Our new paper “Free compulsory education can mitigate COVID-19 disruptions’ adverse effects on child schooling” focuses on the role of pre-existing policies, such as free compulsory education laws…

Marco Tiberti, Luca Tiberti, Sylvain Dessy, Horace Gninafon |

Africa is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty. While many countries were successful in reducing poverty during the years before the pandemic,…

Camilla Holmemo, Christian Bodewig, Robert S. Chase, Suleiman Namara |

Being born a woman in Benin doesn’t come with the same opportunities as being born a man. Being born a rural woman limits one’s prospects even further. The Country Gender Assessment presents a…

Miriam Muller, Felicien D. Accrombessy |

As part of the World Bank Group’s COVID-19 response, the Nigeria Electrification Project supported by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) helped improve electricity supply in…

Raluca Golumbeanu, James Knuckles |

The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the largest global shocks in recent history, but it did not increase extreme poverty in Africa as it was feared it would. The reason may be a combination of things…

Kibrom A. Abay, Nishant Yonzan, Sikandra Kurdi, Kibrom Tafere |

Most of the focus on the impact of flaring gas has been on the economic impacts, and its ability to harm human health has largely been ignored. This paper bridges this gap by linking data from…

Omoniyi Alimi, John Gibson |

Chsimdi Chukwu, a 24-year-old woman from Lagos, collects and sells plastics for a living in Olusosun, a local dumpsite roughly the size of 60 soccer fields. She is exposed to the city’s heavy…

Joseph Ese Akpokodje, Dr. Mofoluso A. Fagbeja |

This blog is a biweekly feature highlighting recent working papers from around the World Bank Group. It introduces five papers published in August 2022 on various topics, including COVID-19…

Marcelo Buitron, Policy Research Working Paper team |

Nigeria’s ambitious poverty-reduction targets hinge on developing human capital. Many of the drivers of poverty are considered in detail in a new report, “A Better Future for All Nigerians:…

Jonathan Lain, Tara Vishwanath |