Other ESW Reports

242 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2209

This includes miscellaneous ESW types and pre-2003 ESW type reports that are subsequently completed and released.

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Mali Public Expenditure Review

(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022-03) World Bank

Mali is a low-income, fragile country that has suffered extraordinary setbacks in recent years. It is a landlocked economy which is highly dependent on agriculture, and thus vulnerable to external shocks and adverse weather condition. With a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of US 875 dollars (current USD) in 2019, Mali is in the lower 15th percentile of the world’s income distribution. Around 42 percent of the population live in extreme poverty. It is also a fragile state that has witnessed persistent conflict with political coups, social tensions, insecurity, and violence. The coup in 2012 has led to continued violence and displacement, leaving 8.7 million people, more than 45 percent of the population, living in crisis affected areas. It was followed by the military coup in August 2020 which has brought in a transitional civil government. The increasingly fragile security situation has also led to spikes in security expenditure, crowding out spending on public services and investment. This Public Expenditure Review (PER) proposes options to address this challenge, including improving spending efficiency and identifying ways to equitably increase domestic revenue. The policy actions and reforms it proposes will create the fiscal space to promote inclusive and sustainable growth. Starting with an overview of macro-fiscal developments, it examines Mali’s expenditure patterns and fiscal sustainability and benchmarks its performance against peer countries. It reviews the domestic revenue needed to meet the Government’s significant financing requirements and how the public finances are managed. It then investigates public spending efficiency in three sectors: education, health, and agriculture. These were chosen for their economic and social importance as well as their considerable share of public expenditure (over 30 percent). The PER provides some context for each sector, then analyzes financing and efficiency using a set of methodologies based on granular spending data and surveys, and concludes with suggested policy actions.
Missing Food : The Case of Postharvest Grain Losses in Sub-Saharan Africa

(Washington, DC, 2011-04) World Bank

Low-income, food-deficit countries have become especially concerned about the global and national food situation over the past three years. While the proximate cause of this heightened concern was the surge in food prices that began in 2006 and peaked in mid-2008, concerns remain for other reasons, among them the higher market-clearing price levels that now seem to prevail, continuing price volatility, and the risk of intermittent food shortages occurring repeatedly far into the future. For lower-income Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries, ongoing contributing factors include persistently low productivity, difficulty adapting to climate change, financial difficulties (inability to handle the burden of high food or fuel prices or a credit squeeze), and increased dependence on food aid. Yet there is an additional, often-forgotten factor that exacerbates food insecurity: postharvest losses (PHL). They can and do occur all along the chain from farm to fork, which reduces real income for all consumers. This especially affects the poor; as such a high percentage of their disposable income is devoted to staple foods. This report is based on the desk study undertaken by experts of the U.K. Natural Resources Institute (NRI). Data were collected by direct contact (e-mail or telephone), with authorities holding information on past and current projects; by searching the Internet for details about projects; and by reviewing published and 'gray' literature. Data were also collected from the personal experiences of the NRI review team who had worked on numerous and diverse projects to reduce grain PHL in SSA over the last 30 years and from experts in the field. These experts were identified and asked to complete a questionnaire that would draw out their experiences to indicate the weakest links in the postharvest chain, the interventions that deserve to be prioritized for future action, and those that should be avoided. Of about 40 invited respondents, a total of 20 returned completed (or partially completed) questionnaires.
An Assessment of the Investment Climate in Botswana, Volume 2. Detailed Results and Econometric Analysis

(Washington, DC, 2007-06) World Bank

The objective of the Botswana Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) is to evaluate the investment climate in Botswana in all its operational dimensions and promote policies to strengthen the private sector. The investment climate is made up of the many location specific factors that shape the opportunities and incentives for firms to invest productively, create jobs, and expand. These factors include macroeconomic and regulatory policies; the security of property rights and the rule of law; and the quality of supporting institutions such as physical and financial infrastructure. The main sources of information for the ICA are two firm-level surveys. The first survey covered Small, Medium, and Large Enterprises (SMLEs) with five or more employees in retail trade, manufacturing, and other services. The second covered micro enterprise with fewer than five employees in the same sectors. Information from the survey is supplemented with information from other sources, including the doing business report; analytical reports by the World Bank, the international monetary fund, other international organizations and the Government of Botswana; and academic papers and reports. Although the analysis in this report suggests that there are some areas where the investment climate might be improved, it is important to note none of these problems with the possible exception of worker skills appear to be particularly debilitating. This suggests that other factors are probably also playing a role. One such factor is likely to be the small size (in terms of population) and remoteness of the economy. Another factor is the effect that is the macroeconomic effects of the large mining economy has on the competitiveness of the rest of the economy. Improving living standards and cutting poverty depends on broad-based economic growth, which will only take place when firms improve worker productivity by investing in human and physical capital and technological capacity. But firms will only invest when the investment climate is favorable.
Nigeria - Competitiveness and Growth : Country Economic Memorandum, Volume 2. Main Report

