With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), world leaders made a bold pledge in 2015 to leave no one behind on the path of development by 2030. Half-way to the target date, some 22 countries…

Samuel Kofi Tetteh Baah, Christoph Lakner, Umar Serajuddin |

Moussa bought his first SIM card in 2011 to keep in touch with his family Kati, a rural community in Mali. He had moved to Timbuktu, and the mobile phone was his only connection to home. Almost a…

Maimouna Gueye |

The West African Economic and Monetary Union community, which comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo, is facing a deficit of decent housing of…

Mazen Bouri |

As we marked World Poverty Day on October 17th, a blog published recently by World Bank staff highlights that poverty has finally receded to pre-COVID pandemic levels, which in essence means we…

Nadir Mohammed, Laura Moreno Herrera, Salman Zaidi |

According to the 2023 World Bank Economic Update for Mali, entitled “Strengthening Financial Resilience of Pastoralists to Drought,” Mali’s economy showed signs of resilience despite ECOWAS…

Xun Yan, Qhelile Ndlovu, John Luke Plevin, Eliakim Kakpo |

As we keep hearing the term “inflation” in the news every day, it’s worth revisiting what that really means for MENA countries. Here are four policies that tackle high inflation and low growth…

Nadir Mohammed, Kevin Carey, Johannes Hoogeveen, Gladys Lopez-Acevedo |

When 24-year-old Niamoye Dicko decided to take classes at the Missabougou Vocational Training Center in Mali in 2020, she already had a Baccalaureate degree, a Master’s degree in private law, and…

Dena Ringold |

The COVID-19 pandemic created a huge crisis, but also an opportunity for MENA countries to build more adaptive, resilient, inclusive social protection systems. There are many lessons to draw from…

Ferid Belhaj |

From public transit quality to land use patterns, there are many factors that may impact people's ability to access essential services like healthcare or education. A new World Bank study…

Aiga Stokenberga, Karla Dominguez Gonzalez |