Stand alone books
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Publication
Intensifying the Fight Against Malaria : The World Bank's Booster Program for Malaria Control in Africa
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2009)This document describes the purpose and context of the Booster Program, its first three years of operation and the proposed design of phase two of the program. Phase two seeks to build on the successes of and lessons learned from phase one and to enable the World Bank to play its expected role in scaling up and sustaining malaria control interventions to reach the new ambitious but achievable global goal set by the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership, of eliminating malaria as a major public health problem in Africa by 2015. The Bank has subscribed fully to this agenda, as illustrated by statements made by senior management in several public forums. -
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Attracting Investors to African Public-Private Partnerships : A Project Preparation Guide
(World Bank, 2009)What transforms a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project from a desirable project on a government 'wish list' to an attractive investment opportunity in the eyes of a potential private sector partner? This guide seeks to enhance the chances of developing effective partnerships between the public and the private sectors by addressing one of the main obstacles to the effective delivery of PPP projects: having the right information on the right project for the right partners at the right time. This guide starts with a review of the meaning of the term PPP, which can be difficult to define (chapter two). This is followed by a look at the foundation blocks for engaging with the private sector (chapter three), an assessment of the issues relevant to project selection (chapter four), and a review of the actions involved in preparing projects for market, including how the process should be managed (chapter five). The particular issue of managing advisers is examined in chapter six, while chapter seven looks at how the public sector should interact with the private sector during the project selection and preparation phases, to ensure that decisions made during these phases are based on a realistic view of what the private sector can provide. The last two chapters look briefly at the issues of engagement with the private sector during the competitive procurement, or tender, stage (chapter eight) and after the contract has been signed (chapter nine). While contract signature is often regarded as the conclusion of the process, the true success of the project will depend on the delivery of quality services. -
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Namibia: Country Brief
(World Bank, 2009)Namibia is a large country in Southern Africa that borders the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola to the north and South Africa to the south. With a surface area of 824,290 square kilometers, it is similar in size to Mozambique and about half the size of the U.S. state of Alaska. Namibia has a small population of approximately 2.1 million people. It is also one of the least densely populated countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an average density of approximately 2.5 people per square kilometer, compared to 34 people per square kilometer for the region as a whole. Namibia was the last colonized country in Sub-Saharan Africa to become independent. After nearly 70 years of South African rule, Namibia gained its independence on March 21, 1990. Until 1990, Namibia's official languages were German, Afrikaans, and English. Following independence, English became the official language, although it is the first language of only a very small percentage of Namibians. Oshiwambo dialects are the mother tongue of approximately half of the population. Namibia, a lower-middle-income country, has one of the highest levels of per capita income in Sub-Saharan Africa. Namibia is one of very few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that maintains a social safety net for the elderly, the disabled, orphans and vulnerable children, and war veterans. It also has a social security act that provides for maternity leave, sick leave, and medical benefits. Namibia has one of the most productive fishing grounds in the world. The fishing industry is an important source of foreign exchange and a significant employer. The tourism industry in Namibia is similar in size to that in Botswana and is the country's third-largest foreign exchange earner. Namibia is one of the largest producers of gem quality diamonds in the world. It is estimated that 98 percent of its mined diamonds are gem quality. In 2006, almost half of total production was recovered from offshore sources. Namibia is the driest country in Sub-Saharan Africa, with deserts occupying much of the country. It has no perennial rivers or any other permanent water bodies. Due to the low and erratic rainfall and scarce ground and surface water, less than five percent of the country is arable, including through irrigation. Namibia was the first country in the world to incorporate environmental protection into its constitution. Nearly six percent of its land is nationally protected, including large portions of coastal areas within the Namib Desert. -
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Tanzania: Country Brief
