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Enat Bank was recognized as the only financial institution in Ethiopia to receive a "transformational" rating in the country's first Women’s Financial Inclusion Scorecard. Despite progress, women in Ethiopia still face significant barriers in accessing financial services. The National Bank of Ethiopia, in partnership with the World Bank, launched the Scorecard to assess how well financial institutions serve women. The Scorecard evaluates institutions on workforce inclusion, access to financial products, and tailored innovation. Initial results show progress but also highlight areas needing improvement.

This blog, by Rachel Cassidy, Menaal Fatima Ebrahim, and Diego Javier Ubfal, explores the effectiveness of app-based business training for women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia. Despite high initial participation, completion rates for digital training were significantly lower compared to in-person training. Efforts to improve engagement, such as incentives and networking features, were ineffective. Neither training modality had a significant impact on business performance. The study highlights the challenges of digital training and suggests that business training alone may not be sufficient to drive results for women-led businesses.

In Ethiopia, Malawi, and Nigeria, youth aspirations in education, careers, and migration shift with age, gender, and family background. New data explores these patterns and their policy implications.

On January 25, 2025, the air in Addis Ababa was electric—not just with the hum of daily life, but with a shared sense of purpose. Inside our vibrant gathering space, a diverse group of experts, policymakers, and stakeholders had gathered for Ethiopia’s Second Energy-Sector Reform Workshop. The mission? To reimagine and reshape Ethiopia’s energy future, turning it into a model of sustainability, efficiency, and inclusivity.

This blog by Viktor Stojkoski, Luis Felipe López-Calva, Kimberly Bolch, and Almudena Fernández emphasizes the need for integrated policy solutions to address multidimensional poverty. Using Colombia and Mexico as examples, it shows how network science and the Policy Priority Inference (PPI) framework can help prioritize effective interventions. A simulation in Ethiopia illustrates the benefits of interconnected policies in reducing poverty. The blog advocates for a networked approach to policymaking to achieve systemic benefits and advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

With the approach of a December 30, 2024, deadline for compliance, the World Bank convened a seminar to discuss the challenges facing developing countries seeking to meet their climate goals while continuing to leverage international trade to reduce poverty and generate jobs. Participants included representatives of the private sector, government, and international organizations. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

The real innovation lies in the loan’s pay-as-you-grow model.

This study is part of GIL’s Innovations in Financing Women Entrepreneurs (IFWE) initiative, which is piloting and evaluating new approaches to empowering entrepreneurs. Observing and talking to these women month after month has provided insights into how they continuously adapt to keep their businesses going.

A newly released paper takes stock of World Bank experience in supporting financial sector reforms in fragile states and draws some lessons to guide policymakers.

From the otherworldly vistas of the Bale Mountains to the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and the mysterious stelae of Tiya, Ethiopia is home to a unique mix of natural, cultural, and historical sites. UNESCO has added 11 Ethiopian sites to its World Heritage List with an additional seven on the tentative list. Ethiopian food has found a global audience (culinary tourism is an $11 billion market globally!) and Ethiopian Airlines brings the world to Ethiopia’s front door

Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s fastest-growing workforce, increasing by as many as 12 million youth every year. We need to redouble our efforts to help these young people as they enter the job market.

A global water crisis threatens all aspects of development and one contributing factor is a staggering loss of 40% of water in urban water supply systems due to non-revenue water. Performance-based contracts provide a promising approach to tackle water loss challenges.

Learn how the World Bank's Carbon Initiative for Development (Ci-Dev) is working to increase energy access through off-grid renewable energy and clean cooking.

In the conflict-prone borderlands of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan, The Horn of Africa Groundwater for Resilience Project is an ambitious operation to increase information on aquifers and the countries’ capacity to manage them and to develop water service delivery infrastructure to enhance drought resilience of vulnerable populations.

From remote rural areas to bustling cities across the country, Ethiopia’s safety net programs–some of the largest in Africa–are helping more than 9 million poor and vulnerable people meet their needs and cope with multiple shocks through cash transfers. An additional benefit? Ethiopia is increasingly using electronic cash transfers for its social assistance programs, improving efficiency and transparency, and transforming lives by connecting participants with the country’s growing formal financial services.

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 historically of low-income status are still being left behind.

Ethiopia’s livestock and fisheries sector holds immense potential for economic growth and development. With the largest livestock population in Africa and ranking fifth in the world, the sector accounts for nearly 20 percent of the country's GDP and employs a significant portion of the labor force. Furthermore, Ethiopia has untapped opportunities in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. Recognizing this potential, the World Bank and the government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia have joined forces in a partnership to develop the sector. The Livestock and Fisheries Sector Development Project (LFSDP), financed by the World Bank and implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, aims to unlock the sector's potential by promoting productivity and commercialization in the dairy, poultry, fisheries, and small ruminant value chains.

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Using water quality testing data from the Ethiopia Socioeconomic Survey (ESS3) in 2016, our World Bank study examined the performance of a range of commonly used machine learning algorithms to predict E. coli contamination in the households’ drinking water sources.