Zimbabwe is on a path to strengthening transparency in how it manages public finances and delivers results for citizens

Adrienne Shall, Edwin Farai Vela-Moyo, Stella Ilieva, Marko Kwaramba, Cheryl Khuphe |

Southern African countries had a tough 2019. The Government of Lesotho declared a national disaster as a result of the drought which left a fourth of its population facing severe food insecurity…

Barry Maher, Gracelin Baskaran |

Zimbabwe is not known as an economic dynamo in Africa.  In fact, most people who know anything about the country probably have the opposite impression.  Yet not so long ago, Zimbabwe was the bread…

Simon Bell, Crispen Mawadza |

Estimating national-level growth levels and rates is fraught with challenges. Doing so at subnational levels even more so – because of data challenges, and difficulties in attributing economic…

Apurva Sanghi, Tom Bundervoet, Laban Maiyo |

Also available in: Français | العربية   A boat trip from Port Elizabeth to Kingstown, in the Caribbean country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is a one-hour trip that locals take several…

Valerie Lorena |

Part of the World Bank’s new vision is to step up its efforts to help fragile and conflict-afflicted states break the vicious cycle of poverty. But this is no easy task.   The destruction of…

Massimiliano Calì |

We are finally starting to see some positive news around the East Asia and Pacific region, but it is too soon to begin to speak of "green shoots" of economic activity or reaching the…

James Seward |