(World Bank, 2009)The name Tanzania is a portmanteau of Tanganyika, the mainland, and Zanzibar, the nearby archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The two united to become the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964. With a surface area of 947,300 square kilometers, Tanzania is comparable in size to Nigeria and is slightly more than twice the size of the U.S. state of California. Tanzania's population of approximately 40.4 million (as of 2007) is the second largest in East Africa, after Ethiopia's. Dar es Salaam, the most populous city, contains approximately 2.7 million people and accounts for most commercial activity. Swahili (or Kiswahili) and English are the two official languages of Tanzania. A large number of local languages are also spoken. In Zanzibar, Arabic is commonly used. Agriculture remains the mainstay of Tanzania's economy, accounting for one-quarter of gross domestic product (GDP) and approximately 80 percent of employment. Tanzania is endowed with mineral and natural resources, including gold, diamonds, and several other precious and semiprecious stones. The blue gemstone tanzanite is found only in Tanzania. Tanzania accounted for almost two percent of world gold production as of 2006. Tanzania has a long history of hosting refugee's fleeing civil wars in nearby countries. As of January 2008, there were more than 380,000 refugees living in Tanzania, predominantly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tanzania is an up-market tourism destination. The country is endowed with a variety of tourism assets, including seven United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage sites and numerous wildlife parks, beach resorts, coral reefs, and spectacular scenic mountain views. -
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Youth Employment in Sierra Leone : Sustainable Livelihood Opportunities in a Post-conflict Setting
(World Bank, 2009)This study focuses on short- and medium-term solutions. It informs the government about the type of programs and policies that could improve the employability of young people, paying special attention to areas in which productivity can be rapidly improved. The report consists of six chapters. Chapter two profiles young people in Sierra Leone. Chapter three examines young people in the labor market, with a focus on the labor supply side of the equation (that is, the skills young people bring to the labor market). Chapter four turns to employers (the demand side of the labor market) to better understand why they do or do not employ young people. Chapter five reviews skill development programs to enhance employability of young people in Sierra Leone and other countries and presents policy options for improving worker skills (supply side) and employer interest (demand side). Chapter six summarizes the lessons from the analysis and concludes with policy and program recommendations. -
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Abolishing School Fees in Africa : Lessons from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Mozambique
(World Bank, 2009)This book constitutes one of the main outputs of the School Fee Abolition Initiative (SFAI). The initiative, launched in 2005 by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank, was designed to support countries in maintaining and accelerating progress toward universal primary education as outlined in the Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All (EFA) goals. Specifically, SFAI strengthens country efforts to eliminate school fees and/or implement targeted exemptions, subsidizations, and incentives to reduce education costs for the poor. The initiative has now grown into a broad partnership through the involvement of other key development partners and constituencies as well as research and academic institutions. SFAI promotes access to quality basic education worldwide through three specific and interlinked goals. The first is to construct a knowledge base on school fee abolition in order to inform sound and sustainable policies, strategies, and interventions. SFAI recognizes that school fee abolition is a complex process that requires both the development of a credible database and the solid analysis that builds on lessons learned from experience. The second goal is to provide guidance and support to countries in planning and implementing school fee abolition policies. Engagement by SFAI partners is taking the form of both technical and financial assistance within the framework of ongoing national planning processes. The third goal is to advance the global policy dialogue on the financial barriers to education access and to build on existing EFA partnerships. The result will ensure a good understanding of the complexities involved in school fee abolition, facilitate the articulation of complementary roles, and create an environment for success. -
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Sustaining Reforms for Inclusive Growth in Cameroon : A Development Policy Review
(World Bank, 2009)Cameroon faces a challenging policy agenda over the next few years. The Government has been implementing its comprehensive poverty reduction strategy since April 2003. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) set an ambitious agenda for broad-based economic development with specific medium-term targets as well as detailed sector policies and programs for accelerating economic growth, strengthening the social sectors, and halving poverty over the following ten years. Despite a strong start, implementation of the PRSP slowed during the 2003-04 presidential election period, when fiscal discipline was relaxed and the restructuring of key public enterprises slowed. This faltering progress translated into much lower fiscal performance relative to program targets, higher government spending to prop up distressed key public enterprises, and the accumulation of domestic arrears. These developments led the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to declare Cameroon's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) program off track in the third quarter of 2004, delaying attainment of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point by nearly two years. In the aftermath of the election, the Government developed an ambitious medium-term investment program intended to accelerate economic transformation and propel Cameroon into the group of fast-growing emerging countries. The Government is set to launch preparation of a new PRSP in early 2007. The new generation of the PRSP is expected to center on economic transformation and inclusive growth and to articulate a policy agenda that could pave the way for Cameroon to take off and get back on track to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. -
