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Improving Skills in Equatorial Guinea to Meet Changing Labor Market Demands
ProblemEquatorial Guinea faces twin challenges: to make growth more sustainable, by developing commercially viable new activities beyond hydrocarbons and public investment; and to make it more inclusi... Show More + ve, by creating economic opportunities and enabling Equatoguineans to seize them. To address these challenges, the government is seeking to better integrate human capital development into a successful strategy for economic diversification.Unlocking new sources of growth requires a process of removing binding constraints that currently prevent private sector investment. In Equatorial Guinea, a human capital deficit is clearly a binding constraint, and substantial institutional challenges remain. As a consequence, risks at both macro and micro levels create disincentives for investment.ApproachSteps are being taken to address the immediate human resources development needs. In addition, in the short and medium terms, key actions also need to include:Setting ambitious targets for human development, backed by sufficient resource allocation and a clear distribution of responsibilities among the agencies involved.Focusing on quality and measuring results rigorously in order to detect and address weaknesses in the system that may not be apparent from measuring inputs such as spending or the number of schools or activities, like enrollment.Ensuring that skills are relevant to the labor market for a country undergoing rapid transformation that is likely to result in substantial changes in labor demand over the coming years, by drawing on principles that can help to avoid skills mismatches, such as ensuring an active role of the private sector in defining priorities for the education system and putting in place an effective labor market information system.Using new social protection tools, such as conditional cash transfers, to alleviate chronic poverty and catalyze human capital development.As a first decisive action towards addressing the human development constraint, the Government of Equatorial Guinea sought World Bank technical assistance with the signing of a Reimbursable Advisory Services Agreement covering competencies and skills in education. The activities have been defined and are being jointly implemented by the authorities and a World Bank Group team. The approach is to provide short-term courses to upgrade the skills of government, private, and autonomous enterprise officials, and prepare a longer-term sustainable solution to ensure a flow of skilled personnel and to offer lifelong learning opportunities.SolutionsThe World Bank has completed the first phase of the program with a team comprising education specialists from Central Africa and Latin and Central America, and from the Universidad Europea de Madrid in Spain. A counterpart team from Equatorial Guinea composed of representatives from the Ministry of Finance staff worked closely with the Bank team to increase the relevance of the work. The 2.5-month management course was prepared and delivered in Spanish on various topics relating to the management of public, private, and autonomous enterprises, and on public financial management.In order to set up a sustainable skills development program in the country, the Bank is now embarking on the next phase of the services agreement to undertake knowledge exchange visits to countries that have embarked on economic diversification and human development. A team comprising World Bank staff, University of Equatorial Guinea faculty, staff from key ministries that would contribute to economic diversification, and Ministry of Public Services staff will offer recommendations following the country visits and prepare to create a Public Sector Institute for Capacity Development.ImpactThe Government of Equatorial Guinea welcomed the Bank's technical assistance, and has requested more in-depth courses on various topics in public administration and private sector and autonomous enterprises management. The public financial management portion of the course was intended to provide Equatoguinean officials with the key elements for integrating the public finance management of the country with regional integration efforts within the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa. The authorities recognize the need to now move forward rapidly with the human development agenda, which is a key pillar in the government's Economic Plan 2020, with education and training, health, and social protection now viewed as strategic priorities. Show Less -
Doing Business 2015 : going beyond efficiency - Equatorial Guinea
This economy profile for Doing Business 2015 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for Equatorial Guinea. To allow for useful comparison, the profile also provi... Show More + des data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. Doing Business 2015 is the 12th edition in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2015 Equatorial Guinea ranks 165. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and over time. Doing Business measures regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business known as indicators. Ten of these areas are included in this year's ranking on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures labor market regulation, which is not included in this year's ranking. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2014 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period from January to December 2013). Show Less -
Africa: World Bank Group Sets Historic New Development Financing Record for Region
WASHINGTON, July 7, 2014 - The World Bank Group committed a record-breaking *$15.3 billion to Sub Saharan Africa's development in fiscal year 2014 (July 2013 to June 2014) supporting shared prosperity... Show More + in the Region and focusing on increased efforts to reduce poverty."Africa is making significant progress and at the World Bank we are stepping up the momentum to innovate and think big in order to help our clients achieve their development goals. We applaud the improved policies and prudent fiscal decisions many governments have made and we will continue to provide financing through loans and grants, technical expertise and to mobilize our unique convening power to leverage the resources of other development partners," said Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region.The Bank Group continued its strong commitment to Africa delivering $10.6 billion in new lending for 160 projects this fiscal year (FY14). These commitments included a new record of $10.2 billion in zero-interest credits and grants from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's fund for the poorest countries. This is the highest level of IDA delivery by any region in the World Bank's history.Private Sector-Led Growth and Job CreationIFC's work in the private sector in Africa during FY14 focused on bridging the infrastructure gap, promoting a productive real sector and leading inclusive business approaches to help drive growth and job creation. IFC investments on the continent amounted to over $4.2 billion, with over $3 billion committed in IDA countries and almost $800 million in fragile and conflict-affected states. IFC spent $55 million on Advisory Services programs in the region, 96 percent of which was distributed to IDA countries.In FY 2014, MIGA issued guarantees of $515 million in support of projects in the oil and gas, power, services, and telecommunications sectors. The Agency also teamed up with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to establish a $350-million political risk facility that will support planned investments in sustainable agribusiness in up to 13 countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The Bank Group worked collaboratively to tackle development challenges and focused on regional projects in sustainable energy, irrigation, water management, and food security, and also on job training programs for youth, preventing malaria and other tropical diseases, and on social protection for poor families across the region. Fragility and Emergency ActionIn FY14, the Bank Group focused its efforts to act quickly and effectively in emergency situations across Africa. In response to the crisis in Central African Republic, the Bank delivered emergency development funds of over US$70 million to help restore key government services and to support food distribution and health services.Major regional initiatives focused on the challenges of fragility and conflict. In November 2013, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim pledged $1.5 billion to boost economic growth and lift the people of Africa's Sahel Region out of devastating poverty. Kim's pledge came during an historic joint trip to the Sahel with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Boosting EnergySub-Saharan Africa is blessed with large hydropower resources that can create electricity, yet only 10% of its potential has been harnessed. Boosting access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy is a primary objective of the Bank's work in Africa. During the fiscal year (FY14) projects focused on developing hydropower potential and providing new forms of sustainable power to increase energy production and benefit millions of Africans.In a major push, IBRD, IFC, and MIGA combined forces under a joint Energy Business Plan for Nigeria. The plan will support Nigeria's energy reform program and help increase installed generation capacity by about 1,000 MW while mobilizing nearly $1.7 billion of private sector financing for Africa's largest economy. Many projects benefit from IBRD, IFC, and MIGA working together across the World Bank Group to better leverage their development impact in the region.In FY14, the Bank also supported the 80-megawatt Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project in Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania, and provided a $100-million grant to Burundi for the Jiji-Mulembwe hydropower project. Both initiatives will increase electricity generation capacity benefitting millions of Africans.Improving Agricultural ProductivityThe Bank supports country-led efforts to improve agricultural productivity by linking farmers to markets and reducing risk and vulnerability; increase rural employment; and make agriculture more environmentally sustainable. Projects during FY14 included support for improving pastoralism through community development and livelihoods in Ethiopia, boosting agribusiness in Senegal, and pushing the envelope on landscape management, notably in the Sahel.Higher Education for DevelopmentHigher education plays a key role in promoting economic growth and development especially for Africa's fastest growing youth population. As one of the largest financiers of higher education in the region, the World Bank is mobilizing its knowledge and leadership behind countries to champion education. The World Bank's new $150-million Africa Higher-Education Centers of Excellence project is funding 19 university-based centers for advanced education in West and Central Africa. It will support regional specialization among participating universities in mathematics, science, engineering and ICT to address regional challenges.For more information about the World Bank Group's total support to developing countries in FY14 click here. *Preliminary and unaudited numbers as of July 7 Show Less -
United Nations Agencies Report Steady Progress in Saving Mothers' Lives
