Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility
World Bank pandemic financing facility, 2017 to 2021, that paid out on preset triggers.
The Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility closed in 2021, so DR Congo's 2026 Ebola response runs on pledges instead, which a G20 meeting in New York lifted to about $3bn on 23 September.
Last refreshed: 4 October 2026
Timeline for Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility
Mentioned in: G20 talks take Ebola pledges to US$3bn
Pandemics and BiosecurityMentioned in: Africa CDC wins direct pandemic funding
Pandemics and BiosecurityBackground
The Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility was a World Bank fund that paid out on preset triggers rather than donor appeals. The bank launched it in 2017, selling $320m of pandemic bonds plus swaps to private investors. A payout needed set counts of countries, cases and deaths, and sustained case growth.
Its record drew criticism. By the 13th month of the 2018-2020 Kivu Ebola epidemic it had paid $31m into the response, while bondholders had received $75.5m in premiums. It paid about $196m for COVID-19 on 17 April 2020. Critics said its trigger rules paid too slowly.
The World Bank did not renew the insurance window when the bonds matured on 15 July 2020, and the facility closed in 2021. No standing fund like it exists, so the 2026 Ebola response in DR Congo relies on pledges.
No standing fund replaced the facility
The facility's closure in 2021 left Ebola finance running on pledging meetings again. In 2026 DR Congo's response waited for a G20 foreign ministers' meeting, convened by the United States in New York on 23 September, which lifted pledges to about $3bn, with the United States the largest donor at $887m. Africa CDC said it would strengthen its Financial Tracking Mechanism to follow pledges through to disbursement.
Outbreak money has moved through other channels instead. On 17 June the Pandemic Fund, set up by G20 countries in 2022, gave Africa CDC direct access to its grants for the first time; transfers had previously had to pass through the World Bank or WHO.