Sector/Thematic Studies

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2110

Economic and Sectoral Work are original analytic reports authored by the World Bank and intended to influence programs and policy in client countries. They convey Bank-endorsed recommendations and represent the formal opinion of a World Bank unit on the topic. This set includes the sectoral and thematic studies which are not Core Diagnostic Studies. Other analytic and advisory activities (AAA), including technical assistance studies, are included in these sectoral/thematic collections.

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Sierra Leone Economic Update 2022: Leveraging SME Financing and Digitization for Inclusive Growth

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-05-31) World Bank

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has set back the economy and fiscal balances of Sierra Leone, which are now further impacted by the war in Ukraine. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth turned negative in 2020, while the government’s efforts to reduce the fiscal deficit were undermined by the need for emergency spending. Just when the economy began to recover, the war in Ukraine caused new disruption through sharply higher food and fuel prices. Thus, the authorities face both the short-term challenge of coping with these price shocks while recovering from the pandemic, and the medium-term challenge of renewing fiscal consolidation and promoting higher economic growth. Public finances have deteriorated since the onset of COVID-19. Inflationary pressures have accelerated since mid-2021, driven first by the post-pandemic rebound in consumption, and subsequently by global supply chain disruptions since the onset of the Ukraine war, and depreciation pressures on the Leone. Small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) can be engines of economic growth and job creation,under the right circumstances. Currently, in Sierra Leone, SMEs (along with micro-enterprises) provide livelihoods to approximately 70 percent of the population and represent over 90 percent of the domestic private sector. Access to finance for SMEs and digital finance are priorities for the government. Digital financial services (DFS) are not diversified, and mobile money remains the main driver. The payments infrastructure including the RTGS, ACH and securities settlement system needs to be upgraded. Sierra Leone lacks a modern credit reporting system. Key recommendations for greater SME access to finance are presented in this report.
Building a Responsive and Resilient Vocational Education and Training System in Benin

(Washington, DC, 2022-05) World Bank

Benin has embarked on an ambitious reform of rapid expansion of its technical and vocational education training (TVET) sector with the goal, among others, to increase enrollment tenfold by 2030. Investments in the Benin’s human development are important to support the government’s economic growth objectives. A specific area of focus and one that has received support from the very highest levels of government is the focus on skills development and TVET. The government has put in place significant reforms to support this subsector with the aim to increase the skills base of the Beninese workforce and the population more generally, to enhance the coordination and functioning of the sector, to strengthen sectoral and institutional governance, and to improve system efficiency and relevance of programs to the needs of the labor market. The objective of this policy note is to inform the ongoing TVET reforms. The note assesses the effectiveness of the TVET system in Benin and provides policy recommendations for improvements. This policy note also presents a perspective on the plans to rapidly expand the sector, drawing on the experience of other economies including high-growth East Asian countries, and considers global trends, technological advances, climate change, and structural challenges, including the high level of informal employment and gender inequality. The report is organized into five chapters. Chapter one presents background information outlining opportunities, challenges, and reforms in the Benin TVET system. Chapter two provides broader analysis of the TVET system in Benin. Chapter three analyzes the recent developments and reforms to system of governance and financing. While chapter four assesses the quality assurance (QA) system in TVET, chapter five summarizes the key reform options and policy recommendations.
Closing Gaps, Increasing Opportunities: A Diagnostic on Women’s Economic Empowerment in Nigeria

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

As Nigeria faces the immediate challenge of stimulating economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and corresponding economic shocks, it also can address the sizable gender gaps that undermine women’s economic empowerment and hinder inclusive economic growth. Gender disparities in earnings not only hold back the Nigerian economy, they also represent an opportunity: closing the gender gaps in key economic sectors could yield additional gains of US9.3 billion dollars or up to US22.9 billion dollars. Women’s economic empowerment will also be key to accelerating a demographic transition and reaping the gains of a demographic dividend. Drawing on data from the most recent Nigeria General Household Survey (2018-2019), this report makes five critical contributions: (1) highlighting the gender gaps in labor force participation; (2) documenting the magnitude and drivers of the gender gaps in key economic sectors; (3) diving deep into three contextual constraints: land, livestock, and occupational segregation; (4) measuring the costs of the gender gaps; and (5) offering policy and programming recommendations of innovative options to close the gender gaps.
Malawi - Gender-Based Violence Assessment: Scope, Programming, Gaps and Entry Points

(Washington, DC, 2022-03) World Bank

The objective of this assessment is to provide background information about GBV issues, policies, programming, and gaps in Malawi, for the purpose of assisting the World Bank (WB) to 1) consider how to directly support efforts to address GBV in Malawi; 2) inform strategies for integrating attention to GBV in development programming; and 3) understand the extent of GBV response programming. In addition to providing an overview of data on the scope of GBV in Malawi, the assessment investigates: legislative and policy protections related to GBV; systems and coordination mechanisms in place for addressing GBV in Malawi; and GBV response and prevention programming. The assessment analyzes key gaps across these areas of investigation based on inputs from key stakeholders as well as the desk review and concludes with several recommendations for WB to consider assisting in addressing these key gaps.
A Study of Road Safety Lead Agencies in Africa

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-02-22) Mitullah, Winnie ; Small, Martin ; Azzouzi, Mustapha