GENEVA / NEW YORK, 6 May 2014 – New United Nations* data show a 45% reduction in maternal deaths since 1990. An estimated 289 000 women died in 2013 due to complications in pregnancy and childbir... Show More + th, down from 523 000 in 1990.Another World Health Organization (WHO) study, also published today in The Lancet Global Health, adds new knowledge about why these women are dying. Global causes of maternal death: a WHO systematic analysis, finds that more than 1 in 4 maternal deaths are caused by pre-existing medical conditions such as diabetes, HIV, malaria and obesity, whose health impacts can all be aggravated by pregnancy. This is similar to the proportion of deaths during pregnancy and childbirth from severe bleeding."Together, the two reports highlight the need to invest in proven solutions, such as quality care for all women during pregnancy and childbirth, and particular care for pregnant women with existing medical conditions," says Dr Flavia Bustreo, Assistant Director-General, Family, Women's and Children's Health, WHO.They also underscore the importance of having accurate data."Thirty-three maternal deaths per hour is 33 too many," said Tim Evans, Director, Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank Group. "We need to document every one of these tragic events, determine their cause, and initiate corrective actions urgently."Steady progressTrends in maternal mortality estimates 1990 to 2013 includes new data which were not captured in the last set of global estimates in 2012, as well as improved methods of estimating births and all female deaths.Eleven countries that had high levels of maternal mortality in 1990 (Bhutan, Cambodia, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Maldives, Nepal, Romania, Rwanda, Timor-Leste) have already reached the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of a 75% reduction in maternal mortality from the 1990 rate by 2015. Based on these latest trends however, many low- and middle-income countries will not achieve this goal.Sub-Saharan Africa is still the riskiest region in the world for dying of complications in pregnancy and childbirth."A 15-year-old girl living in sub-Saharan Africa faces about a 1 in 40 risk of dying during pregnancy and childbirth during her lifetime," says Dr Geeta Rao Gupta, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). "A girl of the same age living in Europe has a lifetime risk of 1 in 3300 – underscoring how uneven progress has been around the world."Despite advances in the last 20 years, there has been too little progress in preventing adolescent pregnancies, abortions, maternal deaths, sexually-transmitted infections and HIV, and there are significant gaps in availability, quality and access to comprehensive sexuality education and services for young people, especially in low-income countries."More than 15 million girls aged 15 to 19 years give birth every year – one in five girls before they turn 18 – and many of these pregnancies result from non-consensual sex," highlights Ms Kate Gilmore, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). "Relatively simple and well-known interventions, like midwifery services and gender-based violence prevention and response, can make a huge difference if scaled up and coupled with investments in innovations, especially in the area of contraceptives."New information on causes of deathA related WHO study of causes of more than 60 000 maternal deaths in 115 countries shows that pre-existing medical conditions exacerbated by pregnancy (such as diabetes, malaria, HIV, obesity) caused 28% of the deaths.Other causes included:severe bleeding (mostly during and after childbirth) 27%pregnancy-induced high blood pressure 14%infections 11%obstructed labour and other direct causes 9%abortion complications 8%blood clots (embolism) 3%Strong health systems – with facilities that have adequate health workers and equipment and medicines – are key to delivering quality health care to save the lives of women and their newborn babies."The new data show a changing profile in the conditions that cause maternal deaths; reflecting the increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases in women throughout the world. Ending preventable maternal deaths will require both continued efforts to reduce complications directly related to pregnancy, and more of a focus on noncommunicable diseases and their effect in pregnancy. Integrated care for women with conditions like diabetes and obesity will reduce deaths and prevent long-lasting health problems," says Dr Marleen Temmerman, Director, Reproductive Health and Research, WHO, and co-author of the study.Better data needed to save livesA major challenge in addressing maternal deaths is the lack of accurate data. Although knowledge on the number of women dying and the reasons behind their deaths is improving, much remains unrecorded and unreported. In many low-income countries, maternal deaths go uncounted and frequently the cause of death is unknown or not recorded correctly, particularly when women die at home. This is consistent with general global trends: only one-third of all deaths worldwide are recorded and fewer than 100 countries record the cause of death using WHO's International Classification of Disease.As a result, it is often hard for national health programmes to allocate resources where they are needed most. This is why the United Nations Commission on Information and Accountability for Women's and Children's Health is calling for better measurement of maternal and child deaths. The Commission requires that "by 2015, all countries have taken significant steps to establish a system for registration of births, deaths and causes of death".There is growing consensus worldwide that ending preventable maternal deaths can be achieved by ensuring that every woman has access to quality health care. Global and national targets beyond 2015 will be important for tracking progress in reducing maternal deaths and ensuring that maternal health continues to be a global development priority.Highlights from Trends in maternal mortality estimates 1990 to 2013:Maternal mortality has declined: In 2013, the global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 210 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births, down from 380 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births in 1990 (a 45% reduction).Faster progress needed: The global reduction of MMR has accelerated, with a 3.5% annual decline from 2000-2013, as compared with 1.4% between 1990 and 2000. However, at current trends, most countries will not achieve the MDG target of a 75% reduction in MMR from 1990 to 2015. An average decline of 5.5% or more every year since 1990 is needed to meet the target on time.Ten countries carry most of the burden: Ten countries account for about 60% of global maternal deaths: India (50 000), Nigeria (40 000), Democratic Republic of the Congo (21 000), Ethiopia (13 000), Indonesia (8800), Pakistan (7900), United Republic of Tanzania (7900), Kenya (6300), China (5900) and Uganda (5900).Somalia and Chad have the highest risk: The highest lifetime risk of maternal death is in Somalia and Chad where women face a 1 in 18 and 1 in 15 lifetime risk respectively.About the maternal mortality estimates* Trends in maternal mortality estimates 1990 to 2013 is published by the Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) which includes the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Population Division (UNPD) and the World Bank Group. The estimation process was done in collaboration with an academic team from the National University of Singapore, Singapore and University of California, Berkeley, United States of America.On 2 May, The Lancet published Global, regional, and national levels and causes of maternal mortality, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. WHO and its partners welcome these efforts to confirm the quality of UN interagency monitoring for Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. Show Less -
Doing business 2014 : Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
This regional profile presents the Doing Business indicators for economies in Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). It also shows the regional avera... Show More + ge, the best performance globally for each indicator and data for the following comparator regions: Southern African Development Community, Economic Community of West African States, Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and OECD High Income. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2013, except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January to December 2012. Regional Doing Business reports capture differences in business regulations and their enforcement across countries in a single region. They provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. The report sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The data set covers 47 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, 33 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 25 in East Asia and the Pacific, 25 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 20 in the Middle East and North Africa and 8 in South Asia, as well as 31 OECD high-income economies. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. Show Less -
Doing business 2014 : Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA)
This regional profile presents the Doing Business indicators for economies in Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA). It also shows th... Show More + e regional average, the best performance globally for each indicator and data for the following comparator regions: Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, European Union, Latin America and Southern African Development Community. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2013, except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January to December 2012. Regional Doing Business reports capture differences in business regulations and their enforcement across countries in a single region. They provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. The report sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The data set covers 47 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, 33 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 25 in East Asia and the Pacific, 25 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 20 in the Middle East and North Africa and 8 in South Asia, as well as 31 OECD high-income economies. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. Show Less -
The Sahel: New Push to Transform Agriculture with More Support for Pastoralism and Irrigation
