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 |

Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced low economic growth per capita, a very slow decline in poverty incidence, and the number of people living in extreme poverty has been rising steadily. As a…

Johannes Hoogeveen, Johan A. Mistiaen, Haoyu Wu |

Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, including those in the CEMAC (Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa) region are endowed with abundant natural resources that hold significant…

Djeneba Doumbia, Joana Monteiro da Mota |

On the continent, the importance of the Congo Basin forests cannot be understated. Often called the lungs of Africa, it is the largest carbon sink in the world. The Congo Basin spans across six…

Cheick Fantamady Kanté |

Myanmar’s education sector has faced disruptions. Between February 2020 and February 2022, public schools in Myanmar were closed for a staggering 532 days, making it the country with the longest…

Sutirtha Sinha Roy, Roy Van der Weide, Saurav Dev Bhatta, Mar Mar Thwin |

Myanmar's transition to an open market economy in 2011 led to significant gains in GDP per capita and poverty reduction.

Sutirtha Sinha Roy |

Human capital development is essential for sustained and inclusive growth. The wealth of modern nations depends not only on their natural resources: it also depends on their human resources.…

Nathalie Lahire, Ioana Botea, Eliane Mbende |

Research and surveys consistently show that firms do not rank tax incentives as the primary reason for choosing where to invest. Instead, political and macroeconomic stability, the legal…

Viet Anh Nguyen, Hassan Zaman |

The substantial infrastructure needs in Sub-Saharan Africa cannot be met without sizeable private-sector financing. Anecdotal evidence from a recent IFC study shows improved regulatory frameworks…

Zivanemoyo Chinzara, Sebastien Dessus, Stephan Dreyhaupt |

This blog highlights two studies from past World Bank's Knowledge for Change Program (KCP)-supported research that demonstrate the importance of a data-driven and evidence-based approach to…

Kerina Wang, Lauren Nicole Core, KCP Program Management Unit (KCP PMU) |