI systems, but warns that trust will be difficult to recover if AI embeds bias in government decisions or erodes data privacy. The report recommends governments start with voluntary industry standards anchored in international cooperation, and apply existing laws directly to address harms when voluntary measures fall short.
Background
The World Development Report is the World Bank Group’s flagship annual research publication, produced since 1978 to examine a single major development issue in depth; past editions have covered topics including jobs, digital dividends, and services. The 2026 edition marks the Bank’s first dedicated assessment of AI’s implications specifically for low- and middle-income countries, following growing international attention to AI and education policy from bodies including the OECD, UNESCO and the World Economic Forum over the preceding two years. The report’s release on August 4, 2026 sets out the infrastructure and policy conditions the World Bank says must be met before AI can meaningfully improve education and other public services in the countries it studied.
Source: World Bank
Featured image: photo by Tosin Olowoleni on Pexels (free Pexels license).
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I specialize in sustainability education, curriculum co-creation, and early-stage project strategy. At WINSS, I craft articles on sustainability, transformative AI, and related topics. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me chasing the perfect sushi roll, exploring cities around the globe, or unwinding with my dog Puffy — the world’s most loyal sidekick.