WASHINGTON, October 27, 2013– On the eve of two major agriculture summits in Mauritania and Senegal, the World Bank is urging African countries and communities in the Sahel and the international devel... Show More + opment community to help protect and expand pastoralism on behalf of the more than 80 million people living in The Sahel who rely on it as a major source of food and livelihoods. The Bank is also calling for more large-scale irrigation to help the region to move towards embracing climate smart agriculture that can manage competing demands for land, water, and other natural resources, in a region that has long suffered from drought, hunger, and low economic growthIn background papers released in preparation for the two summits, the Bank says that more than 50 percent of the meat and the milk which people consume in West African coastal countries come originally from the Sahel.The two summits on improving pastoralism and boosting irrigation in the Sahel, which are being organized by the World Bank and its development partners, will be held in Nouakchott and Dakar respectively on October 29 and October 31, 2013. High-level participants will include President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, President Idriss Déby of Chad, as well as regional Ministers of Agriculture, Rural and Community Development, senior business leaders, and representatives of producer organizations and civil society."African agriculture employs a massive 65-70 percent of the continent's labor force and typically accounts for 30-40 percent of GDP. It represents the single most important industry in the region, and therefore its transformation and growth is vital to reduce poverty in a region like The Sahel and avoid humanitarian crises that have all too frequently plague the region," says Makhtar Diop, World Bank's Vice President for Africa Region, who will open the Pastoralism Forum in Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital on October 29th. "Addressing the challenge of agriculture in the Sahel is an opportunity to redress past economic imbalances and position the region to become a player in addressing the global increase in food demand." Diop says boosting investment in the Sahel will help to significantly improve living standards for people and reduce the frequency and severity of food crisesAccording to the Bank, Africa is home to some 50 million pastoralists with some 16 million of them living in The Sahel and in extreme poverty. The vulnerability of pastoral communities to drought, flooding, and other disasters remains unduly high in Sahelian countries and is made worse by their historic social exclusion and increasing competition for access to water and grazing lands for their herds and crops. Given that The Sahel will continue to be one of the world's regions most seriously affected by climate change, drought and other weather extremes are likely to increase the pressures on pastoralism to survive as a way of life and livelihoods. "We urgently need to mobilize more investment to support pastoral systems in the arid lands of The Sahel in order to reduce the vulnerability of communities to poverty and hunger while building up their resilience to weather adversity, and promoting more social cohesion and security in the wider region to prevent new conflicts from arising," says Jamal Saghir, the World Bank's Director for Sustainable Development in Africa. Saghir says that a regional approach to boosting pastoralism is essential since many issues such as trade, trans-boundary animal diseases, policy harmonization, early warning and rapid response systems, conflict, and peace building measures, all involve a cross-border dimension. More irrigated land also vital for transforming agriculture In addition to promoting and expanding pastoralism, irrigating more land is also vital to produce more food, create jobs, reduce poverty, and improve the lives of people throughout The Sahel. . Although the region is blessed with some of Africa's largest aquifers, for the most part they are under-used and many countries lack the scientific data and infrastructure to tap into and manage these water reserves sustainably. On top of that, only 20 percent of the irrigation potential in Sahelian countries is currently developed, and many existing irrigation systems need to be repaired. "The Niger, Senegal, Lake Chad, and Volta River basins have tremendous undeveloped irrigation, fisheries, transport and hydroelectric potential. So my colleagues and I in the World Bank want to improve this situation so that the famers and families of the Sahel can take advantage of rising demand for food, meat and dairy products. More water in The Sahel means more development in the form of food, more jobs, more money and opportunity, especially for young people, and women in particular as farmers and traders," says World Bank Africa Vice President Diop. The High Level Forum on Irrigation, which will be held on October 31st in Dakar, Senegal, will build on the Ouagadougou Call for Action and highlight success stories and strategies that could be scaled up or replicated, like the Great Green Wall, or inclusive agribusiness projects based on irrigation development in Senegal and Burkina Faso. High-level participants at the Dakar irrigation summit will include President Macky Sall of Senegal, Government Ministers from Sahelian countries, business leaders, and representatives of water user associations and civil society. Show Less -
World Bank Mobilized Record Support for Africa's Economic Growth and Development Prospects in FY 13
WASHINGTON, July 25, 2013 - The World Bank Group committed a record US$14.7 billion in fiscal year 2013 (July 2012 to June 2013) to support economic growth and better development prospects in Africa d... Show More + espite uncertain economic conditions in the rest of the global economy."The region has shown remarkable resilience in the face of a global recession and continues to grow strongly," said Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region. "Africa is at the center of the World Bank Group 2030 goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity, in an environmentally, socially, and fiscally sustainable manner."The World Bank Group continued its strong commitment to Africa approving $8.25 billion in new lendng for nearly 100 projects this fiscal year (FY13). These commitments include a record $8.2 billion in zero-interest credits and grants from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's fund for the poorest countries. This is the highest level of new IDA commitments by any region in the Bank's history. Private sector leverages development investment IFC's total commitment volume in Sub-Saharan Africa, including mobilization, grew to a record $5.3 billion, 34 percent more than the year before. Similarly, IFC's spending on Advisory Services programs in the region increased to more than $65 million, about 30 percent of IFC's total. This led to increased results in fragile and conflict states and greater impact in IFC's primary areas of focus: sustainable farming opportunities, access to finance for microfinance clients and individuals, improved infrastructure services, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions.Supporting developmentally beneficial foreign direct investment into Sub-Saharan Africa is a priority for MIGA. In 2013, the Agency issued $1.5 billion in guarantees supporting investments into projects in the agribusiness, oil and gas, power, services, and water sectors. A significant volume of this coverage is for investments in power generation projects in Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, and Kenya. Sub-Saharan African accounted for 54 percent of MIGA's new volume this year -- more than doubling last year's level of 24 percent.The Bank Group's support focused on major transformational projects in agriculture and power, and also on social safety nets, conditional cash transfers for poor families, job creation programs for young people, and higher education. Stepping Up the Game in Fragile CountriesIn FY13, the World Bank Group increased its focus in Africa on regional drivers of fragility and conflict, especially regarding the Sahel and the Great Lakes regions. In May 2013, during an historic joint United Nations/World Bank Group mission to the Great Lakes, the Bank announced a $1 billion development pledge to help countries in the region provide better health and education services, generate more cross-border trade, and fund hydroelectricity projects in support of the Great Lakes peace agreement. Sending the strong message that peace and development are inseparable and must be addressed together and also emphasizing the Bank's commitment to increase its work in states emerging from conflict and its determination to help lift fragile states out of fragility and back on a positive development track. Addressing Climate ChangeThe Bank has been at the forefront of identifying operational measures and partnerships (such as TerrAfrica) to integrate climate change in land management, water resource management, transport infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture, and disaster risk management and continues to advance innovative policy solutions, including through the first climate change Development Policy Loan, for Mozambique.Climate change is also at the center of the growth agenda of the Region. Clean energy projects -- in hydro, geothermal, solar, and gas -- are part of the Bank's Africa strategy to limit the carbon footprint of growth in the region and harvest enormous untapped potential for development. Many of these current and planned projects benefit from IDA, MIGA, and IFC working together across the World Bank Group to better leverage their development investments in the region. Accelerating the Use of Science and TechnologyAfrica's future depends on adapting existing and future technology more rapidly. Large productivity gains are possible through better training of Africans in science and technology, and enhanced agricultural technology. During FY13 the Bank helped to bring higher education, with an emphasis on science, back into the development agenda. African economies urgently need highly skilled technicians and engineers, especially for energy and infrastructure. They need agricultural scientists; medical workers; and researchers. Quality learning outcomes in primary and secondary education require qualified teachers that only universities can develop. The Bank continued to build partnerships to support technological education. For more information about the World Bank Group's total support to developing countries in FY13 click here. Show Less -
New assessment of African government policies and institutions finds uneven performance, governance remains a challenge
NAIROBI, June 26, 2013 - The latest World Bank review of policies and institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa shows an overall stable environment for growth and poverty reduction despite divergence across ... Show More + countries. The review is part of the annual World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) that rates the performance of poor countries. Since 1980, CPIA ratings have been used to determine countries' allocation of zero-interest financing under the International Development Association,* the World Bank Group's fund for the world's poorest countries.The scores of 11 countries rose by 0.1 points or more, reflecting a strengthened policy agenda, and the indexes of another 12 countries declined by at least 0.1 points. Cape Verde and Kenya had the highest scores, although Cape Verde saw a decline in its CPIA for the third year in a row. South Sudan and Eritrea—both countries that suffer deep policy challenges—had the lowest scores. Countries recovering from conflict—such as Cote d'Ivoire and Comoros—have shown solid improvement. On the contrary, conflict and political instability have weakened policies and institutions.The CPIA examines 16 key development indicators covering four areas: (i) economic management, (ii) structural reforms; (iii) policies for social inclusion and equity; and (iv) public sector management and institutions. Countries are rated on a scale of 1 (low) to 6 (high) for each indicator. The overall CPIA score reflects the average of the 16 indicators."African countries with better policies tend to have higher economic growth," says Punam Chuhan-Pole, Acting Chief Economist, World Bank, Africa Region and main author of the report. "But a redoubling of effort is needed to translate this growth into broad welfare gains." There is variation between the CPIA scores of different country groupings. For example, poor governance, weak public sector capacity, and civil conflict have reduced the average scores for African fragile states to 2.7—well below the 3.5 average score for non-fragile countries. Similarly, the region's resource-rich countries, which have an average CPIA score of 3.0, continue to lag its non-resource counterparts, which averaged 3.2 for 2012. "Conflict and instability can greatly affect the policy gains of non-fragile states as well," added Chuhan-Pole. "For example, Madagascar has seen its scores slip in the last two years following a political crisis, and the same has happened in Mali as a result of conflict and political instability."As was the case last year, scores are higher in the area of economic management across countries. This pattern reflects the consensus among African policy makers that macroeconomic stability can facilitate the emergence of a productive private sector. It also reflects the fact that managing macroeconomic policy is not as politically-charged as changing institutions (such as the judicial system).The upward trend of scores assessing social reforms shows that they are taking hold in Sub-Saharan Africa. Governance scores, which cover the quality of public sector management and institutions of accountability, continue to lag all other areas assessed by the CPIA, reflecting the deep-rooted challenges facing African countries in this important area. * The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world's poorest countries by providing zero-interest credits, and grants, for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people's lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world's 81 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 108 countries. Annual commitments have increased steadily and averaged about $15 billion over the last three years, with about 50 percent of commitments going to Africa. Show Less -
