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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Now showing 1 - 10 of 97

Climate-Related Shocks and Fiscal Sustainability: Potential Impacts and Policy Options

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-07-20) World Bank

Real GDP expanded by 17.7 percent in 2022, with per capita incomes surpassing the pre-pandemic levels. On the supply side, accommodation, transport, and commerce explained 60 percent of growth. On the demand side, exports (mainly tourism) and private consumption accounted for growth. The rebound in economic activity in 2022 was accompanied by a reduction in poverty (0.8 percentage points), despite the spike in inflation. Headline inflation reached 7.9 percent (y/y) in December 2022 after inflationary pressures emerged in 2021, fueled by high international oil and food prices and global supply chain disruptions due to the war in Ukraine. Higher food prices and low agricultural production, driven by the five year long drought, intensified food insecurity.
Rwanda Economic Update, February 2023: Making the most of Nature Based Tourism in Rwanda

(Washington, DC, 2023-02) World Bank

The Rwandan economy continued to achieve strong growth in 2022 in the face of weakening external demand and restrictive monetary policies required to control inflation. Rising food prices particularly affected the poor, who devote a large share of their spending to food and appear to have faced higher food inflation than richer households did. Growth is expected to decline somewhat in 2023 and then to recover closer to historical rates over the medium term. Tourism is a major source of Rwanda’s foreign exchange earnings and tends to generate a higher proportion of formal sector jobs than other sectors and could make a substantial contribution to growth. Within tourism, strengthening the provision of nature-based tourism, which accounts for eight percent of leisure and conference visitors in Rwanda would also help protect biodiversity and advance Rwanda’s efforts to adapt to climate change. Nature-based tourism faces significant challenges, including potential limits on expansion of revenues from one of the primary international attractions - gorilla trekking, degradation of the natural assets that underpin the sector, risks presented by infectious diseases, habitat change and overexploitation, and the impact of climate change on tourism demand. Key measures to promote nature-based tourism will need to include expanding the network of protected areas and improving management of the natural assets within and outside protected areas and diversifying the nature-based tourism’s offering while complementing efforts to diversify tourism activities. Efforts are required to enhance revenue sharing mechanisms to increase incentives for local communities to conserve natural assets and unlock new opportunities and community-led enterprises that generate revenue from tourism and sustainable management of natural resources, including forests. This is essential to address poverty, to mitigate poaching threats, other illegal activities, and reduce unsustainable exploitation of resources. It is also imperative to secure private sector participation in financing and operation of facilities by introducing innovative financing methods to secure the necessary investment, strengthening capacity and management of tourism facilities and services, and removing subsidies that contribute to environmental degradation.
Adaptive Social Protection in Southern Africa

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-10-31) World Bank

The countries of the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) - Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa are exposed to climatic shocks, especially drought, that pose a continual threat to lives and livelihoods across the subregion. The pandemic has compounded these existing vulnerabilities. Climatic shocks such as these tend to affect the poorest most, exacerbating inequalities and increasing poverty. Food insecurity, which is chronic in the subregion and both a root cause of vulnerability to drought and an outcome of it also increased as a result of impacts from the pandemic. Social safety net programs can help poor and vulnerable households manage the risks they face from shocks, helping to mitigate the impacts on poverty and food insecurity, but their effectiveness can be constrained in several ways. The mobilization of social protection in response to COVID-19 and the challenges that have emerged to that mobilization have strengthened the case for investments in preparedness ahead of future shocks. Adaptive social protection refers to an agenda for preparing social protection systems to improve their response to shocks and to build the resilience of poor and vulnerable households. This report takes stock of ASP in four of the five SACU countries and provides targeted recommendations for each country’s development.
Djibouti Economic Monitor, Fall 2022

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-10) World Bank

Djibouti’s economic activity has slowed since the beginning of 2022, after the rebound observed in 2021. Fiscal pressure has increased as a result of measures to mitigate the impact of the war in Ukraine, worsening drought, and a sharp increase in debt service in 2022. Rising international energy and food prices generated high year-on-year inflation. The external current account’ deteriorated further in 2022. The banking sector has remained generally stable and sound, despite the many shocks facing the Djibouti economy. Djibouti’s economy is expected to recover gradually over the medium term. There are several risks to Djibouti’s mediumterm prospects: (i) a further deterioration in the fiscal situation resulting from a continued accumulation of public debt, a continued decline in revenues, and increased tax exemptions; (ii) potential shocks in the global transport and logistics value chains (particularly important for the activities of port-related public enterprises); (iii) the continuation or possible intensification of the Ethiopian crisis; and (iv) climatic shocks, including drought and floods. To strengthen its resilience to the multiple exogenous shocks it faces, Djibouti is implementing a strategy to diversify its port activities in order to capture more value added in international trade. This strategy includes the development of a ship repair yard, a new oil terminal and a new business district at the old port. In addition, to address the impact of climate change, Djibouti is developing a national strategy for the promotion of a green economy whose activities will help generate additional income for the population through the development of ecotourism activities in addition to their beneficial impact on climate change. In this context, the development of networks and the use of digital technology offer Djibouti significant potential for creating economic and social opportunities.
Somalia Economic Update, June 2022: Investing in Social Protection to Boost Resilience for Economic Growth