(Washington, DC, 2007-05) World Bank

The theme of this report is Nigeria's competitiveness and growth. This report consequently focuses on constraints, opportunities and strategic choices associated with increasing productivity and growth of the Nigerian economy on a sustained basis. Its objective is not to present a "blueprint" for Nigeria's growth but rather to raise issues and provide some options for the consideration of policy makers and other Nigerian stakeholders. The report is structured in four main sections. The first section analyzes Nigeria's growth history, examines the recent growth pick up and assesses its sustainability. The second section analyses how the critical constraints to competitiveness and growth may be addressed. The third section discusses how trade -domestic and external - can be used more effectively to drive growth and poverty reduction. The final chapter provides policy conclusions and suggestions on what could be key elements of a growth agenda for Nigeria. The analysis in this report suggests the following key elements for a growth strategy for Nigeria: 1) Strengthening actions to tackle the most immediate constraints to the competitiveness of the economy presented by infrastructure and the business environment; 2) Using domestic trade more effectively to enhance productivity and competitiveness by strengthening their functioning, and building stronger linkages between the oil and non-oil sectors, and over time strengthening Nigeria's integration into global markets; 3) Ensuring that the poor can participate more fully in growth by placing urgent emphasis on (i) finding ways to give back some of the proceeds of oil windfall directly to Nigerians; (ii) raising agricultural productivity-including through enhanced technology; and (iii) encouraging the transition from informality to the formal sector; and 4) Building the human capital and technological base of the economy over the longer term.
Mauritius - Country Economic Memorandum : Managing Change in a Changing World

(Washington, DC, 2007-01) World Bank

This Country Economic Memorandum subscribes to the overall direction of the reform program mapped out by this body of work and it goes deeper in three important areas: (1) public sector management, (2) labor markets and education and (3) science and technology policy. Chapters 2-4 of this report, each one largely self-contained, cover these topics in order. First, however, Chapter 1 gives the context for the transition now underway with an overview of past and present development focusing on the transformation of the economy from factor-intensive to skill- and knowledge-intensive development. Then a forward-looking section offers a medium-term forecast for the economy's emergence from the recent slowdown and discusses prospects for longer-term (potential) growth.
Lesotho : An Assessment of the Investment Climate

(Washington, DC, 2005-01) World Bank

The objective of the Lesotho Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) is to evaluate the investment climate in Lesotho in all its operational dimensions and promote policies to strengthen the private sector. By comparing the investment climate in Lesotho to investment climates in other countries, it is possible to observe areas were Lesotho performs relatively well and others were improvements is necessary if Lesotho is to continue to grow. The primary source for the assessment is a firm level survey (investment climate survey or ICS) which was completed towards the end of 2004. About 110 firms in three sectors of the economy (manufacturing, construction and tourism) were interviewed. The information collected during the survey is supplemented with results from other studies conducted by the Bank and other donor agencies and the Government of Lesotho. In this study, the investment climate in Lesotho is compared other countries, particularly attention is given to China and India because they are important competitors in Lesotho's main export market, the garment sector. Chapter 5, attempts to provide key recommendations to assist the Government in addressing current weakness and improving environment for a faster and more diversified economic growth.
Ghana - International Competitiveness : Opportunities and Challenges Facing Non-Traditional Exports

(Washington, DC, 2001-06-21) World Bank

The report first reviews macroeconomic aspects in Ghana, identifying that much of the non-traditional exports' expansion, reflects sporadic foreign investments in key agro-processing activities - which enjoy preferential treatment in European markets - but, its value-added seems at best marginal, questioning its sustainability, should preferences be removed. Besides compliance with a growing number of European Union regulations on environmental, and food safety standards, Ghana will need to create a favorable business environment to attract foreign investment, and raise competitiveness of exporting firms. The study then analyzes microeconomic competitiveness, through four case studies on natural resource-based exports; efficient import substitution, and expansion into regional markets; labor-intensive, light manufactures and services; and, culture and arts manufactures. Constraints identified by exporters are industry specific, while, main cross-cutting issues, relate to the trade regime, and the provision of infrastructure. Findings of this report suggest that an export strategy for a country at Ghana's stage of development, should be based on two basic principles: maximizing the returns to current comparative advantage; and, over time, "catalizing" export diversification towards more sophisticated sources of advantage.