Stand alone books
498 items available
Permanent URI for this collection
Items in this collection
1 - 10 of 31
-
Publication
Global Report on Islamic Finance: Islamic Finance - A Catalyst for Shared Prosperity?
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017-02-20)Income inequality has increased considerably in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–08 to the extent that one percent of global population possess almost half of the global assets. Whereas the development community is unanimous to tackle growing inequality and imbalance in the distribution of wealth, there is a difference of opinion as to the approaches to achieve this goal. This report presents a perspective from Islamic finance on how shared prosperity can be enhanced. The theoretical framework for economic development by Islamic economics and finance is based on four fundamental pillars: (i) an institutional framework and public policy oriented to the development objectives of Islam; (ii) prudent governance and accountable leadership; (iii) promotion of the economic and financial system based on risk sharing; and (iv) financial and social inclusion for all, promoting development, growth, and shared prosperity. There is evidence that Islamic finance is experiencing high growth with the banking sector leading the way. Several countries are working seriously towards developing standards, regulation and legal frameworks for the development of Islamic finance. However, there are a number of aspects where policy interventions or improvements in policy effectiveness are needed to develop Islamic finance to promote shared prosperity. Without the enabling environment, Islamic finance may not be able to attain the potential expected of it. With adequate policy interventions and enabling financial infrastructure, Islamic finance could become a catalyst for alleviating poverty and inclusive prosperity. The key findings of the report include a need for sound regulatory framework for Islamic financial institutions due to the obvious differences from the conventional banks, harmonizing of Shariah standards and more discourse related to the underlying mechanism of Islamic financial products. Islamic capital markets both equity and Sukuk (Islamic bonds) are vital for the development of Islamic financial markets. Finally, instruments of Islamic social finance and redistribution could contribute further to enhance the shared prosperity. -
Publication
The Africa Competitiveness Report 2015
(Geneva: World Economic Forum, 2015-06-01)The Africa Competitiveness Report 2015 comes out at a promising time for the continent: for 15 years growth rates have averaged over 5 percent, and rapid population growth holds the promise of a large emerging consumer market as well as an unprecedented labor force that - if leveraged - can provide significant growth opportunities. Moreover, the expansion of innovative business models, such as mobile technology services, is indicative of the continents growth potential. However, Africa continues to be largely agrarian, with an economy that is underpinned by resource-driven growth and a large and expanding informal sector. Indeed, more than a decade of consistently high growth rates have not yet trickled down to significant parts of the population: nearly one out of two Africans continue to live in extreme poverty, and income inequality in the region remains among the highest in the world. What is more, across sectors - from agriculture to manufacturing and services - productivity levels remain low. It will be necessary to raise productivity across all sectors of the economy to achieve higher growth and create quality employment, and turn this progress into sustainable inclusive growth. -
Publication
Planning, Connecting, and Financing Cities--Now : Priorities for City Leaders
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013-01-21)This report provides Mayors and other policymakers with a policy framework and diagnostic tools to anticipate and implement strategies that can avoid their cities from locking into irreversible physical and social structures. At the core of the policy framework are the three main dimensions of urban development. · Planning— where the focus is on making land transactions easier, and making land use regulations more responsive to emerging needs especially to coordinate land use planning with infrastructure, natural resource management, and risks from hazards; · Connecting—where the focus is on making a city’s markets (for labor, goods, and services) more accessible to neighborhoods in the city and to other cities. Here the focus is also on investing in public transport, and pricing private transport fully; and · Financing— where the focus is on how a city can leverage its own assets to finance new assets for example, through land value capture, establishing creditworthiness for local governments and utilities to access domestic debt and bond markets and how to set clear and consistent rules to attract private investors to create jobs in cities. This report also distills lessons from prototypes urbanization diagnostics which have been piloted to reflect challenges for countries at nascent (Uganda, Vietnam), intermediate (China, India, Indonesia), and mature (Brazil, Colombia, South Korea, Turkey) urbanization. These diagnostics under the World Bank's Urbanization Review program have engaged strategic counterparts, such as those in national ministries of finance and planning, in thinking about policy choices that influence urbanization and city development. -
Publication
A Guide to the World Bank : Third Edition
(World Bank, 2011-06-29)This guide introduces the reader to the conceptual work of the World Bank Group. Its goal is to serve as a starting point for more in-depth inquiries into subjects of particular interest. It provides a glimpse into the wide array of activities in which the Bank Group institutions are involved, and it directs the reader toward other resources and websites that have more detailed information. This new, updated third edition of a guide to the World Bank provides readers with an accessible and straightforward overview of the Bank Group's history, organization, mission, and work. It highlights the numerous activities and an organizational challenge faced by the institution, and explains how the Bank Group is reforming itself to meet the needs of a multipolar world. The book then chronicles the Bank Group's work in such areas as climate change, financial and food crises, conflict prevention and fragile states, combating corruption, and education. For those wishing to delve further into areas of particular interest, the book guides readers to sources containing more detailed information, including websites, electronic products, and even mobile phone applications. -
