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Benin Economic Update: Adapting to Climate Change for Sustainable and Resilient Economic Growth
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-07-03) World Bank
Economic growth remained strong and resilient at 6.4 percent in 2023 from 6.3 percent in 2022, despite the various shocks the country faced, including adverse climate conditions, policy changes in Nigeria, and border closures with Niger affecting trade. On the supply side, the agriculture sector's growth improved slightly, growing by 5.1 percent, while the service sector is estimated to have grown by 6.6 percent. The primary sector did not return to pre-pandemic growth levels in 2023, with cotton production still below 2021 levels, partially compensated by higher production of other industrial crops and food. The secondary sector, particularly the manufacturing industry and construction, although recording a moderation in their dynamism, continues to support growth. On the demand side, investment remains strong and is the main driver of growth. Private consumption growth fell due to rising prices, particularly of gasoline (kpayo), while public consumption increased to maintain the well-being of the population and support economic growth. Benin's average GDP growth in 2021-23 was higher than in 2010-19 and compared favorably with regional peers. Growth is projected to stabilize at 6.2 percent between 2024 and 2026 (average 3.5 percent per capita terms), driven by investment and the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) expansion.
Mini Grids for Underserved Main Grid Customers
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-21) Tenenbaum, Bernard; Greacen, Chris; Shrestha, Ashish
Can mini grids help to solve the problem of poorly served main grid connected communities A mini grid is an electricity generation and distribution network that supplies electricity to a localized group of customers. Mini grids can be isolated from or connected to the main grid. To date, most mini grids in Sub-Saharan Africa have been built in electrically isolated rural villages not connected to the main grid. Based on broad experience working with mini grid programs in more than 20 low- and middle-income countries and five detailed case studies, the authors offer observations and recommendations about mini grids in general and a new type known as “undergrid mini grids” being used in Nigeria and India to serve poorly served communities.
Gender Disparities and Poverty - A Background Paper for the Togo Poverty and Gender Assessment 2022
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-12) World Bank
Gender gaps in Togo cut across many dimensions. Inequality starts in childhood, when girls are disadvantaged in access to schooling because of prevalent social norms and gender roles. It continues into adolescence, when a larger share of girls starts dropping out of school (with fewer than one in two completing secondary education), unable to continue education because of a number of factors, including child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and time use patterns shaped by gender norms. In adolescence and adulthood, women face the constraints of limited education and economic opportunities, restrictive gender roles that leave women little time for participation in the labor force, financial inequities, high levels of acceptance of violence against women, health risks, and a lack of agency and decision-making capacity. This background paper to the Poverty and Gender Assessment Togo (2022) highlights the importance of addressing gender disparities to achieve continued poverty reduction in Togo.
Unlocking Women's and Girl's Potential - The status of women and girls relative to men and boys in Guinea
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-12) World Bank
Evidence shows that Guinean women and girls face important barriers across all dimensions of well-being that prevent them from having access to opportunities on an equal footing with men. The poor agency of women and girls, as reflected in the high prevalence of discriminatory legal and social norms, translates into gaps in health, education, employment, and entrepreneurship, ultimately undermining their capacity to fulfill their potential and imposing important societal costs. This report presents a summary of the key challenges facing Guinean women and girls relative to men and boys. The report has a particular focus on early family formation, a common phenomenon in the country with important implications for girls’ and women’s well-being and opportunities in life. On the basis of this diagnostic and a review of evidence of what works, the report proposes some strategic lines of action to address the existing constraints and effectively empower Guinean women.
The Critical Link: Empowering Utilities for the Energy Transition
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-29) World Bank
As the conduit between power demand and supply, the utilities that operate the world's transmission and distribution networks will be the critical link in the energy transition. Utilities will need to expand and modernize their networks to integrate variable renewable energy sources and meet growing demands for cleaner and more flexible power. According to the International Energy Association (IEA), the equivalent of the entire length of the world's grid networks will need to be added or refurbished by 2040 if countries are to achieve their energy and climate goals: As the off-takers of power generation, utilities need to be financially viable to enable the coming massive scale-up of investment in renewable energy projects and grid infrastructure. Utilities will also need to lead the way in providing access to electricity to the nearly 700 million people who still lack it today, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, utilities will need to serve consumers with ever-more varied and complex power needs and an increasing range of distributed generation options, such as rooftop solar. In short, power utilities will be the critical enablers of the energy transition and achieving universal access. This paper aims to place the need for sustainable utilities in lower-income countries (LICs) and middle-income countries (MICs) at the heart of the energy sector dialogue. The focus of this paper is on the utilities that manage power transmission or distribution grids.
