MIGA (Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency)
MIGA (the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency) is the World Bank Group institution that promotes foreign investment in developing countries by issuing guarantees against non-commercial risks. An international convention established MIGA on 12 April 1988. MIGA states that it unites 154 developing and 28 industrialised member countries and that, since 2024, it has been the home of the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform.
MIGA's about and products pages frame the Agency as an insurer and guarantor, not a lender. Guarantees protect public and private investments against specified political and related risks and, for certain products, provide credit enhancement so that lenders can extend financing into markets that would otherwise be constrained.
How MIGA is used on bank EF and PF desks
In project finance and cross-border investment structures, banks and equity investors use MIGA cover as multilateral political risk insurance or credit enhancement. Political risk guarantee categories on MIGA's products site include breach of contract, currency inconvertibility and transfer restriction, expropriation, and war and civil disturbance. Credit guarantee and related products address borrower or public-payment default exposures, including non-honouring of public debt and partial or full credit guarantees for loans and bonds. Trade finance guarantees cover selected short-term trade exposures such as trade loans and letter of credit confirmation.
MIGA positions World Bank Group membership and government relationships as supporting deterrence and resolution when host governments are counterparties to covered risks. Cover can sit alongside multilateral lending and private PRI capacity. Documentation treats MIGA as the named guarantor under a contract of guarantee, not as a syndicate lender.
Eligibility, tenor and product boundaries
Eligible guarantee holders are generally nationals or entities of MIGA member countries other than the host country. Host-country nationals may be eligible in limited cases where invested funds come from outside the host country and the host joins the application. Guarantees typically run for periods of up to 15 years, and occasionally 20 years, with a stated minimum length of three years. Loan cover is usually matched to loan tenor.
MIGA states that it does not lend and does not provide export credit insurance. Covered interests include equity, loans related to an investment project, and certain contracts whose remuneration depends on project revenues or production. The guarantee holder may reduce or cancel cover from the third anniversary under stated conditions, while MIGA may terminate for non-compliance. MIGA discloses summaries of proposed guarantees and project briefs as part of its transparency practice.