Publication
Entrepreneurship Snapshots 2010 : Measuring the Impact of the Financial Crisis on New Business Registration
(World Bank, 2011)New businesses are likely to have been even more severely affected by the crisis than mature businesses, even in non crisis times, new and young firms tend to be more constrained than older firms which often have established reputations and enjoy easier access to finance. Given the sudden scarcity of credit and the uncertain economic outlook, it is reasonable to assume that entrepreneurs wanting to start a new business or register an existing informal business were hit especially hard by the downturn. Until now, however there has been a lack of comprehensive evidence to support this assumption. The impact of the 2008-09 financial crises on new business creation should be of special interest given the importance of entrepreneurs and young firms to the continued dynamism of the modern market economy; it is well established that a robust entry rate of new business can foster competition and economic growth. This report hypothesizes that although economies with more developed financial markets were hit harder by the crisis, they will enjoy stronger and quicker recoveries in new firm creation. -
Publication
Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011 : Second Edition
(World Bank, 2011)There are more than 215 million international migrants in the world. Recorded remittances received by developing countries, estimated to be US$325 billion in 2010, far exceed the volume of official aid flows and constitute more than 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in many developing countries. Migration and remittances factbook 2011 provides a comprehensive picture of emigration, skilled emigration, immigration, and remittance flows for 210 countries and 15 country groups, drawing on authoritative, publicly available data. The current edition of the factbook updates the information in the popular 2008 edition with additional data for 71 countries collected from various sources, including national censuses, labor force surveys, population registers, and other national sources. In addition, it provides selected socioeconomic characteristics such as population, labor force, age dependency ratio, gross national income (GNI) per capita, and poverty headcount for each country and regional grouping. More frequent and timely monitoring of migration and remittance trends can provide policy makers, researchers, and the development community with the tools to make informed decisions. The factbook makes an important contribution to this effort by providing the latest available data and facts on migration and remittance trends worldwide in a comprehensive and readily accessible format. -
Publication
World Bank South Asia Economic Update 2010 : Moving Up, Looking East
(World Bank, 2010)South Asia's rebound since March 2009 has been strong and is comparable to that in East Asia. South Asia is poised to grow by about 7 percent in 2010 and nearly 8 percent in 2011, thanks to the strong recovery in India, good performances in Bangladesh, post-conflict bounce in Sri Lanka, recovery in Pakistan, and turnarounds in other countries, including Afghanistan, Maldives, and Nepal. The region's prospective growth is close to pre-crisis peak levels and faster than the high rates of the early part of the decade (6.5 percent annually from 2000 to 2007). The recovery is being led by rising domestic confidence and is balanced in terms of domestic versus external demand, consumption versus investment, and private demand versus reliance on stimulus. Government policy, external support, resumption of private spending, and global recovery are driving the rebound. Strong government fiscal and monetary stimulus packages and, in some cases, external assistance are helping stimulate recovery. Improved optimism is helping the recovery in private spending in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. World trade and demand recovery are also supporting the rebound in exports and tourism, as are capital inflows. Not everyone is doing equally well, with slower recovery in countries with weaker fundamentals, those with unresolved conflict or post-conflict issues, and those that were heavily exposed to the global downturn (Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan). Some significant risks are ahead in the global environment, slowing worker remittances and exports in a still hesitant and uncertain global recovery (which recent events in Europe have highlighted), volatile commodity prices, and continuing volatility in global capital flows. -
Publication
Banking the Poor : Measuring Banking Access in 54 Economies
(Washington, DC, 2009)Banking the Poor presents new data collected from two sources: central banks, and leading commercial banks in each surveyed country. It explores associations between countries' banking policies and practices, and their levels of financial access measured in terms of the numbers of bank accounts per thousand adults. It builds on the previous work of measuring financial access through information obtained from regulators, banks, and household surveys. It explores associations between countries' banking policies and practices, and their levels of financial access, measured in terms of the numbers of bank accounts per thousand adults. The extent to which people are banked depends primarily on how wealthy they are. Even in the poorest countries, rich urban customers get access to good banking. Although there are a range of financial services used by the poorest, these are usually provided outside the formal banking system. Banks are used by those above this threshold, usually by salaried employees who have the steady income. Naturally banks are more likely to seek out users with a steady, predicatable income. Expanding credit for enterprises leads to the creation of a salaried class that wants to bank: this is the primary way to increase bank access. While bank clients make up the largest part of those using financial services in most countries, incorporating other formal financial institutions would yield a more comprehensive picture of the population that enjoys access to modern financial services. -
Publication
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. -
Publication
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.