Algeria Economic Update, Spring 2024: Investing in Data for Diversified Growth
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-23) World Bank
Algeria’s growth was robust in 2023, and inflation started to decelerate. GDP growth accelerated to 4.1 percent, supported by hydrocarbon sector growth, as natural gas production compensated for successive crude oil production quota cuts. Non-extractive GDP growth reached 3.7 percent as investment growth accelerated, supported by a marked recovery in public investment, and leading to a surge in imports. Private consumption remained dynamic, stimulated by growing public sector wages, and pulling sectors serving households. Inflation remained at 9.3 percent over 2023 but moderated to 5.0 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, amidst a sustained decline in fresh food prices, a strong dinar, and lower import prices. Continuing to strengthen data systems would support investment and public policymaking. In 2023 and 2024, digitalization efforts accelerated, as did efforts from the Bank of Algeria and ONS to strengthen their publications, with notably the first GDP rebasing. The alternative data sources used in this report, such as satellite data on crop development or nighttime lights, represent a useful complement to conventional economic and social statistics. Yet, improving the availability, granularity, and timeliness of official economic data, most notably relating to activity, investment, and the labor market, remains of utmost importance. Enhanced data systems would support the authorities’ pivot towards performance-based budgeting and support evidence-based policymaking. They would also provide accurate and exhaustive economic data to researchers and analysts, potential domestic and international investors, alleviating economic uncertainty and fostering investment.
Haiti: Strengthening Customs Administration in an Insecure Environment
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-22) World Bank
This report is motivated by three primary factors. First, customs administrations tend to continue to operate in crisis situations, contrary to other government services. Moreover, customs taxation is the simplest tax instrument to enforce during security crisis periods because it concerns traded goods, which are easier to tax than individuals or companies. Tax revenues in Haiti are low at 6.3 percent of GDP in FY23 and insufficient to provide adequate public services. As such, customs is the single largest source of domestic revenue and leakage in customs revenues is significant. Second, as noted, strengthened customs practices and applications have the potential to significantly strengthen the legitimacy of the State and build greater trust between the government and the citizenry, including better controlling transborder criminal activity. AGD has a high profile, and corruption, unfair treatment, and perceived ineffectiveness in the administration of customs practices is viewed as highly problematic by the citizenry. Third, the current insecure environment in Haiti, including the increasing gang presence and resultant personal security concerns, presents significant constraints and challenges in carrying out basic customs services and practices, not to mention meaningful reforms. AGD could benefit from lessons learned in other fragile, conflict-affected, and vulnerable settings (FCV) and better adapt to the current insecure environment.
Digital Opportunities in African Businesses
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-16) Cruz, Marcio; editor
Adoption of digital technologies is widely acknowledged to boost productivity and employment, stimulate investment, and promote growth and development. Africa has already benefited from a rapid diffusion of information and communications technology, characterized by the widespread adoption of mobile phones. However, access to and use of digital technology among firms is uneven in the region, varying not just among countries but also within them. Consequently, African businesses may not be reaping the full potential benefits offered by ongoing improvements in digital infrastructure. Using rich datasets, “Digital Opportunities in African Businesses” offers a new understanding of the region’s incomplete digitalization—namely, shortfalls in the adoption and effective use of digital technology by firms to perform productive tasks. The research presented here also highlights the challenges in addressing incomplete digitalization, finding that the cost of machinery, equipment, and software, as well as the cost of connectivity to the internet, is significantly more expensive in Africa than elsewhere. “Digital Opportunities in African Businesses” outlines ways in which the private sector, with support from policy makers, international institutions, and regulators, can help bring down these costs, stimulating more widespread digitalization of the region’s firms, thereby boosting productivity and, by extension, economic development. This book will be relevant to anyone with an interest in furthering digitalization across Africa.
Tunisia Economic Monitor, Spring 2024: Renewed Energy to the Economy
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-09) World Bank
Tunisia’s already modest economic recovery almosthalted in 2023, amidst a severe drought, tight financingconditions and the modest pace of implementingreforms. With this slowdown, the Tunisian economy in2023 was still below its pre-Covid level, marking oneof the slowest recoveries in the Middle East and NorthAfrican region. Agriculture was the main driver of the2023 economic slowdown, declining by 11 percent asthe drought forced the government to introduce irrigationrestrictions. This highlights the urgency for Tunisiato adapt to climate change. The weak domesticdemand and the fiscal consolidation appear to haveadded to the drought-related losses, with the declinesin construction and commerce sectors offsetting someof the gains from export markets, particularly tourism.The growth slowdown–especially in labor-intensivesectors–translated into higher unemployment andlower labor force participation.
Mainstreaming Universal Accessibility in Senegal’s Built Environment: Practical Guide Senegal
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-08) World Bank
Persons with disabilities are particularly vulnerable, as they suffer disproportionately from social and economic stigmatization and various forms of exclusion. Intensifying inequalities affect persons with disabilities, their caregivers and their families. Similarly, natural disasters and extreme climatic phenomena, aggravated by climate change, instability, and conflict, disproportionately affect the lives and livelihoods of persons with disabilities and worsen their living conditions. This practical guide aims to improve the consideration of universal accessibility (UA) in the built environment. The guide was developed within the framework of the Saint-Louis Emergency Recovery and Resilience Project (SERRP), financed by the World Bank, with technical assistance provided under the mainstreaming universal accessibility in the World Bank’s urban operations initiative.