This working paper provides new, cross-country, nationally-representative insights regarding land rights among men and women in Sub-Saharan Africa, where inequalities in land ownership often go…

Ardina Hasanbasri, Talip Kilic, Gayatri Koolwal, Heather Moylan |

Improving property rights can improve the allocation of resources and create a more financially inclusive society.

Development Impact Guest Blogger |

In the Africa Chief Economist’s Office, we seek to generate knowledge on key development issues around the continent. We also host the Gender Innovation Lab, which – as the name suggests –…

David Evans |

Growing a business is not easy, and for women firm owners the challenges can be acute, especially when they are poor and run subsistence level firms. In developing countries, 22 percent of women…

Mayra Buvinic, Joao Montalvao, Amy Geist |

Lucy Odiwa, an entrepreneur in Tanzania whose firm, promotes safer and more sustainable methods for handling menstrual health hygiene management (MHM) won the first place in the SDGs&Her…

Mahmoud Mohieldin |

Access to finance was the major constraint to starting or growing a household enterprise. Photo: Odette Maciel Non-farm household enterprises provide an important opportunity for employment in…

Julia Granata, Maria Laura Sanchez Puerta, Odette Maciel, Mohamed Ihsan Ajwad |

Malaysia’s experience in addressing access to finance for SMEs has been successful, serving as a learning point for countries like Tanzania. Photo: Samuel Goh/World Bank Tanzania is set towards…

Djauhari Sitorus |

3-1-0 Three minutes to complete the online loan application, one second for approval and with zero human touch for SME loans. This is the marketing slogan used by Ant Financial, one of China’s…

Margaret Miller |

Myanmar in 2012, when we started our financial sector engagement, and Myanmar today seem like two different worlds. Back then, sim cards cost close to US$500, visitors carried wads of crisp, new…

Nagavalli Annamalai |

Results-based financing can force conversation to focus on developing a theory of change that starts with results. (Photo: Minna Mattero / World Bank) We just got back from Nepal to see how…

Jessica Lee, Peter Holland |