This newsletter includes the following headings: (i) India makes huge progress in the ease of doing business rankings; (ii) pathways to prosperity – World Bank series; (iii) development dialogue : triple helix of innovation; (iv) ICR update : Punjab rural water supply and sanitation project; (v) interview; (vi) recent project signings; (vii) new additions to the public information center; and (viii) contact information.
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The objective of the Municipal and Agglomerations Support Program Project for Senegal is to increase local government resources and enhance the transparency, predictability and equitable distribution of State’s financial transfers to territorial governments (TGs) and improve the performance of TGs involved in managing public investments for local service delivery.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: circulation of construction site heavy equipment coupled with the non-observance of safety measures might cause work accidents; worksite vehicles will generate greenhouse gas from engine exhaust, bad odor nuisances, sanitary risks and pollution; worksites will generate waste that typically result in various forms of pollution; construction or rehabilitation work might require vehicle route deviations or restriction to foot traffic and generate disturbances in daily activities of urban neighborhoods; some work will require the use of vehicles and various types of engines which might cause an increase in volumes of used oils (for hydraulic machines, engine oils, gear boxes and lubricant and insulating oils and heat transfer fluids); adequate storage of products and waste (waterproofing); waste disposal by specialized companies; planting local vegetal species in new green areas (to compensate for eventual destruction of other green spaces); air pollution control system (application of provisions for the fight against air pollution) and exhaust gas standards for worksite engines (construction work phase); worksite watering; systematic removal of unused fillings; frequent vehicle maintenance; utilization of appropriate construction or rehabilitation techniques; and implementation of a regular technical control system.
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Program-for-Results Environmental and Social Systems Assessment 120216 AUG 01, 2017
Even though a large majority of poor households are engaged in agriculture, per capita productivity and real levels of sectoral growth remain low in Madagascar.
... See More + Approximately 80 percent of the population are engaged in agriculture, which provides the main source of income for households, albeit at subsistence levels. Cultivation practices are based on extensification strategies with implications for Madagascar’s fragile natural resource base, rather than improving the productivity of existing farms and land use. To ensure Madagascar’s growth prospects more inclusively benefit the entire population it will be crucial to improve the productivity of the agriculture sector. The first part of the this economic update has the World Bank’s assessment of recent economic developments and the outlook over the short to medium term in Madagascar. The second part of this update focuses on Agriculture and Rural Development.
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This brief highlights findings from CGAP’s annual cross-border funder survey. The 2016 survey reports funding commitments from the largest international funders of financial inclusion, as of 31 December 2015.
... See More + CGAP has conducted the survey since 2008, and in partnership with MIX since 2012. The data from this year’s report come from 54 funders who report to the survey biannually.
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Brief 119213 DEC 01, 2016
Soursourian,Matthew Jacob Klein; Dashi,Edlira; Dokle, EdaFrench,
EnglishDisclosed
This brief highlights findings from CGAP’s annual cross-border funder survey. The 2016 survey reports funding commitments from the largest international funders of financial inclusion, as of 31 December 2015.
... See More + CGAP has conducted the survey since 2008, and in partnership with MIX since 2012. The data from this year’s report come from 54 funders who report to the survey biannually.
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Brief 119213 DEC 01, 2016
Soursourian,Matthew Jacob Klein; Dashi,Edlira; Dokle, EdaSpanish,
EnglishDisclosed
In the early 1990s, Finland went through watershed developments due to a severe economic recession, during which unemployment rates rose from around 2 percent to over 15 percent and GDP decreased by more than 10 percent.
... See More + However, in one decade Finland became the most ICT-specialized economy in the world. Three times it has ranked number 1 in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) competitiveness index. It also ranked highest in the OECD's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies of learning skills and educational attainment. This paper includes the following headings: introduction; Finland's knowledge economy today; structural changes in the Finnish economy - from agriculture to high-tech; changes in the economic and institutional regimes; innovation and education strategies and policies in Finland; sectoral perspectives on the Finnish knowledge economy -- from forest-related industries to ICT; challenges to the Finnish knowledge economy -- what's ahead; and conclusions and lessons from Finland's knowledge economy for other economies.
