Other Infrastructure Study
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Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa, home to more than 1 billion people, half of whom will be under 25 years old by 2050, is a diverse ...
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Publication
Navigating Beyond COVID-19: Airline Recovery and Regulatory Reform Opportunities in Southern Africa
(Washington, DC, 2022-09)This policy paper explores airline restructuring and regulatory reform challenges and opportunities in the Southern African region with particular focus on Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the air transport sector in the region faced multipronged challenges, including those related to economic regulation, profitability, safety, security, and sustainable financing of critical infrastructure. Much like the rest of Africa, the region is characterized by the dominance of troubled state-owned airlines which have been unable to generate meaningful positive returns for many years due to structural inefficiencies and weak governance. They faced elevated costs and needed several bailouts and turnaround strategies, albeit unsuccessful. -
Publication
Botswana Digital Economy Diagnostic
(Washington, DC, 2022)Digital technologies are paving the way for economic growth and new service delivery models across Africa. On key digital indicators, Botswana fares similarly or better than regional neighbors, but is lagging behind global peers with the same income levels, illustrating the potential to enhance performance. The digital economy in Botswana rests on several relatively strong individual strategies, policies, and regulations. However, when combined, these form a somewhat fragmented framework - further challenged by oftentimes slow implementation. This digital economy for Africa (DE4A) report considers the digital economy’s five foundational pillars, as well as cross-cutting issues. The report summarizes pillar status and recommendations for addressing challenges: infrastructure; digital platforms; digital financial services (DFS); digital business; digital skills; and suggested priority areas for action. -
Publication
Steering Towards Cleaner Air: Measures to Mitigate Transport Air Pollution in Addis Ababa
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-09)Air pollution, exacerbated by urbanization and motorization, is a growing concern in Addis Ababa and many other SSA cities. In Addis Ababa, air pollution from the urban transport sector is attributable to rapid motorization, an aging vehicle fleet, high sulfur fuels, lack of emission standards, and inadequate vehicle inspection and enforcement, calling for a shift towards integrated transport and air quality management. The report is one of the deliverables of the World Bank’s Advisory Services & Analytics program entitled “Ethiopia: Air Quality Management and Urban Mobility.” It aims to assess mitigation options for transport emissions for Addis Ababa (AA) in the Ethiopian context and recommend priority measures for short- and mid-term actions. The formulation of potential mitigation options builds upon a review of relevant development strategies and ongoing initiatives of the Federal and AA governments and development partners, the Ethiopian and international experiences, the results of Addis Ababa’s source apportionment study including vehicle emission inventory conducted for this ASA, and consultations with relevant stakeholders. A set of transport air pollution mitigation measures are assessed, prioritized and recommended for Addis Ababa. -
Publication
Assessment of Farmer-Led Irrigation Development in Rwanda
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-06-21)Irrigation development in Rwanda is typically not demand-driven. Existing irrigation developments have mostly resulted from government-led initiatives and donor support with the aim of achieving food security. A few irrigation projects have also been initiated by private commercial farmers and smallholder farmers with use of small-scale irrigation technology (SSIT). Farmer-led irrigation development (FLID) is defined as a process by which small-scale farmers or commercial farmers drive the establishment, improvement, and/or expansion of irrigated agriculture, often in interaction with external actors. It typically involves entrepreneurial investments by farmers either alone or in groups. For the FLID supply chain to be effective and efficient, several key private and public sector participants are involved. Districts, sectors, and offices are key stakeholders that deliver agriculture extension and advisory services and serve as focal points representing the needs of local communities and coordinating multisector responses. Regarding FLID financing, the government has attempted to reform policies and increase access by smallholder farmers to financial services. As a result, different commercial banks both public and private, MFIs, and other financial service providers continue to expand their financial services to poor rural communities, especially smallholder farmers. -
Publication
Diagnosing Angola’s WASH Sector: An Urgent Call to Action
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-05-10)Angola’s human development potential is constrained by the state of its water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. The Angola WASH sector diagnostic identifies key service-delivery problems in the WASH sector and their enabling environment through an institutional assessment and political economy analysis that takes into account the cross-sectoral links underpinning human development. Specifically, the diagnostic first explores inequalities in access to WASH services and their relationship to childhood health in Angola, using data from the most recent demographic health survey (DHS, 2015-16) and the joint monitoring program (JMP) of the United Nations Children’s Fund and World Health Organization. Next, the diagnostic identifies key institutional constraints and bottlenecks through a comprehensive governance and public expenditure review of Angola’s WASH sector. Finally, the report provides guidance on how to improve the effectiveness of the WASH sector in support of broader policy goals to achieve sustainability and meet the targets of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The diagnostic answers the following questions, each of which probes the links between access to safe WASH services and human development and highlights opportunities to improve policy, investments, and practice: (1) what is the current level and quality of access to WASH services in Angola, and how does access vary temporally and spatially?; (2) what are the links and synergies between WASH and other sectors critical to human development in Angola?; (3) what constrains WASH service delivery; and (4) what solutions will have the greatest effect on overall human development? -
