Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs

415 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10986/9389

These briefs report on ongoing operational, economic, and sector work carried out by the World Bank and its member governments in the Africa Region.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 57

Mali - Private Sector Assistance Grant
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-03) Mastri, Lawrence
The principal objective of the project was to help foster the development of private sector enterprises, so that they could lead the growth of Mali's economy. The project aimed at putting in place mechanisms and measures to support the government's strategy of breaking from past reliance on the public sector. The project proposed to achieve this by: (a) completing implementation of improvements to the regulatory environment that had been introduced starting in the late eighties; (b) assisting a private business support structure, APEP, the Agence pour la Promotion de l'Entreprise Privee, to coordinate a program of institutional support to private non-financial enterprises; (c) improving the functioning of economic chambers (principally the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Mali), the Government's office charged with public enterprise reform, BEP, and departments of the administration responsible of administering regulations affecting private enterprises; and (d) inducing the strengthening of the banking sector and the preparation of a coherent financial sector strategy.
Bankable Assets : Africa Faces Many Obstacles in Developing Financial Systems
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-07) Christensen, Jakob; Gulde, Anne-Marie; Pattillo, Catherine
Sound, deep, and efficient financial sectors are vital for high sustained, private sector-led growth. But financial sectors in their current form pose major problems for the economies of sub Saharan Africa (SSA). Insufficient access to credit by small and medium- sized enterprises constrains their ability to expand and limits countries' growth potential. Most households cannot build formal savings, so their ability to escape poverty by investing in education or housing is limited.
Enhancing Capacity for Knowledge Transfer
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-06) Gorjestani, Nicholas
This article proposes a framework for reflection and action by Bank staff to better broker and adapt knowledge to help countries and communities enhance their capacity to deliver results. The focus is on identifying potential actions that would help nurture critical staff behavioral competencies that underpin effective knowledge transfer.
Benin - Decentralized City Management
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-08) Mohan, P.C.
The objective of the First Decentralized City Management project - 2000-2004 (credit equivalent of US$25.5 million) was to provide better quality and more cost-effective basic services to urban residents, especially the poor, of Benin's 3 main cities - Cotonou, Porto- Novo and Parakou. The project was the first phase of a planned 2-phase Adaptable Program Loan (APL) and followed a previously successful project, the Urban Rehabilitation and Management project.
Sierra Leone - Community Reintegration and Rehabilitation
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-05) Mohan, P.C.
The objective of the project (Credit of US$25 million from the World Bank over the period 2000-2003) was to support the peace process and expedite the return of stability to Sierra Leone through the support of two initiatives - one that helped reintegrate demobilized combatants into social and economic life and the other that sought to restore basic socioeconomic infrastructure and services in the communities most affected by the war. The successful implementation of the project was also a precondition for any other Bank investment in Sierra Leone.
Madagascar - The Third Social Fund Project
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-03) Mohan, P.C.
The project ($ 15 million plus another $18 million - 1999-2003 ) had four objectives: (i) improved access of poor rural populations to social and economic infrastructure; (ii) on a pilot basis, empowerment of poor rural communities and/or communes to identify, organize, manage funds and implement sub-projects responsive to community needs; (iii) employment creation; and (iv) increased capacity of the private sector, local small contractors, artisans, skilled labor, and NGOs. Madagascar was struck by a series of cyclones that damaged basic infrastructure over the first three months of 2000. As part of the multi-pronged approach to assist the country in its rehabilitation efforts, in July 2000, the World Bank's Board approved a Supplemental Credit of $18 million - there was no change, however, in the project's original objectives.
Migrant Labor Remittances in Africa : Reducing Obstacles to Developmental Contributions
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-02) Sander, Cersten; Mainbo, Samuel Munzele
Migrants have received heightened international recognition from the development community in recent times. New World Bank estimates on the volume of remittances show that documented remittance flows continue to increase at a rapid rate, putting global annual flows at US$88 billion for 2002 (revised up from earlier estimates of US$80 billion reported in the 2003 World Bank Global Development Report) and projecting $90 billion for 2003, based on trends in the first half of the year. Actual figures are generally accepted to be much higher. This means that remittance flows constitute the largest source of financial flows to developing countries after Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and indeed in many countries exceed FDI flows.
Microfinance Regulation : Lessons from Benin, Ghana and Tanzania
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004-10) Steel, William F.
This article identifies key issues and lessons about how the overall regulatory framework affects the ability of microfinance institutions (MFIs) to become more market-oriented and integrated with the financial system. It is based on a review undertaken by the World Bank of microfinance regulation in Benin, Ghana and Tanzania to better inform advice and project design regarding the appropriate balance between the objectives of promotion, performance, and prudential supervision.
Recent Bank Support for Civil Service Reconstruction in Post-conflict Countries
(Washington, DC, 2004-08) World Bank
Civil service reconstruction is important in post-conflict countries because conflict erodes institutions and civil service capacity. And because successful reconstruction-in all sectors-requires domestic capacity to implement projects, a weak civil service undermines overall reconstruction efforts. Moreover, donor assistance is crucial to a country's rebuilding, and coordinating such assistance requires a certain amount of civil service capacity.
Estimating Financing Needs for Local Services in Madagascar
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004-06) Febgler, Wolfgang
This note presents the methodology and findings of a field study on the financing needs of Madagascar's communes-the country's lowest but most institutionally advanced level of subnational government. Following a first round of municipal elections in 1995, more than 1,500 communes are now formally responsible for maintaining basic administrative services and social and economic infrastructure, including local waste disposal and sanitation. In addition, communes are responsible for identifying and coordinating local investments and for supporting implementation of the national Poverty Reduction Strategy at the local level.