Namibia has achieved remarkable economic growth since 1990, transitioning to an upper-middle-income country in 2008. In the last few years though, its economy has stagnated, and the country has…

Kevin Njiraini, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly |

Botswana and Namibia are two of the world’s most drought-prone countries. In 2018-2019, a severe drought swept through Namibia killing some 60,000 heads of livestock and causing two-thirds of…

Tahira Syed, Ana Cristina Canales Gomez |

In a recent visit to South Sudan, we met with livestock herders as they were tending to their livestock in a cattle camp outside of Juba. One of the most memorable conversations was with a woman…

Holger Kray, Tahira Syed, Ana Cristina Canales Gomez |

This is one of 38 winning blogs from the 2021 Blog4Dev competition, the World Bank Africa annual writing contest, inviting young people to weigh in on a topic critical to their country’s economic…

Loise Shipepe |

Today, on the occasion of the World Youth Skills Day , we are pleased to announce the winners of the Blog4Dev 2021 competition.

Hafez Ghanem, Ousmane Diagana |

Since moving to Southern Africa in 2019, I have had the great privilege of meeting many impressive women working in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related fields.

Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly |

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 |

Child marriage is the practice of girls and boys under the age of 18 being married off. It refers to both formal marriages and informal unions.

Ndakondja Uusiku |

Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. Nearly four in 10 girls marry each year before their 18th birthday, many of them becoming mothers at a young age.…

Hafez Ghanem |