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The role of the private sector is particularly significant inAfrica—the focus of this report. Africa’s population is expectedto increase to 1.7 billion in 2030.
... See More + By 2050, the continent will be home to 2.4 billion people—a quarter of the world’s future population. A growing and rapidly urbanizing Africa requires substantially more services and basic infrastructure, including power, ports, roads, and railways. According to the WorldBank Group, Africa’s unmet infrastructure investment needs are estimated at more than 45 billion dollars annually. Only a robust private sector can create the jobs and deliver higher standards of living to an increasingly young African population. In the poorest and most conflict-prone countries, private markets barely exist, slowing development.These markets must be built up and energized, work that willrequire new types of financial instruments that can attract private investment and mitigate risks for investors.This report offers a template for how we can move forward—by showing how investors, governments, local enterprises, donors,and individuals are working together to address investors’ riskconcerns and deliver more investment with positive impact. It allows governments to procureprivately funded solar power stations—quickly, transparently,and at the lowest tariffs possible. Private developers, fortheir part, benefit from an all-in-one package of advice, risk management, finance and insurance. So far, three countries are on board—Madagascar, Senegal and Zambia—and dozens of top-tier companies are competing forthe chance to build solar plants in markets they would otherwisenot know how to navigate. The program’s first auction, inZambia, resulted this year in the lowest-priced solar power todate in Africa, just six cents per kilowatt hour. In a countr ywhere only one fifth of the population has access to electricity,consumers will now have a new source of affordable, renewableenergy. IFC has a track record of fostering and sustaining privateenterprise in the most difficult environments.this report will encourage governments, donor partners, and the private sector to collaborate in new ways.
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This Country Engagement Note (CEN) FY17–FY18 sets out the World Bank Group’s (WBG) engagement with the Republic of Yemen during the ongoing conflict.
... See More + This CEN aims to support the efforts of the international community to restore peace and help move the country to stability. This CEN also seeks to implement the WBG’s new strategy for promoting economic and social inclusion and contributing to peace and stability for development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in a conflict situation. The Republic of Yemen is in the midst of a complex conflict that is causing massive physical damage, devastating the economy, causing a humanitarian crisis, and creating space for expanded operations of radical groups. The country is still in conflict, and although peace talks are ongoing the security and political difficulties on the ground remain substantial. Recognizing the challenges the Republic of Yemen is facing, the CEN has been kept flexible by design. The MENA Strategy provides a comprehensive framework for responding to the challenges of the Republic of Yemen today. The strategy shifts the Bank Group’s engagement from working around conflict and instability to targeting directly peace and stability and proposes four pillars to tackle both fronts: (a) renewal of the social contract; (b) regional cooperation; (c) resilience to refugee and migration shocks; and (d) recovery and reconstruction. During the conflict, top priority is given to preserve institutional and service delivery resilience and provide emergency support to conflict-affected poor and vulnerable Yemenis. Analytical and advisory work in the context of preparing for the post-conflict period will keep a close eye on how other elements would need to shape the post-conflict environment.
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Following the partial lifting of nuclear-related sanctions in November 2013 under the interim Joint Plan of Action (JPOA), Iran's economy rebounded in 2014 and is estimated to have expanded by 0.5 percent in 2015.
... See More + A less accommodative monetary policy stance reduced inflationary pressures, with the Consumer Price Index falling to 8.9 percent in February 2016, from a peak of 45.1 percent in June 2013. Notwithstanding this positive development,the pace of job creation has remained weak and the unemployment rate rose to 11.7 percent in 2015, up from 10.6 percent in 2014. The fiscal balance of the central government also deteriorated, mostly due to low oil prices, from a deficit of 1.2 percent of GDP in 2014 to a deficit of 2.7 percent of GDP in 2015. Similarly, the current account surplus is estimated to have shrank from 3.8 percent of GDP in 2014 to 0.6 percent of GDP in 2015 due to falling oil receipts.
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