Africa Continues to Grow Strongly Despite Global Slowdown, Although Significantly Less Poverty Remains Elusive
WASHINGTON, April 15, 2013 – Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to reach more than 5 percent on average in 2013-2015 as a result of high commodity prices worldwide and strong consume... Show More + r spending on the continent, ensuring that the region remains amongst the fastest growing in the world -- according to the World Bank's latest Africa's Pulse, a twice-yearly analysis of the issues shaping Africa's economic prospects. In 2012, about a quarter of African countries grew at 7 percent or higher and a number of African countries, notably Sierra Leone, Niger, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Rwanda, are among the fastest growing in the world. The new World Bank report forecasts that medium-term growth prospects remain strong and will be supported by a gradually improving world economy, consistently high commodity prices, and more investment in regional infrastructure, trade, and business growth. Welcoming the new assessment that Africa continues to grow faster than the global average, the World Bank's Vice President called on the need for faster progress in areas such as electricity and food in the vulnerable areas of The Sahel and the Horn of Africa, and that significantly more energy and agricultural productivity were needed to raise the quality of life for Africans throughout the continent and reduce poverty significantly. "African countries will need to bring more electricity, nutritious food, jobs and opportunity to families and communities across the continent in order to better their lives, end extreme poverty, and promote shared prosperity," said the World Bank's Africa Vice President Makhtar Diop. "Without more electricity and higher agricultural productivity, Africa's development future cannot prosper. The good news is that governments in Africa are intent on changing this."Diop also urged African governments and their development partners to upgrade the continent's statistical capacity so that citizens could better measure and monitor their development progress and analyze the reasons for its success and failure, especially in resource-rich countries and fragile states, where data gathering and analysis remained weak. New mineral discoveries drive growthAfrica's Pulse says that recent discoveries of oil, natural gas, copper, and other strategic minerals, and the expansion of several mines or the building of new ones in Mozambique, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Zambia, together with better political and economic governance, were sustaining solid economic growth across the continent. Looking forward, it is expected that by 2020, only four or five countries in the region will not be involved in mineral exploitation of some kind, such is Africa's abundance of natural resources.The World Bank says that given the considerable amounts of new mineral revenues coming on stream across the region, resource-rich African countries will consciously need to invest these new earnings in better health, education, and jobs, and less poverty for their people in order to maximize their national development prospects. Consumer spending and private investment upConsumer spending, which accounts for more than 60 percent of Africa's GDP, remained strong in 2012. This trend was driven by declining inflation, which fell from 9.5 percent in January 2012 to 7.6 percent in December 2012; improved access to credit, for example in Angola, Ghana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia; lower interest rates--for every interest rate hike there were three cuts; and a rebound in agricultural incomes, thanks to more favorable weather conditions in countries such as Guinea, Mauritania and Niger, which all experienced better rains compared with the 2010/2011 crop year; and the steady remittance inflows, which are estimated at $31 billion in 2012 and 2011. Increased investment flows are supporting the region's growth performance. In 2012, for example, net private capital flows to the region increased by 3.3 percent to a record $54.5 billion; and foreign direct investment inflows to the region increased by 5.5 percent in 2012 to $37.7 billion.Africa's Pulse notes that exports are also driving the continent's growth and that the traditional destination of these goods over the last decade is changing as well. Since 2000, the overall growth of Sub-Saharan exports to emerging markets, including those of China, Brazil and India, and to countries in the region has surpassed that to developed markets. Total exports to Brazil, India and China were larger than to the EU market in 2011.Africa's impressive growth has not reduced poverty enoughAfter more than a decade of strong economic growth, the World Bank says that Africa has been able to cut poverty on the continent, but not by enough."While the broad picture emerging from the data is that Africa's economies have been expanding robustly and that poverty is coming down, the aggregate hides a great deal of diversity in performance, even among Africa's faster growers," says Shanta Devarajan, the World Bank's Chief Economist for Africa, and lead author of the new report.Devarajan adds that during the second half of the 2000s, Ethiopia and Rwanda saw their economies expand at 8-10 percent (or between 5 and 8 percent per capita), which resulted in a 1.3 to 1.7 percentage point yearly fall in their national poverty rates. In contrast, poverty reduction in some other countries has lagged far behind growth.Future offers prospects of more growth, much less poverty, and shared prosperity Africa's Pulse suggests that a number of emerging trends on the continent could help to transform its current state of development over the coming years. These include the promise of large revenues from mineral exploitation, rising incomes created by a dramatic expansion of agricultural productivity, the large-scale migration of people from the countryside into Africa's towns and cities, and a demographic dividend potentially created by Africa's fast-growing population of young people. "If properly harnessed to unleash their full potential, these trends hold the promise of more growth, much less poverty, and accelerating shared prosperity for African countries in the foreseeable future," says Punam Chuhan-Pole, a co-author of the Africa's Pulse and a Lead Economist in the World Bank's Africa region. Show Less -
Africa - Agricultural Productivity Program for Southern Africa
IDA Credit: US$89.4 million equivalentTerms: Maturity = 40 years; Grace = 10 yearsProject ID: P094183Project Description: The objectives of the project are to increase the availability of improved agr... Show More + icultural technologies in participating countries in the Southern African Development Community region. Show Less -
Innovation Improves Gender Programs, Spurs Economic Development in Africa, World Bank
WASHINGTON, March 8, 2013 – Despite the steady economic growth in many African countries over the last few years, gains have not always translated into greater gender equality or poverty reduction, th... Show More + e World Bank announced today. To mark International Women's Day, the World Bank's Africa region launched two evidence based initiatives to step up its commitment to improve gender programs in Africa. First is the Africa Gender Action Plan, a five year blueprint for the Bank's gender informed activities. Next is the Gender Innovation Lab that will bring scientific solutions through rigorous impact evaluation that will transform how the World Bank will identify development solutions for some of its poorest clients. Combined, the World Bank Africa Gender Action Plan and Gender Innovation Lab will link scientific evidence to guide gender-related lending operations in Africa."In the past decade, African countries have made some considerable strides when it comes to gender equality," says Makhar Diop, World Bank Vice President for Africa. "Today, we have moved from an intuitive understanding of gender programs to add the Gender Innovation Lab that will fill the knowledge gap by providing more qualitative and quantitative evidence than ever about what works and what doesn't in terms of gender equality in sub-Saharan Africa," concludes Diop.On behalf of the World Bank, Diop said the new Gender Innovation Lab will provide development solutions to countries as it works to keep the momentum toward achieving gender equality in Africa.The World Bank's Africa Gender Action Plan, the institution's regional strategy for addressing gender inequality, will advance development for both men and women using the latest technological tools that provide evidence on the effectiveness of gender programs through its funding and operations.The Gender Innovation Lab, the first at the World Bank, brings science to improve delivery of its programs. The Lab already has over 20 impact evaluations under way, and they are providing clear evidence of what works. This week, The Gender Innovation Lab received financial support from the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) in the amount of USD$18 million.Partnering with DFID and the government of Rwanda, a Lab impact evaluation showed how land title registration resulted in women increasing investments in land, at twice the level as men. Working with BRAC and researchers at the London School of Economics, another Lab impact evaluation showed that a program that provided life skills and vocational training through adolescent girls' clubs resulted in 30 percent lower fertility, a 30 percent increase in the likelihood of girls working, and a 75 percent lower chance that they had been forced to have sex again their will. These are powerful lessons that show not only what works, but the payoffs to making these kinds of investments. Post-2015 Goals Must Include Non-Traditional VoicesShifts in global influence from large emerging economies and the private sector are challenging the