Other ESW Reports

242 items available

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

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    Engagement of Micro and Small Enterprises in Workplace-based Learning in South Africa
    (Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022-04) Franz, Jutta ; Dulvy, Elizabeth Ninan ; Marock, Carmel
    Workplace-based learning (WBL) increases the labor market relevance of skills development programs and the employability of their graduates. The advantages of WBL for enriching the learning experience and improving the outcomes of skills development, and enhancing the employability of graduates, have always been recognized in South Africa. Engaging in WBL can help micro and small enterprises (MSEs) secure skilled labor and increase their productivity. Against this background, the World Bank and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) agreed to conduct a study about the involvement of MSEs in WBL in South Africa. The study intends to shed light on the constraints and opportunities for expanding WBL engagement among MSEs in South Africa, by taking stock of the current situation of MSE participation in WBL, identifying constraints, potential and key enablers, and outlining possible strategies to better engage and support MSEs in WBL. The study reviews the concept of WBL in a wider sense than is often applied in skills development debates in South Africa. Unlocking the vast potential of WBL and work experience opportunities to be offered to young South Africans by small and very small (micro) enterprises will be an important contribution to the fight against youth unemployment.
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    What Do You Want to Be?: Youth Aspirations in the Time of the COVID-19 Crisis - Evidence from Three Sub-Saharan Countries
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-02-01) Costa, Valentina ; Contreras Gonzalez, Ivette Maria ; Palacios-Lopez, Amparo
    Understanding the aspirations and goals of the youth is essential to developing effective employment policies. Policies should be designed to allow educational and professional aspirations of young people to align with pathways to achieving them. The data collected is nationally representative and age distribution is similar across countries. Recent surveys on youth or sub-populations of youth have included questions to capture career aspirations and life goals in the time of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. Incorporating the youth aspirations and employment module for High Frequency Phone Surveys (HFPS) into multi-topic household surveys has several advantages. In conclusion, measuring youth aspirations helps shed light on the possible employment outcomes that can be observed in adulthood and play a role in breaking poverty circles, which is highly relevant for public policy.
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    South Africa - Financial Sector Assessment
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-01-01) World Bank
    The South African financial system has weathered the shock of COVID-19 but faces growing risks emanating from a weak macroeconomic outlook. The pandemic crisis hit South Africa hard, with nonresident capital outflows accelerating and the domestic and global slowdown precipitating a6.4 percent GDP contraction in 2020. A brief period of liquidity stress was managed with new central bank facilities and a lowering of liquidity requirements; and banks proved resilient thanks to sound capital and liquidity buffers. Asset management and pension assets saw falling valuations, but redemption pressures quickly dissipated as markets stabilized. The intensification of the sovereign financial system nexus emerging from the crisis poses risks going forward, and a resurgence of the pandemic could deteriorate asset quality. Banks are resilient in the FSAP’s baseline; however, amedium-term adverse stress scenario would cause a significant decline in capital although most banks would remain sufficiently capitalized. Under stress, banks could face some liquidity gaps, particularly at very short maturities, highlighting the importance of continued close monitoring. The impact of COVID-19 on insurers has thus far been contained, but prudential rules should be strengthened to ensure the measure of capital is sufficiently robust.