(Washington, DC, 2022-06) World Bank

Somalia is currently experiencing extreme and widespread drought which has been assessed as an unprecedented climatic event not seen in at least 40 years by meteorological agencies and humanitarian partners. After four consecutive seasons of poor rains, 90 percent of the country is experiencing severe drought conditions that include failed crop harvests, widespread water shortages, and decline in livestock production. The drought has intensified the humanitarian crisis and is driving the country into a brink of famine. Significant displacement of people is occurring as they abandoned their homes in search of food, water, and pasture for their livestock. The situation is being exacerbated by the war in Ukraine which has pushed up global food and oil prices. The higher commodity prices are disproportionally affecting the poor and exacerbating inequality. Against this challenging backdrop, the seventh edition of the World Bank’s Somalia Economic Update provides a detailed update of recent economic developments and growth outlook and makes a case for investing in Social Protection to help confront the frequent shocks that buffet the country. Overall, the Economic Update series aims to contribute to policymaking process and stimulate national dialogue on topical issues related to economic recovery and development.
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.
Trauma Incidence and Emergency Medical Services in Malawi

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-01-19) World Bank

This report provides insights into the current situation and overall burden of trauma and RTCs in Malawi, shares what we have learned about how to effectively run a digital trauma registry in a low-resource setting, and highlights lessons learned from the implementation of the EMS pilot.
Fit for Purpose: Dam Rehabilitation Prioritization Tool in Zimbabwe

(Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank

As a nation with highly variable and limited availability of water resources, Zimbabwe relies on a vast and aging water infrastructure stock that requires prompt rehabilitation to better support the water, food, and energy sectors. The country has limited water resources, with much of its area classified as semi-arid with highly variable rainfall. Zimbabwe relies on dams to store water to ensure irrigation for food security, water supply, and hydropower production. It has the second highest water storage capacity per capita in Southern Africa. There are about 10,000 dams, from large to small, and more publicly owned dams than private dams.
Towards a Trash-Free Addis Ababa: Pathways for Sustainable, Climate-Friendly Solid Waste Management

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-12-16) Xie, Jian ; Mito, Toshikazu

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has experienced significant population growth and an increase in living standards for years, resulting in increased solid waste generation and solid waste management (SWM) challenges. Inadequate SWM in the city causes land, water, and air pollution as well as negative impacts on natural ecosystems, local economies, public health, social equality, and the global environment. Despite efforts made by the Addis Ababa government and some stakeholders, the city’s SWM systems urgently need to be upgraded and modernized. This report prioritizes and proposes a set of SWM interventions that Addis Ababa may include in its investment program over the next decade. The interventions are grouped in institutional strengthening, research and technical assistance, and physical investments. Additionally, the report designs three scenarios to implement the interventions for SWM in Addis Ababa: Business-as-usual, conservative, and aggressive. The changes in waste generation, treatment, and greenhouse gas emissions in 2020-2030 across the three scenarios were projected.
More and Better Jobs from Crops and Trees in Mozambique

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-11-25) Delgado, Christopher ; Costa, Carlos ; Ricaldi, Federica

This book focuses on entry points for creation of better jobs through agricultural value chains and lays out the policy implications, using cassava, cashew, and plantation forestry as examples. It is based on case studies carried out in 2018-2020 by the World Bank Jobs Group as part of the multi-stakeholder Let’s Work Program in Mozambique. Let’s Work is a global partnership encompassing over 25 private sector organizations, international financial institutions, multilateral development banks, and bilateral donors focused on supporting private sector-led job growth. The study documents opportunities for creating more and better jobs, often in formal employment, linked to the cassava, cashew and plantation forestry value chains. Cassava in Mozambique is currently a traditional subsistence food crop; cashew is a struggling traditional export crop; and plantation forestry is a relatively new sector. However, the study also argues that to realize these opportunities Mozambique requires proactive public policy and investments to overcome significant challenges such as: climate change; over-concentration in current export market destinations; and the unintended side effects of some public policies. The study is focused on promoting an enabling environment for private sector growth in these value chains. It aims to inform ongoing debates about how agriculture and improved natural resource management can contribute more to economic transformation in Mozambique.