traditional development paradigm, experts note. Experts also explain that global private sector firms are seeking to modernize their business models to match profits with responsibility through their supply chains, suggesting a post-2015 world will need to include new voices to the development debate. Experts agree that chief among the new voices should be women from developing countries. "I am proud to be the first person from the South, the first African, the first woman to head such a respected organization like Oxfam International," says Winnie Byanyima, UNDP Director of Gender and Development and Oxfam Executive Director Designate. "I'm stepping into a very powerful space, and I'm conscious of that. I hope to bring the voices of poor men and women from my continent Africa and from the developing world to the global stage," concludes Byanyima. For sub-Saharan Africa, The Bank notes that gender must be mainstreamed into all future development programs. However, it must also be a global priority.Gender Programs Are a Global PriorityGlobally, the World Bank is making financing available for gender equality by strengthening its monitoring and tracking systems, and by setting gender-related targets through the Bank's corporate scorecard and in other ways.In 2012, for the first time in the series history, the World Bank's World Development Report focused exclusively on gender equality and development."And it was about time," says Caroline Anstey, World Bank Managing Director. "We know that equal opportunity, regardless of sex, is not only the right thing to do; it is also smart economics," concludes Anstey.Underinvesting in women puts a brake on poverty reduction as, amongst other things, women usually reinvest a much higher portion of their earnings into their families and communities, compared to men," she adds.For its part, The World Bank is committing to funding more gender-related projects, to monitoring results more closely, and to making sure that more and more projects consider gender in their design, even if they do not have an explicit gender focus.In fiscal year 2012 alone, just over US$29 billion, or 83 percent of the World Bank's overall lending and grants, were allocated to gender-informed operations in education, health, access to land, financial and agricultural services, jobs, and infrastructure. Part of the reason for this is that, together with our partners, we made gender a Special Theme of the International Development Association (IDA), which provides close to $50 billion in credits and grants to the poorest countries between 2011 and 2014—many of which are in Africa.NOTE TO EDITORS:The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) has a number of programmes to support gender programs in sub-Saharan Africa. On March 4, 2018, DFID committed up to £11.5 million (USD$18 million) to a new partnership with the World Bank, for a 'Gender Innovation Lab' on girls and women's economic empowerment, testing what works in terms of giving girls and women control over their economic lives in sub-Saharan Africa. This evidence base isn't just going to help DFID but also other governments, donors and NGOs. Show Less -
Africa's Food Markets Could Create One Trillion Dollar Opportunity by 2030
WASHINGTON, March 4, 2013 - Africa's farmers and agribusinesses could create a trillion-dollar food market by 2030 if they can expand their access to more capital, electricity, better technology and i... Show More + rrigated land to grow high-value nutritious foods, and if African governments can work more closely with agribusinesses to feed the region's fast-growing urban population, according to a new World Bank report launched today. According to the Growing Africa: Unlocking the Potential of Agribusiness report, Africa's food systems, currently valued at US$313 billion a year from agriculture, could triple if governments and business leaders radically rethink their policies and support to agriculture, farmers, and agribusinesses, which together account for nearly 50 percent of Africa's economic activity."The time has come for making African agriculture and agribusiness a catalyst for ending poverty," says Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for Africa Region. "We cannot overstate the importance of agriculture to Africa's determination to maintain and boost its high growth rates, create more jobs, significantly reduce poverty, and grow enough cheap, nutritious food to feed its families, export its surplus crops, while safeguarding the continent's environment." Agribusiness: strong growth opportunitiesDue to a combination of population growth, rising incomes and urbanization, strong demand is driving global food and agricultural prices higher. Supply issues – slowing yield growth of major food crops, slowdown in research spending, land degradation and water scarcity issues, and a changing climate all mean that prices will remain high. In this new market climate, Africa has great potential for expanding its food and agricultural exports.Africa holds almost 50 percent of the world's uncultivated land which is suited for growing food crops, comprising as many as 450 million hectares that are not forested, protected, or densely populated. Africa uses less than 2 percent of its renewable water sources, compared to a world average of five percent. Its harvests routinely yield far less than their potential and, for mainstay food crops such as maize the yield gap is as wide as 60 to 80 percent. Post-harvest losses run 15 to 20 percent for cereals and are higher for perishable products due to poor storage and other farm infrastructure. African countries can tap into booming markets in rice, maize, soybeans, sugar, palm oil, biofuel and feedstock and emerge as major exporters of these commodities on world markets similar to the successes scored by Latin America and Southeast Asia. For Sub-Saharan Africa, the most dynamic sectors are likely to be rice, feed grains, poultry, dairy, vegetable oils, horticulture and processed foods to supply domestic markets. The report cautions that even as land will be needed for some agribusiness investments, such acquisitions can threaten people's livelihoods and create local opposition unless land purchases or leases are conducted according to ethical and socially responsible standards, including recognizing local users' rights, thorough consultations with local communities, and fair market-rate compensation for land acquired. "Improving Africa's agriculture and agribusiness sectors means higher incomes and more jobs. It also allows Africa to compete globally. Today, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand each export more food products than all of sub-Saharan Africa combined. This must change," says Jamal Saghir, World Bank Director for Sustainable Development in the Africa Region.Value Chains are essential Rice: Africa has become a major consumer and importer of rice, and Africans import half the rice they eat and pay top dollar for it, $3.5 billion per year and more. Ghana and Senegal are significant importers. Senegal is competitive among its neighbors, but it is held back by the difficulty farmers have in accessing land, capital, finance for irrigation expansion and appropriate crop varieties. Ghana produces fewer varieties of rice than Senegal, but at significantly higher cost, and levies 40 percent tariffs and other charges on imports. Poor grain quality, cleanliness and packaging are major deterrents for consumers constraining the sector's performance.Maize: A food staple for many Africans, maize is grown on 25 million hectares or 14 percent of cropped land. In Zambia where people eat on average 133 kilograms of cereals a year, maize provides half the calories in their diets. Zambia is competitive when importing maize but fails on exports. High transport costs, higher labor costs and lower yields combine to increase costs by one-third compared to Thailand, a major international producer of rain-fed maize. The report argues that Zambia's future competitiveness depends on raising yields, reducing costs, and removing disincentives for the private sector in markets and trade.In addition, the study reviewed value chains for cocoa in Ghana and dairy and green beans in Kenya."African farmers and businesses must be empowered through good policies, increased public and private investments and strong public-private partnerships," says Gaiv Tata, World Bank Director for Financial and Private Sector Development in Africa. "A strong agribusiness sector is vital for Africa's economic future." SolutionsAgriculture and agribusiness should be at the top of the development and business agenda in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report calls for strong leadership and commitment for both public and private sectors. As comparators, the report cites case studies from Uruguay, Indonesia and Malaysia. For success, engaging with strategic "good practice" investors is critical, as is the strengthening of safeguards, land administration systems, and screening investments for sustainable growth. The report notes that Africa can also draw on many local successes to guide governments and investors toward positive economic, social and environmental outcomes. Show Less -
Mercados Alimentares em África Podem Criar Uma Oportunidade de Um Trilião de Dólares em 2030
WASHINGTON, 4 de Março de 2013 - Os agricultores e agronegócios de África poderão criar um mercado de alimentos de um trilião de dólares em 2030 se conseguirem aumentar o acesso a mais capital, eletri... Show More + cidade, melhor tecnologia e terras irrigadas para o cultivo de alimentos nutritivos e se os governos africanos conseguirem cooperar mais estreitamente com os agronegócios com vista a alimentar a população urbana da região em rápido crescimento, segundo um relatório do Banco Mundial divulgado hoje. De acordo com o relatório Growing Africa: Unlocking the Potential of Agribusiness, os sistemas alimentares de África, que atualmente representam USD 313 mil milhões ao ano provenientes da agricultura, podiam triplicar se os governos e líderes empresariais repensassem radicalmente as suas políticas e o apoio à agricultura, agricultores e agronegócios que, no seu conjunto, são responsáveis por cerca de 50 por cento da atividade económica de África." Chegou a hora de tornar a agricultura e os agronegócios de África num catalisador para pôr fim à pobreza", afirma Makhtar Diop, Vice-presidente do Banco Mundial para a Região África. "Nunca é demais enfatizar a importância da agricultura para a determinação de África no sentido de manter e impulsionar as suas elevadas taxas de crescimento, criar mais empregos, reduzir significativamente a pobreza e produzir suficientes alimentos nutritivos de baixo custo para alimentar as famílias, exportar os excedentes agrícolas, salvaguardando, ao mesmo tempo, o meio-ambiente do continente." Agronegócios: fortes oportunidades de crescimentoDevido a uma combinação do aumento da população com um incremento dos rendimentos e da urbanização, a intensa procura está a fazer subir os preços globais dos alimentos e dos produtos agrícolas. Questões relacionadas com a oferta – abrandamento do rendimento dos principais cultivos agrícolas, redução de despesas com a investigação, degradação da terra e questões de escassez de água e alterações climáticas – significam, todas elas, que os preços irão permanecer altos. Neste novo clima do mercado, África tem um enorme potencial para expandir as suas exportações agrícolas e de alimentos.