Figure 1. Training Programs offered by MexicoFirst Source: MexicoFirst (www.mexico-first.org)

In early 2009, the U.S.-based multinational Halliburton paid $579 million to the U.S. government to settle charges it had bribed Nigerian officials to win a contract.  In late 2008 the German…

When I first went to Nigeria, I had a picture in my mind of an oil country with a struggling non-oil economy. This picture came from two statistics I knew: 95 percent of Nigeria’s exports are oil…

This post kicks off a special blog series on the Microfinance Institution, SKS and it's IPO launch in coordination with CGAP. Over the coming weeks we’ll be featuring a variety of voices on…

As a Chinese working on public sector governance and living in India, I'm often asked to compare the two governing systems, the largest democracy in the world and the largest non-democracy in…

Writing anything on “project design’ can be hazardous. For, development contexts are diverse, actors and sectors are varied, and design can take innumerable forms. Nevertheless, this non-…

Microfinance originated in South Asia in the 1970s when pioneers such as Mohammed Yunus of Grameen, introduced the idea that providing small loans to the poor, especially women, can help generate…

The blog I have posted reflects my personal views and not those of the World Bank or its affiliates. It is unfortunate that some parties have sought to interpret what I written as the official…

I  was in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh recently. Madhya Pradesh, or MP, as most Indians know it – is a big state in the middle of the country. It also has some of the poorest human…

A free and independent media plays an important role in monitoring public servants and holding them accountable for their actions.  In this way they promote transparency and accountability within…