Mind, Behavior, and Development Unit project showed that it is possible to encourage low-income Tanzanians to increase savings by up to 11 percent using the right messages.
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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, EdaSpanish,
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, EdaFrench,
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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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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This first national survey of financial capacity among Papua New Guinea (PNG) population presents the initial findings that are of particular relevance to the country’s policy makers, educators and researchers.
... See More + Anecdotal evidence and the facts of an unevenly developed financial infrastructure suggest that the level of financial inclusion in Papua New Guinea is fairly low and the ability of many citizens to manage money is limited - formal financial services are a rather new concept to the traditional communities. The formal financial system in Papua New Guinea is growing rapidly and the households, whether urban or rural, are required to use an increasing number of financial instruments and to manage increasingly complex household finances. Understanding these developmental processes and providing knowledge to the financial consumers are of high priority. This National Financial Capability Survey aims to provide a detailed picture which can support policy and programmes to enhance financial inclusion and increase financial literacy of all Papua New Guineans. The initial findings from the surveys in Madang and Morobe provinces already provide a set of rich data that can be further analyzed. Once completed the National Financial Capability study will provide a baseline measure of financial inclusion and financial capability for PNG.
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In Sub Saharan Africa women are often not protecting their savings through formal devices but instead keeping their savings in more vulnerable savings options.
... See More + After participating in a savings promotion program, women are more likely to save in semi-formal savings options. Participants moved their cash to semi-formal saving options, such as ROSCAs, but did not go as far as moving to regular bank accounts or other formal savings options. The pilot identified subgroups that may be especially receptive for informational savings campaigns. Women who were illiterate or had been robbed or stolen from in the past one and a half years show significant increases in take-up of formal savings options after participating in the program. The savings mobilization program resulted in reallocation rather than accumulation of monetary wealth.
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The first in a series of progress reports under the Korea-World Bank Group Partnership Facility(KWPF or the “Facility”), this report aims to provide an overview of the progress and resultsachieved since the establishment of the Facility in May 2013.
... See More + The key objective of the Facility is to enhance Korea-World Bank Group cooperation while seekingto provide flexibility, efficiency and improved performance in fund management. In addition theFacility also aims to assist developing member countries of the World Bank Group in achievinginclusive and sustainable economic growth.The Facility comprises of three pillars of collaboration: Window 1, financing for global and regional programs, which supports World Bank Group (wbg) managed programs are selected by Korea in close collaboration with relevant WBG units in support of various development activities; Window 2, cofinancing of Country investments, which provides strategic aid allocation in support of International Development Association (IDA) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) projects, taking into account Korea’s policy of international economic cooperation as well as the World Bank’s development approach as expressed in country assistance and sector or thematic strategies; and Window 3, generation and transfer of development knowledge, which provides financing for WBG executed technical assistance or capacity building projects that are undertaken in collaboration with Korean entities and aim to leverage Korea’s economic development experience. The Facility is managed with a significant emphasis on results, and the activities currently under implementationare already producing tangible outputs. This report highlights one project from each ofWindow 2 and 3 to illustrate the results being achieved thus far.
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