África possui perto de 50 por cento da terra não-cultivada do mundo, própria para o cultivo de alimentos, compreendendo 450 milhões de hectares que não estão arborizados, protegidos ou densamente povoados. África utiliza menos de 2% das suas fontes renováveis de água, comparativamente a uma média mundial de 5%. É corrente as colheitas terem um rendimento bastante inferior ao seu potencial e, no que toca a alimentos básicos, como por exemplo o milho, essa lacuna no rendimento é da ordem de 60 a 80%. As perdas pós-colheita situam-se entre 15% e 20% para os cereais e são ainda mais altas para os produtos perecíveis por causa das deficientes condições de armazenagem e de outras infraestruturas agrícolas. Os países africanos podem penetrar nos mercados florescentes de arroz, milho, soja, açúcar, óleo de palma, biocombustíveis e matérias-primas e emergir como principais exportadores destes bens nos mercados mundiais, a exemplo dos êxitos alcançados pela América Latina e Sudeste Asiático. Na África Subsariana, os setores mais dinâmicos são provavelmente o arroz, cereais forrageiros, aves, laticínios, óleos vegetais, horticultura e produtos transformados para abastecimento dos mercados nacionais.O relatório chama a atenção para o facto de vir a ser necessária terra para alguns investimentos em agronegócios, podendo essas aquisições ser uma ameaça à subsistência das pessoas e criar oposição local, a menos que as compras ou arrendamentos de terras sejam conduzidos segundo padrões éticos e de responsabilidade social, incluindo o reconhecimento dos direitos dos utilizadores locais, consultas extensivas com comunidades locais e compensação ao justo valor de mercado pela terra adquirida. "O desenvolvimento dos setores da agricultura e dos agronegócios significa rendimentos mais altos e mais empregos. Permite também a África competir globalmente. Hoje em dia, o Brasil, Indonésia e Tailândia exportam mais produtos alimentares do que toda a África Subsariana junta. Isto tem de mudar", afirma Jamal Saghir, Diretor do Banco Mundial para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável na Região África.As Cadeias de Valor são essenciais Arroz: África tornou-se um dos principais consumidores e importadores de arroz e os africanos importam metade do arroz que comem e pagam caro, em torno de USD 3 500 milhões, ou mais, ao ano. Gana e Senegal são grandes importadores. O Senegal é competitivo entre os países vizinhos mas a sua capacidade está limitado pela dificuldade dos agricultores em terem acesso à terra, a capital, ao financiamento para expansão da irrigação e variedades de cultivos adequadas. O Gana produz menos variedades de arroz do que o Senegal mas a um custo consideravelmente mais alto e aplica tarifas de 40% e outras taxas sobre as importações. A fraca qualidade do cereal, as más condições de limpeza e de embalagem são grandes dissuasores junto dos consumidores, travando o desempenho do setor.Milho: Produto alimentar essencial para muitos africanos, o milho ocupa uma área de 25 milhões de hectares ou 14% da terra cultivada. Na Zâmbia, onde as pessoas consomem em média 133 quilos de cereais ao ano, o milho fornece metade das calorias ingeridas na sua alimentação. No que toca às importações de milho, a Zâmbia é competitiva, o que já não é o caso para as exportações. Os elevados custos de transporte, o aumento dos custos laborais e os rendimentos mais baixos contribuem para um preço que é superior em 1/3 ao da Tailândia, um dos grandes produtores internacionais de milho irrigado pela chuva. O relatório defende que a competitividade futura da Zâmbia irá depender do aumento de rendimentos, da redução dos custos e da eliminação dos desincentivos ao setor privado nos mercados e no comércio.O estudo analisou ainda as cadeias de valor do cacau no Gana e dos laticínios e feijão-verde no Quénia."É preciso capacitar os agricultores e negócios africanos através de boas políticas, maiores investimentos públicos e privados e fortes parcerias público-privadas", afirma Gaiv Tata, Diretor do Banco Mundial para o Desenvolvimento do Setor Financeiro e Privado em África. "Um setor de agronegócios forte é vital para o futuro económico de África." SoluçõesA agricultura e os agronegócios deveriam estar no topo da agenda de negócios e desenvolvimento da África Subsariana. O relatório apela a uma sólida liderança e a um compromisso firme do setor público e do privado. A título de comparação, o relatório cita estudos de casos do Uruguai, Indonésia e Malásia. Para se ter êxito, é fundamental o envolvimento de investidores estratégicos "com boas práticas", assim como o reforço das salvaguardas, sistemas de administração das terras e rastreio de investimentos para um crescimento sustentável.O relatório refere que África pode igualmente inspirar-se nos muitos sucessos locais para orientar os governos e investidores no sentido de resultados positivos no domínio económico, social e ambiental. Show Less -
Report: Reducing Supply Chain Barriers Could Increase Global GDP Up To 6 Times More Than Removing All Import Tariffs
New report finds that improvements in border administration and transport & telecommunications infrastructure and services could result in an up to 4.7% increase in global GDP, far outweighing pot... Show More + ential income gains from complete elimination of import tariffs.Governments should take a holistic approach that considers the entire supply chain, focusing on all policies that impact supply chain efficiency to improve national competitiveness.SME sector would witness increased trade with solutions to specific constraints that disproportionately affect smaller companies.Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 23 January 2013 – Reducing supply chain barriers could increase global GDP and world trade much more than reducing all import tariffs, according to a new report released today by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Bain & Company and the World Bank.Enabling Trade: Valuing Growth Opportunities finds that if all countries reduce supply chain barriers halfway to global best practice, global GDP could increase by 4.7% and world trade by 14.5%, far outweighing the benefits from the elimination of all import tariffs. In comparison, completely eliminating tariffs could increase global GDP by 0.7% and world trade by 10.1%. Even a less ambitious set of reforms that moves countries halfway to regional best practice could increase global GDP by 2.6% and world trade by 9.4%. Economic gains from reducing supply chain barriers are also more evenly distributed across countries than the gains associated with tariff elimination. Regions that stand to benefit in particular under these scenarios are sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia. Such large increases in GDP would be associated with positive effects on unemployment, potentially adding millions of jobs to the global workforce.According to the report, lowering supply chain barriers is effective because it eliminates resource waste and reduces costs to trading firms and, by extension, lowers prices to consumers and businesses. Supply chain barriers can result from inefficient customs and administrative procedures, complex regulation and weaknesses in infrastructure services, among many others. The supply chain is the network of activities involved in producing and getting a product to consumers, and spans the manufacturing process as well as transport and distribution services.Enabling Trade: Valuing Growth Opportunities was initiated by the Forum's Global Agenda Councils on Logistics & Supply Chains and Global Trade & FDI. The report provides a wealth of information regarding how policies can create unnecessary supply chain costs and inefficiencies based on 18 case examples spanning multiple industries and regions. The case examples highlight that clusters of policies jointly impact supply chain performance; that a concerted approach is needed to cut across different policy domains; that there may be specific tipping points that need to be achieved for reductions in supply chain barriers to have a significant impact on trade; and that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) tend to face proportionally higher supply chain barriers and costs.The report recommends that governments create a focal point to coordinate and oversee all regulation that directly impacts supply chains; that public-private partnerships be established to undertake regular data collection, monitoring and analysis of factors affecting supply chain performance; and that governments pursue a more holistic, supply-chain-centred approach towards international trade negotiations to ensure that trade agreements have greater relevance for international business and do more to benefit consumers and households."The Forum's Enabling Trade programme has endeavoured to highlight the fundamental attributes that enable a country to facilitate trade," said Børge Brende, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. "Through a vivid repository of case studies, which provide an on-the-ground view of everyday barriers that companies face along trade lanes, this report shows that removing barriers to supply chains can enhance economic competitiveness and generate significant welfare benefits and jobs for countries.""The case studies show that countries can lose their competitive advantage in terms of factor costs, if the costs associated with their supply chain barriers are high," said Mark Gottfredson, Partner, Bain & Company. "The lesson for companies is the importance of understanding supply chain barriers and how the associated costs and delays can erode other sourcing advantages. For example, a case study on the apparel industry illustrates how delays at the border, inconsistent application of regulations, and infrastructure issues completely offset significant labour cost advantages for many countries.""Supply chain barriers are more significant impediments to trade than import tariffs," said Bernard Hoekman, Director of the World Bank's International Trade Department, who is also the Chair of the Forum's Global Agenda Council on Logistics & Supply Chains. "Lowering these barriers will reduce costs for businesses, and help generate more jobs and economic opportunities for people."Some examples from the 18 country and sector case studies in the report include the following:In Brazil, managing customs paperwork for exports of agricultural commodities can take 12 times longer than in the European Union (a full day versus a couple of hours).Poor quality infrastructure services can increase the input material costs of consumer goods by up to 200% in certain African countries.In Madagascar, supply chain barriers can account for about 4% of total revenues of a textile producer (through higher freight costs and increased inventories), eroding the benefits of duty-free access to export markets.Obtaining licenses and lack of coordination among regulatory agencies in the US lead to delays in up to 30% of chemical shipments for one company – each late shipment costs US$ 60,000 per day.In Russia, product testing and licensing in the computer sector can lead to high administrative costs and delay time-to-market anywhere from 10 days to eight weeks.Local content requirements, rule-of-origin restrictions and pilferage at the border, can increase costs by 6-9% of consumer technology products in the Middle East and North Africa.Eliminating supply chain barriers in the South East Asian rubber market could reduce carried inventories by 90 days, representing a 10% reduction in product cost.India's Preferential Market Access regulation, which provides preference for locally produced high-tech products in government procurement, could increase costs by 10%, over the cost of imports.Adopting electronic documentation for the air cargo industry could yield US$ 12 billion in annual savings and prevent 70-80% of paperwork-related delays.Easing regulatory compliance of international trade that SMEs face when selling through the Internet could increase cross-border SME sales by 60-80%. 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Equatorial Guinea - Macro-fiscal context and health financing factsheet