This study of road safety lead agencies (RSLAs) in Africa takes place at an important time when serious injuries on roads are at the centre of discussions on sustainable development. RSLAs in Africa are considered to be critical vehicles for responding to road safety challenges, although how well they do this remains largely unknown. In literature, their functionality, complexity and autonomy has widely been assessed. However, there is limited attempt to link the management capacity of RSLAs to the observed road safety outcomes such as serious injuries and fatality reduction or reduction in the cost of road traffic crashes. Consequently, there is limited evidence as to whether or not lead agencies in Africa are achieving the intended goals of improving road safety status. This study sought to better understand these difficulties and the potential steps to success for RSLAs in Africa. It was commissioned by the African Development Bank and the World Bank and focuses on sixteen African countries. It is part of a global study of road safety lead agencies being undertaken by the World Health Organisation. The study is structured into four sections. Section 2 describes the two-phase methodology–desk study and preparation of the research instruments, data collection and analysis. This is followed in Section 3 by a discussion of the concept of lead agency, which lays the ground for presentation of the study results regarding lead agency performance in Section 4. Section 5 identifies lessons from the study and makes recommendations to improve lead agency performance.
Sustainable Financing for Priority Programs in Kenya: A Technical Review of Priority Programs in Kenya

(Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank

Kenya has experienced sustained economic growth over the past few years. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has grown at an average annual rate of 5.2 percent over the past 10 years (2007 to 2016). The rebasing of its national accounts in 2014 resulted in an upward revision of the country’s GDP per capita and its re-classification as a lower middle-income country (LMIC). Kenya’s economic prospects mean that the country is surpassing critical income eligibility thresholds for international financing and is bound to experience reduced international financing for its priority programs. This technical review analyzed the design and financing of five priority programs in Kenya (immunization, human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV and AIDS), tuberculosis, malaria and reproductive health) in relation to their sustainability as Kenya transitions from a donor dependent country, to one that predominantly finances health through domestic resources. The review forms the first phase of work, which involves conducting a detailed analytical assessment and synthesis of a wide range of studies to assess the financing and delivery of immunization and other priority programs in Kenya. The report will serve as a one-stop-shop for the government, partners, and other stakeholders interested in sustainable financing and integration of vertical programs in health service delivery. The second phase of the work will draw on findings and recommendations from the first phase to support the national and county governments to implement interventions that will improve Kenya’s readiness to transition its priority health programs towards being sustainably financed.
Road Safety Data In Africa: A Proposed Minimum Set of Road Safety Indicators for Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2021-01-23) Segui Gomez, Maria ; Addo-Ashong, Tawia ; Raffo, Veronica Ines ; Venter, Pieter

Road safety in Africa remains a big challenge. Globally, Africa has the highest fatality rate of all the continents, despite having the lowest motorization rate and smallest road infrastructure network. Through the Global Plan for the Decade of Action (2011-2020), the African Road Safety Action Plan, the African Road Safety Charter, and the targets set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Africa has made strong commitments to improve road safety outcomes on the continent. However, documents assessing the magnitude of the problem show that there exists a need to address it by implementing effective and efficient interventions, which require determination, professional qualification, and personnel and economic resources. In order to make informed decisions on effective interventions to mitigate this challenge, a deeper analysis of the road safety-related environment in the region is required. This document outlines a process that began in 2017 to define a common set of indicators to be collected, analyzed, and monitored by African countries, as part of their efforts to improve road safety in Africa.
COVID-19 Pandemic Through a Gender Lens

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06) Copley, Amy ; Decker, Alison ; Delavelle, Fannie ; Goldstein, Markus ; O'Sullivan, Michael ; Papineni, Sreelakshmi

The coronavirus (COVID-19) (coronavirus) pandemic has led to disruptions of both social and economic activities across the globe. While the early narrative described COVID-19 (coronavirus) as the "great equalizer," asserting that the virus is capable of infecting anyone, it is critical for policymakers to understand that the impacts of COVID-19 (coronavirus) will not be the same for everyone. Experience from previous epidemics suggest that COVID-19 (coronavirus) will impact groups who are most vulnerable and amplify any existing inequalities across countries, communities, households and individuals. This note focuses on the existing gender inequalities in the economic sphere in Sub-Saharan Africa and summarizes how the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic could affect women and girls disproportionately. It draws on impact evaluation research to showcase policy options to help build women's economic resilience and minimize any potential negative impacts during the pandemic and recovery.
Enhancing Financial Capability and Inclusion in Mozambique : A Demand-Side Assessment

(Washington, DC, 2014-08) World Bank Group

The key findings and recommendations presented in this report cover 4 main areas: financial inclusion, financial capability, relationship between financial inclusion and capability, and financial consumer protection. The remaining chapters are structured as follows. Chapter one explores the financial inclusion landscape in Mozambique. Chapter two gives an overview of Mozambicans' levels of financial capability, in particular about their financial knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. The relationship between financial capability and inclusion is discussed in chapter three. The last chapter investigates if the products which financially included individuals use are effectively meeting their needs.
Republic of Madagascar : Mitigating the Impact of the Crisis on Education

(Washington, DC, 2013-09) World Bank

This report reviews the tools and mechanisms which could contribute to offsetting the negative effects of the current crisis on primary school outcomes in Madagascar. In a context of rapid deterioration of key education indicators, including enrollment and survival, key education stakeholders are faced with the challenging task of identifying tools and mechanisms that may contribute to rapidly restoring access to education. While a variety of programs have been implemented in the past, limited evidence exists on their potential impact on key factors influencing school outcomes. In addition, given the limited domestic and international resources at the disposal of policy-makers, priorities need to be established that will focus on the most urgent and important aspects of the current situation. This report aims at providing key stakeholders in the sector with information on existing tools and mechanisms that could potentially be used to put a halt to the rapid decline of the sectors. The analysis also identifies interventions with a strong potential to offset the effects of the crisis over the short and medium term.