Can African trade integration be a game changer?

Worldwide, trade and investment have been primary drivers of growth for developing economies, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. But Africa’s fractured internal market has prevented it from benefiting fully from this trend, writes World Bank Managing Director Mari Pangestu.

Why Have Smaller States Been Hit So Hard by Economic Shocks?

The January 2023 Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report warns that the global economy is dangerously close to a recession, with small states particularly the most vulnerable to shocks and economic recovery. In our brand new episode of The Development Podcast, hear from one of the GEP’s lead report authors, Dana Vorisek, the Hon. Tiofilusi Tiueti, Minister for Finance and Tonga World Bank Governor, and Anna Kay, a female-owned restauranteur in Jamaica, as they speak to the impacts of a worsening global economy on already vulnerable states.

World Bank Live

Watch Replay: What the Future Has in Store: A New Paradigm for Water Storage

Tune in for a replay of this event, which serves as an urgent appeal to practitioners across sectors to champion integrated water storage solutions—natural, built, and hybrid—to meet a range of human, economic, and environmental needs for the 21st century.

Food Security

Latest Food Security Update

Our newest update from January 30 shows that domestic food price inflation remains high around the world, with high inflation in almost all low-income and middle-income countries. The countries affected most are in Africa, North America, Latin America, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia.

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BLOG: How much do countries spend on education, and how do the price levels of education compare? Three charts from the International Comparison Program
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Countries with higher government expenditure on education also have higher student test scores

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Money matters, and it’s impossible to imagine increasing the primary school completion rate in low-income countries from its current 67 percent to every child finishing elementary school without increasing spending, just in terms of construction and teachers for all these additional students. But how we spend the money also matters - so increase school spending, track its use, measure its impact, and adjust. Source

Education is a powerful driver of development and one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty and improving health, gender equality, peace, and stability. Developing countries have made tremendous progress in getting children into the classroom and the majority of children worldwide are now in primary school. Nevertheless, some 260 million children are still out of primary and secondary school. Learn More.

Literacy rate is an outcome indicator to evaluate educational attainment. This data can predict the quality of future labor force and can be used in ensuring policies for life skills for men and women. It can be also used as a proxy instrument to see the effectiveness of education system; a high literacy rate suggests the capacity of an education system to provide a large population with opportunities to acquire literacy skills. The accumulated achievement of education is fundamental for further intellectual growth and social and economic development, although it doesn't necessarily ensure the quality of education. Literate women implies that they can seek and use information for the betterment of the health, nutrition and education of their household members. Literate women are also empowered to play a meaningful role.