This report gives 14 indicators that describe a country's macro fiscal environment to identify constraints or opportunities for health systems financing. A country ... Show More + with a 10 percent unemployment rate that has fallen from 15 percent may be in better shape than one with an 8 percent unemployment rate that has risen from 4 percent. It is also important to benchmark to group averages of countries in the same World Bank (WB) region and income group- high income country (HIC), upper middle income country (MIC), lower MIC, or low income country (LIC). Show Less -
Information and Communication Technology is Revolutionizing Development in Africa
New Report Highlights Innovations, Home-Grown Solutions in Eight Key SectorsWASHINGTON, December 10, 2012 --- Information and Communication Technology (ICT) innovations are delivering home-grown solut... Show More + ions in Africa, transforming businesses, and driving entrepreneurship and economic growth, says a joint report published by the World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB), with support from the African Union. The report, eTransform Africa: The Transformational Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Africa, provides new data on the technological revolution that is taking place in Africa and its transformational impact on the continent's development. At the start of 2012, there were some 650 million mobile subscriptions, making the African mobile telephony market bigger than either the EU or the United States. Some 68,000 km of submarine cable and over 615,000 km of national backbone networks have been laid, greatly increasing connectivity across Africa. The Internet bandwidth available to Africa's one billion citizens has grown 20-fold since 2008. "The Internet and mobile phones are transforming the development landscape in Africa, injecting new dynamism in key sectors," said Jamal Saghir, World Bank Director for Sustainable Development in the Africa Region. "The challenge is to scale up these innovations and success stories for greater social and economic impacts across Africa over the next decade." The eTransform Africa report emphasizes the need to build a competitive ICT industry to promote innovation, job creation, and boost the export potential of African companies. It identifies best practices in the use of ICT in eight key sectors. For example:Agriculture: In Kenya, the Kilimo Salama scheme is providing crop insurance for farmers, using the M-PESA payment gateway, helping them to better manage natural hazards such as drought or excessive rainfall.Climate change adaptation: In Malawi, a deforestation project is training local communities to map their villages using GPS devices and empowering them to develop localized adaptation strategies by engaging communities.Financial services: In Senegal, SONATEL (a subsidiary of Orange) is one of the latest operators on the continent to launch a money transfer service that is enabling 200,000 subscribers to send and receive money using mobile phones.Health: In Mali, telemedicine is helping overcome the lack of trained healthcare workers and specialists in rural areas, specifically the IKON Tele-radiology program."This report not only sheds light on the path Africa is already on, but also encourages continued creative thinking in how to utilize ICTs to benefit more Africans," said Gilbert Mbesherubusa, Acting Vice-President Operations, African Development Bank.The report shows how countries such as Kenya and Senegal are implementing ICT-enabled trade facilitation initiatives, and outlines the key role that Africa's Regional Economic Communities can play in supporting greater regional integration for boosting economic growth and reducing costs.eTransform Africa also documents the flowering of technology hubs across Africa – such as iHub and NaiLab in Kenya, Hive CoLab and AppLab in Uganda, Activspaces in Cameroon, BantaLabs in Senegal, Kinu in Tanzania or infoDev's mLabs in Kenya and South Africa. These hubs are creating new spaces for collaboration, innovation, training, applications and content development, and for pre-incubation of African firms.""Africa is rapidly becoming an ICT leader. Innovations that began in Africa – like dual SIM card mobile phones, or using mobile phones for remittance payments – are now spreading across the continent and beyond," said Tim Kelly, Lead ICT Policy Specialist at the World Bank and an author of the report. "The challenge going forward is to ensure that ICT innovations benefit all Africans, including the poor and vulnerable, and those living in remote areas."According to eTransform Africa, the experiences so far offer many useful lessons for African policy makers seeking to maximize the transformational impact of ICTs. For example:Deployment of ICTs and the development of applications must be rooted in the realities of local circumstance and diversity.Governments have an important part to play in creating the enabling environment in which innovations and investments can flourish while serving as a lead client in adopting new innovations and technologies.Effective use of ICTs will require cross-sectoral collaboration and a multi-stakeholder approach, based on open data and open innovation.Most innovative ICT applications in Africa have been the result of pilot programs. The report says now is the time for rigorous evaluation, replication and scaling-up of best practices.eTransform Africa includes more than 20 case studies of ICT transformation in action in Africa, as well as a statistical annex presenting the latest data on mobile and broadband access in African countries. The study received funding from the AfDB Korean Trust Fund and the World Bank Pfizer Trust Fund. The full report, together with eight sectoral studies, is available online at www.eTransformAfrica.org. Show Less -
African Cities Can Become More Sustainable, Resilient by Managing Water Better, Says World Bank
Study Points to New Ways of Thinking about Urban Water Management Using Integrated Approaches Dakar, December 6, 2012 --- As Africa urbanizes at a faster rate than any other region in the world,... Show More + a more integrated approach to urban water management is needed to solve complex water challenges in Africa's teeming, thirsty cities, making them more sustainable and resilient, says a World Bank report presented today at the AfriCities Summit in Dakar, Senegal. The report collates lessons of experience from 31 cities in Africa and globally, and shows how such approaches are leading to home-grown innovative solutions that could help guide the design of plans elsewhere. The World Bank report, "The Future of Water in African Cities: Why Waste Water?" aims to change the way policy makers think about urban water management, planning, and project design in Africa. It argues that by adopting integrated urban water management (IUWM) approaches, policy makers in African cities have a real chance to address diverse issues such as increased competition for water with upstream water users, improve urban planning by understanding water's interaction with other sectors, and in the face of a changing climate, secure resilience in an uncertain future by relying on a diversity of water sources."Solving the challenge of urban water management is critical to unlocking the economic potential of Africa's cities and improving the lives of city residents," said Alexander Bakalian, World Bank Sector Manager for Urban Development and Services in the Africa Region. "We need to understand how water is linked across sectors and innovate in the way we do project planning and implementation. It is noteworthy that some cities in Africa have started to consider integrated planning of water resources as part of their city development strategies."African cities are growing at 3.9 percent annually, the highest in the world, and existing water management systems cannot keep up with growing demand. Studies project that over the next 25 years, water demand will almost quadruple — a much faster growth rate than any other region in the world. Currently, about 320 million Africans live in urban areas, a number projected to rise to 654 million by 2030. Population growth and growing water needs – for municipal, industrial, and ecological purposes – will all combine to put greater pressure on already scarce and dwindling water resources.The IUWM approach seeks to improve urban water systems by urging policy makers to adopt a holistic view of all components of the urban water cycle and ask critical questions such as: How is upstream land use and irrigation impacting water availability and quality downstream? Are pit latrines and poor sanitation conditions contaminating groundwater? Is solid waste clogging drains and thus causing flooding? Does water for street cleaning and parks have to be potable? Is water optimized for its multiple uses – drinking irrigation, and manufacturing? Policymakers should recognize that IUWM is about "doing things differently," rather than about "doing different things.""Urban water infrastructure in the future will look quite different compared to now. It will consider water scarcity and quality, as well as energy use and generation in an entirely different way," said Julia Bucknall, Sector Manager, Water Unit at the World Bank. "While most cities in Europe and North America will have to rebuild, the fast-growing cities of Africa have a chance to do it right first time. This will require bold leadership but we have seen many African leaders who see the opportunities this new approach offers and we are excited to support them."The book provides examples of how African cities can implement IUWM approaches leading to innovative solutions. For example:Windhoek, Namibia - Driven by pressures on water resources, 26 percent of Windhoek's water supply comes from wastewater reuse making the city one of the few systems in the world that recycles treated wastewater for drinking water.Arua, Uganda – Arua is proposing a low-tech system to treat wastewater in the expanding outskirts of the city. The system will combine decentralized wastewater treatment systems (DEWATS) with soil aquifer treatment (SAT).Nairobi, Kenya – An integrated approach for reducing leakages, better management of water demand, stormwater and rainwater harvesting, and greywater recycling could provide added flexibility and resilience for the city. The study is part of a larger IUWM effort funded by the World Bank's Water Partnership Program (WPP) which is financing development of a conceptual framework and guidelines for implementation, as well as pilots on IUWM approaches in other large cities in Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe and Central Asia. The dissemination of the lessons from pilots has sparked interest by several cities such as Nairobi and Sao Paulo that are planning to use World Bank funds to incorporate IUWM principles into pilot projects. Show Less -
World Bank Warns Against Complacency Amid High Food Prices and Hunger