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The Changing HIV/AIDS Landscape : Selected Papers for the World Bank's Agenda for Action in Africa, 2007-2011
(World Bank, 2009)The HIV/AIDS pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa remains a long-term development challenge for the region. Nearly 12 million African children have been orphaned as a result of the disease, and 22.5 million people in Africa 61 percent of them women live with HIV. The hyperepidemics in Southern Africa have diluted poverty reduction efforts and in several countries substantially reduced life expectancy. The critical need to address this development problem is reflected in the sixth Millennium Development Goal (MDG), which seeks to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015 and to make access to treatment for HIV/AIDS universal for all those who need it by 2010. With Sub-Saharan Africa representing nearly two-thirds of those living with HIV globally, and the fact that human development indicators of several countries in the region lag far behind the rest of the world, prospects for Sub-Saharan Africa reaching any of the MDG goals will require a sustained response to HIV/AIDS. Reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS is closely linked to combating other major diseases referenced in sixth MDG, promoting gender equality (MDG 3), reducing child mortality (MDG 4) and improving maternal health (MDG 5). -
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Courage and Hope : Stories from Teachers Living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa
(World Bank, 2009)It is estimated that there are currently approximately 122,000 teachers in Sub-Saharan Africa who are living with HIV, the vast majority of whom have not sought testing and do not know their HIV status. Stigma remains the greatest challenge and the major barrier to accessing and providing assistance to these teachers. The idea to collect stories from teachers living with HIV was inspired during the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) biennial meeting in Libreville, Gabon, in March 2006. At the conclusion of the meeting, Margaret Wambete shared a moving account of her life as a teacher living with HIV in Kenya. Margaret's presentation alluded to the fact that teachers living positively, in part due to their leadership role and in part due to their visibility in society, experience a unique set of challenges related to their HIV-positive status. To emphasize the human dimension of these stories, the technical team worked with journalists rather than researchers. A seasoned journalist responsible for the education section of a major Kenyan newspaper led eight local journalists in documenting these stories. Working with teacher unions and networks of HIV-positive teachers in various countries, a number of HIV-positive teachers were identified as willing participants for this project. The journalists each interviewed teachers living with HIV from their home country and recorded their stories. Once collected, the stories were vetted for accuracy of interpretation and then reviewed more widely at the meeting of the African networks of ministry of education HIV&AIDS focal points in Nairobi in November 2007. From the interactions, the journalists learned that news conferences, reports, or press statements they rely on for information about HIV are not enough. Understanding the HIV challenge requires close association with those living with the HIV virus. These individuals have moving personal testimonies that cannot be captured through hard facts and figures. Only through close interaction can people living with HIV express their fears, needs, and aspirations. Personal testimonies from the teachers are a powerful tool for spreading the message on HIV. Facts and figures are important, but listening to those who have lived through the experiences telling their stories makes the message more potent. The lessons journalists learned from the exercise will surely help them and readers of this book in redefining their perception about HIV, especially in relation to professionals such as teachers. -
Publication
Africa at a Turning Point? : Growth, Aid, and External Shocks
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008)This book is a collection of essays that seeks to answer three interrelated sets of questions about Africa's recent growth recovery. The first set of essays addresses questions about the drivers and durability of Africa's growth. How different is current economic performance compared to Africa's long history of boom-bust cycles? Have African countries learned to avoid past mistakes and pursued the right policies? How much of the current performance depends on good luck such as favorable commodity prices or the recovery of external assistance and how much depends on hard-won economic policy reforms. A second set of essays looks at the role of donor flows. External assistance plays a larger role in Africa's growth story than in any other part of the developing world. As a result, the economic management of external assistance is a major public policy challenge, and donor behavior is a significant source of external risk. The third set of essays looks at questions arising from commodity price shocks especially from changes in the price of oil. Relative to factors such as policy failures, conflicts, and natural disasters, how important are commodity price shocks in explaining output variability in African countries? Compared to the oil price shocks in the 1970s, why have recent higher oil prices apparently had less impact on Africa's growth? Oil is also now an important source of revenue for several oil exporting countries in Africa; what are the economic challenges faced by those countries? How should one analyze the macroeconomic and distributional impact of external and oil price shocks? As the essays in this volume show, laying the policy and institutional basis for longer-term growth, managing volatile commodity prices and aid flows, and turning growth in average incomes into growth in all incomes remain formidable but manageable challenges if Africa is to reach its turning point.
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