South–South Learning to Strengthen Environmental and Social Risk Management Across Somalia

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• South–South learning strengthened institutional capacity for managing environmental and social risks that are critical to enabling sustainable investment and job creation.
• Practical lessons from Ghana highlighted the importance of legal clarity, coordination, and land governance in accelerating project delivery and investor confidence.
• Strong environmental and social systems are essential enablers of infrastructure, private sector growth, and job creation, resilient development across Somalia.

When Somali officials arrived in Accra recently, they were not looking for new policies or templates. They wanted to understand how environmental and social (E&S) risk management works in practice, how institutions coordinate, and how E&S risks and impacts are managed as development projects move from planning to implementation.

That practical curiosity sat at the heart of a South–South Knowledge Exchange and Learning Visit convened by the World Bank Group, bringing together regulatory institutions from Somalia and Ghana to share experience on strengthening environmental and social risk management in development.

Delivered under the Somalia Programmatic Advisory Services and Analytics (ESSRM PASA), the exchange supports the World Bank Group’s efforts to strengthen institutions that are essential for sustainable investment, infrastructure delivery, and job creation.

Learning grounded in institutional practice

Rather than focusing on theory, the visit facilitated technical exchanges between institutions responsible for E&S protection, land administration, and key sectors such as extractives, transport, and energy. Participants engaged directly with their counterparts through institutional briefings, site visits, and facilitated peer-to-peer exchanges.

With long-established regulatory institutions and extensive experience managing E&S risks across infrastructure, land, energy, and extractive sectors, Ghana provided a strong peer learning environment for the exchange. Its well-defined legal frameworks established environmental and sectoral regulators, and experience coordinating across institutions responsible for land, minerals, energy, and environmental protection offered participants concrete examples of how regulatory systems function in practice.

What stood out: clarity, coordination, and sequencing

Across discussions, participants highlighted the importance of clear legal mandates that can enable effective institutional oversight. Ghana’s regulatory framework is anchored in well‑defined laws that clarify roles, responsibilities, and decision‑making authority, reducing ambiguity and strengthening compliance.

Coordination emerged as another recurring theme. Inter‑agency collaboration in Ghana is formalized through legislation, board representation, and structured review processes, enabling environmental, land, and sector regulators to work together while maintaining distinct mandates.

Land administration was also a strong area of interest. Discussions highlighted how consolidated land management systems help reduce disputes, improve oversight, and build confidence among communities and investors, particularly infrastructure and extractives development.

Effective E&S systems as enablers of jobs and sustainable development

Throughout the exchange, a shared understanding became clear: environmental and social risk management is not simply a compliance requirement. Strong E&S systems are essential to advancing development priorities, including jobs, infrastructure, and private investment, while safeguarding people and the environment.

By improving regulatory clarity and coordination, effective E&S systems reduce uncertainty and delays that can discourage investment and slow project delivery. This is especially important as Somalia scales up investments in energy, transport, logistics, water, and productive sectors, central to the World Bank’s Jobs Agenda, Mission 300, and broader efforts to foster economic integration and growth.

Land and environmental governance also underpin the building of climate- resilience, smart development, and agri‑food value chains that support livelihoods. In fragile settings, clear and predictable institutions further contribute to state legitimacy and public trust, reinforcing stability over the long term.

Strengthening institutions for sustainable investment and jobs

The visit concluded with a debrief focused on translating learning into sequenced, capacity‑aligned actions. Participants identified priority areas to inform ongoing reforms, including establishment of the National Environmental Management Agency, strengthening environmental and social impact assessment systems, clarifying institutional mandates, and formalizing inter‑agency coordination, key building blocks for enabling sustainable investment and job creation.

Through the exchange, participants will take on follow‑up actions such as continued technical engagement, adaptation of legislative and regulatory materials, and development of a sequenced institutional roadmap aligned with capacity and available resources.

South–South exchange reaffirmed the value of peer‑to‑peer learning

“The Ghana exchange reinforced the value of South–South learning: countries engage as peers, lessons are practical and credible, and partnerships feel achievable,” said Grace Muhimpundu, World Bank Senior Social Development Specialist.

By grounding learning in lived institutional experience, the exchange reaffirmed the value of peer‑to‑peer learning in translating global good practice into context‑specific solutions. It also established a basis for follow-on work across legislation, ESIA systems, and institutional coordination, while opening channels for continued technical exchange, strengthening the systems needed for investment to drive private sector growth and create more and better jobs.