WASHINGTON, November 29, 2012 – The world cannot afford for high and volatile food prices to be the "new normal," while millions of people continue to suffer from hunger and to die from malnutrition, ... Show More + the World Bank Group warned today."A new norm of high prices seems to be consolidating," said Otaviano Canuto, World Bank Group's Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management. "The world cannot afford to be complacent to this trend while 870 million people still live in hunger and millions of children die every year from preventable diseases caused by malnutrition."According to the latest edition of the World Bank Group's Food Price Watch report, published quarterly, global food prices stabilized following last July's record peak. In October, prices were 5 percent below that peak. Prices were driven down by fats and oils, with more modest declines in grains. Seasonal increase in supplies, the absence of panic policies, such as food export restrictions, and better expectations for the future are behind such trends, although markets remain tight in general.Nonetheless, prices remain at high levels – 7 percent higher than a year ago. Grains, in particular, are expensive. They are 12 percent above their levels 12 months before and very close to the all-time high of 2008. Maize, for instance, is 17 percent higher than in October 2011 and 10 percent above the record-high prices of February 2011, despite their decrease of 3 percent between August and October."Although we haven't seen a food crisis as the one of 2008, food security should remain a priority," said Canuto. "We need additional efforts to strengthen nutrition programs, safety nets, and sustainable agriculture, especially when the right actions can bring about exceptional benefits." According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and others, 870 million people live with chronic undernourishment, an unchanged figure since 2007-09, and behind the necessary improvement to achieve the hunger Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of hungry people by 2015. Furthermore, child malnutrition accounts for more than a third of the mortality burden of children under the age of five, and malnutrition during pregnancy for more than 20 percent of maternal mortality.Therefore, programs to improve nutrition, for instance, would multiply the benefits -- from improving cognitive development and learning; to contributing to the empowerment of women and maternal health; reducing the negative interaction of malnutrition and infectious diseases; and increasing economic growth.According to Food Price Watch, weather will determine food prices in the near future, along with other factors, such as oil prices and the extent of emerging export competition – all of which remain uncertain at this point. How the World Bank is helpingIn FY12, which ended June 30, new World Bank Group (WBG) commitments to agriculture and related sectors reached over $9 billion. This exceeded projected lending in the Bank's Agriculture Action Plan, which foresaw an increase from an average of $4.1 billion annually in FY06-08 to $6.2-$8.3 billion annually in FY10-12. IBRD/IDA assistance in FY12 was the highest in 20 years.From July 2012 onwards the Bank's emergency response to severe food price shocks in the poorest countries can draw on IDA16 resources, including those available through IDA's Crisis Response Window (CRW), as well as undisbursed resources available under the recently approved Immediate Response Mechanism. For instance, in response to drought in the Horn of Africa, IDA is providing $1.8 billion, (including $250 million from the CRW), to save lives, improve social protection, and foster economic recovery and drought resilience.IFC has invested $1 billion in the Critical Commodities Finance Program, aimed to support trade in key agricultural and energy-related goods, to help reduce the risk of food and energy shortages, as well as improve food security for the world's poorest.Additionally, IFC's Agricultural Price Risk Mechanism (APRM) enables protection from volatile food prices for farmers, food producers, and consumers in developing countries.IFC's Global Warehouse Finance Program allows famers to get needed financing quickly by borrowing against receipts they obtain for crop deliveries to warehouses.The Bank is supporting the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), set up by the WBG in April 2010 at G20's request. Nine countries and the Gates Foundation have pledged about $1.3 billion, with $880.1 million received.The Global Food Price Crisis Response Program (GFRP) has reached 66 million people in 49 countries - through $1.6 billion in emergency support.The WBG is coordinating with UN agencies through the High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis and with non-governmental organizations.Supporting the Partnership for Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) to improve food market transparency and help governments make informed responses to global food price spikes.Advocacy for more investment in agriculture research–including through the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) – and monitoring agricultural trade to identify potential food shortages.Supporting improved nutrition among vulnerable groups through community nutrition programs aimed at increasing use of health services and improving care giving. As part of its response to the food crisis, the Bank has supported the provision of some 2.3 million school meals every day to children in low income countries.The Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) framework for action to address under-nutrition was endorsed by over 100 partners, including the World Bank.Improving global collaboration in the generation and sharing of knowledge between agriculture, food security, and nutrition, through the SecureNutrition knowledge platform: www.securenutritionplatform.org Show Less -
Increased Targeting of Key Populations Can Accelerate End of Global HIV Epidemic
New Studies Show Potential Impact of Programs for Sex Workers, People Who Inject Drugs, and Men Who Have Sex with MenWASHINGTON, November 28, 2012 – As the world prepares to commemorate World AIDS Day... Show More + on December 1, two new World Bank studies urge governments and their development partners to provide better prevention, care, and treatment services for sex workers and people who inject drugs as an important step toward ensuring a world free of AIDS.The studies are the second and third in a three-part series on key populations at higher risk in low- and middle-income countries. In June 2011, the World Bank and partners launched the first study, which focused on men who have sex with men."In many countries, sex workers, people who inject drugs, and men who have sex with men remain marginalized in society and vulnerable to HIV," said David Wilson, World Bank Global AIDS Program Director. "Even in countries with epidemics in the general population, these groups are disproportionately affected by the epidemic. Effective interventions not only protect members of these marginalized communities, but also make a major contribution to averting a wider epidemic."Sex workers, people who inject drugs, and men who have sex with men are at significantly higher risk of HIV infection than other groups in low- and middle-income countries. According to a recently released UNAIDS report, among countries with generalized epidemics, HIV prevalence is consistently higher among sex workers in the capital city than in the general population, at around 23%. Around 3 million of the 16 million people worldwide who use drugs are living with HIV. HIV infection among men who have sex with men in capital cities is on average 13 times higher than in the general population.The World Bank, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health collaborated on the sex workers study, The Global HIV Epidemics among Sex Workers, which found that a community empowerment approach to HIV prevention, treatment, and care is cost-effective, with significant projected impact on HIV incidence among sex workers and transmission beyond the sex worker community.According to the study, globally, HIV disproportionately affected sex workers in low- and middle-income countries. The overall HIV prevalence among female sex workers was 11.8%, with the prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa at 36.9%. Across all regions, prevalence among female sex workers was 13.5 times the overall HIV prevalence among the general population of women ages 15-49. Sex workers continue to face heightened social and structural vulnerabilities to HIV. The study emphasizes the central importance of adopting a rights-affirming, empowerment-based approach to scale up comprehensive HIV services, and addressing stigma, discrimination, and violence against sex workers. The World Bank, Futures Group, and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study, The Global HIV Epidemics among People Who Inject Drugs, found that although HIV prevalence was significantly higher among people who inject drugs than in the general adult population, the availability of antiretroviral treatment and other key prevention interventions was generally inadequate.The researchers predicted that continuing to specifically target these groups with needle and syringe programs, medically assisted therapy and HIV counseling and testing, as well as increased access to antiretroviral treatment, could avert thousands of infections from 2012-2015, including 1,300 in Kenya, 4,130 in Pakistan, 1,570 in Thailand, and 3,900 in Ukraine. Interventions for people who inject drugs are cost-effective or highly cost-effective investment choices across the breadth of the global epidemic."The ability to rapidly and cost-effectively intervene in HIV transmission with currently proven interventions holds the most promise among people who inject drugs worldwide," said Farley R. Cleghorn, MD, MPH, Futures Chief Technical Officer and Team Leader for the study.The study, Global HIV Epidemics Among Men Who Have Sex with Men: Epidemiology, Prevention, Access to Care and Human Rights, found that achieving high rates of coverage of HIV prevention and treatment services among men who have sex with men had a significant positive impact on the overall trajectory of a country's HIV epidemic. Fewer than one in ten men who have sex with men worldwide has access to basic HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment services. The authors of that study recommended a comprehensive package of essential services, including risk-reduction counseling, distribution of condoms and other safe-sex measures, community-based prevention efforts, HIV testing, and increased use of antiretroviral therapy treatment. The report highlights the need for the decriminalization of the behavior of men who have sex with men, the institution of anti-homophobia policies, increased education of healthcare workers, and the reduction of stigma in healthcare situations. "Resources need to target the most effective interventions, based on sound evidence," said Chris Beyrer MD, MPH, Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights. "This means focusing on some of the hardest-to-reach and most stigmatized populations, including sex workers, people who inject drugs, and men who have sex with men. The public health urgency to address these key populations is consistent with the human rights imperative to include those most in need of HIV prevention, treatment, and care." Show Less -
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Road Bike Nitro
Turn up the nitro on this fast-paced action game! You'll have to keep your eyes and wits about you as other bikes will try with all their force to knock you out of the road and to an early death! Look for the coins that lie along the road and gather up the most points to tally your score even higher every time! TOP-NOTCH sounds and CUTTING-EDGE graphics compliment road bike nitro like nothin' else! You can download hte game right now--no waiting for some big heavy box to arrive at your door. Warning: This motorcycle dash game is addicting!

subset: commoncrawl