Freshfields Concludes External Review of CAO Investigation into IFC Investment in Bridge International Academies

On March 7, 2025, the World Bank Group announced the conclusion of an independent review of CAO’s investigation into IFC’s investment in Bridge International Academies. IFC’s Board of Executive Directors retained global law firm, Freshfields, to conduct the review, which considered whether IFC, intentionally or otherwise, impeded, restricted, constrained, burdened, or interfered with the CAO investigation, and whether such action or inaction limited the effectiveness of the CAO investigation. 

World Bank Group President Ajay Banga called for the probe in May 2024 after a CAO investigation found that IFC had received reports of child sexual abuse while invested in Bridge International Academies and, among other protocol shortcomings, the allegations were not acted on as early or aggressively as they could have been.

Freshfields concluded that IFC did not act with the intent to obstruct or frustrate the CAO investigation. Freshfields also found that IFC could have cooperated with the CAO investigation in a more timely, efficient, and rigorous manner. Nonetheless, Freshfields concluded that IFC’s approach to cooperation with the CAO investigation did not impact the CAO’s ultimate conclusions.

Read the World Bank Group’s full press release here.