Publication
Digital Economy for Zimbabwe: Country Diagnostic Report
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-03)A diagnostic assessment of Zimbabwe's digital economy has been launched as part of the World Bank Group's Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A) Initiative, which leverages an integrated and foundations- based diagnostic framework to examine the present level of digital economy development across Africa. The assessment maps the current strengths and weaknesses that characterize the national digital economy ecosystem in Zimbabwe as well as identifies the challenges and opportunities for future growth. -
Publication
Malawi: Mobilizing Long-Term Finance for Infrastructure
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-02)Malawi has a large infrastructure gap, which is beyond what the government can afford. Over the period of two decades (1998-2017), the total public investment in Malawi averaged 4.18 percent of GDP per year while in the energy and water and sanitation sectors alone, a similar level of investment, about 4 percent of GDP annually, will be required to meet the growing infrastructure demand. At the same time, the fiscal space has been decreasing as evidenced by the growing public debt, total public debt increased from 28 percent of GDP in 2007 to 63 percent of GDP in 2019. In this context, Malawi needs to make well though-out choices in prioritizing its investment program, improve the efficiency of infrastructure planning and implementation, and crowd-in financing from both foreign and domestic private investors. The report argues that the preconditions for enabling the needed transformation exist. Improvements in the macro-economic environment in the past five years makes private investment more possible, although in the short-term, the COVID-19 pandemic will have a negative impact as risk aversion increases. The regulatory framework for public-private partnerships (PPPs) is in place and further evolving, and a large PPP in the energy sector (about $1 billion) is currently under development. Domestic long-term investors (pension funds and life insurance companies) have been rapidly accumulating long-term funds in the past few years (especially after regulatory reforms to introduce a mandatory pension system) and are looking for long-term investment opportunities. The report proposes that the Government of Malawi (GoM) undertakes reforms to improve the fiscal space and in turn increase infrastructure investments through its own resources and encourage the role of the private sector in the financing of infrastructure. More specifically, the GoM can (a) improve the efficiency of the public investment management framework and integrate it with the PPP framework, (b) improve the efficiency of infrastructure delivering state-owned enterprises, (c) advance the PPP program by allocating resources to develop the needed capacity, and (d) deepen the domestic long-term finance market by availing long-term liquidity facilities to catalyze bank lending to infrastructure, issuing regulations to expand the range of long-term finance instruments and vehicles, and introducing a program of transaction testing, piloting, and market sounding to systematically link supply and demand side of the infrastructure finance, among others. -
Publication
Burundi Digital Economy Assessment
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-12-21)Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has highlighted the need for accelerating digital adoption in Burundi. Burundi’s current sectoral strategies acknowledge the importance of investing in digital technology. However, these lack an overarching approach with an actionable roadmap and clear resources behind it. Burundi’s mobile network coverage and mobile broadband uptake continues to be characterized by a stark urban-rural divide. Digital platforms are paramount in connecting people, businesses, and the government - enabling both transactions and the exchange of information, goods, and services in more efficient and convenient ways. At present Burundi’s digital entrepreneurship sector remains embryonic, hampered by barriers such as limited ecosystem support and weak access to financing. Whether through the provision of public services closer to its citizens with digital platforms, or through increased financial inclusion enabled by digital financial services and dynamic digital ecosystems, Burundi stands to gain from a continued investment in the foundations of its digital economy. Chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two reviews cross-cutting factors that affect the strategic, institutional, and regulatory environment for the digital agenda in Burundi. The report proceeds to explore the five foundational pillars of the digital economy, in more depth. Chapter three looks at the access, quality, and usage of digital infrastructure, as well as the dynamics of the connectivity market, including what it will take to get more Burundians online. Chapter four discusses the current state of digital skills attainment and coverage. Chapter five analyzes the current application and scope for expanding the use of digital platforms - both in the public and private sector. Chapter six examines the state and uptake of digital financial services (DFS) among individuals, businesses and by government. Finally, chapter seven assesses the state of digital entrepreneurship and the culture of innovation in Burundi. -
Publication
Uganda Digital Economy Assessment: Country Diagnostic
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-11)Uganda’s digital economy is at a ascent stage of development but there is tremendous opportunity to invest in strategic areas. This Digital Economy for Africa diagnostic presents an overview of digital infrastructure and access, digital entrepreneurship, digital financial services, digital skills and digital platforms in Uganda and identifies key activities that can be undertaken to capitalize on opportunities in the digital economy.