The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
The World Bank's report on the environment in East Asia says that disease and death will increase steeply among China's city dwellers unless the country tackles its growing air pollution. The report claims that if urban air pollution continues to grow at current rates, the number of premature deaths in …
The World Bank (WB) in its 50-year history has supported more than 6,600 development projects worth US $337 in about 140 countries. These projects have supported sectoral growth in various economies. The WB has been instrumental in improving poverty reduction in East Asia, increased food production in South Asia and …
according to a World Bank ( wb) report, growth in India has come at the cost of the environment. "The fast-paced growth has not only been unevenly distributed, but has come at the expense of the environment." The report, which is the wb's annual review on 'Environment matters', says that …
the first Conference of Parties for the Convention to Combat Desertification ( cop-i ) held in Rome from September 29 to October 10, 1997 took decisions on issues such as funding and the venue for a permanent secretariat for the convention. With no additional resources coming from nations of the …
The World Bank has expressed concern over Bangladesh's increased spending on defence. The bank's recent draft report on public expenditure said that "there is creeping increase in defence expenditure, which already accounts for 17-18 per cent of current spending". "This is questionable in view of the tremendous poverty alleviation task …
The World Bank has approved a US $70 million loan to improve roads and road management in Zambia. A spokesperson for the World Bank said that the funding would enable road repairs to be speeded up, reducing the strain on government resources and boosting the overall economic efficiency. A statement …
On the new initiatives planned by the World Bank (wb) for India: The wb supports many programmes related to the environment in India. In order to prevent industrial pollution we offer industries loans to modernise and improve their environmental performance. We also encourage biodiversity conservation and social forestry. The bank …
constructive dialogue and objective assessments have always been a casualty in the conflicts and controversies that have surrounded large dams. Such projects have nevertheless played a major role in development efforts and in meeting a variety of ends like electricity generation. They have also been the key players in government-sponsored …
With the world increasingly worried about climate change, a new scheme is being cooked up to deal with the problem. The World Bank has an ingenious proposal - which is still confidential - in which the Bank would buy and sell, as the most "honest broker", the rights of present …
On what makes the Enhanced Malaria Control Project unique: The project is unique due to two reasons - decentralised planning and the adoption of a variety of strategies. Decentralised planning has changed the role of the National Malaria Eradication Programme (nmep) to that of a facili-tator, financier and evaluator. Actual …
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank (WB), has been accused of disregarding its own environmental and social guidelines in the construction of a dam on the Biobio river in southern Chile. Environmental groups in the US and Chile, including Friends of the …
The US $785 million National Drainage Programme (NDP) of Pakistan is slated to be presented in the special meeting of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank this October. The NDP would support improvement of the irrigation and drainage infrastructure. The project's design gives priority to areas with …
The us $4 billion Xiaolangdi dam on the Yellow River is the other side of the coin of China's water conservation efforts. The massive dam is coming up on the Yangtze Kiang in the Henan province south of Beijing. The contribution of the dam - to be completed on June …
LOCAL groups in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, have recently complained to the World Bank against the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for not rehabilitating villagers displaced by the latter's projects. The NTPC is the Bank's largest beneficiary in the world, having received over $4 billion since 1975. It was alleged that …
STLL stinging following a series of dam-related embarrassments, the World Bank (WB) has set up an 'International Advisory Group on Bank Hydropower Projects' (IAG) to determine if the proposed Nam Theun 2 dam in Laos is too politically hot to handle. The Laotian government wants to build the dam so …
the World Bank's (wb) efforts to expand its highly successful operations to attract private investment to developing countries have some observers worried that policies on the environment, participation and resettlement are being sidestepped by Bank officials. At their recent annual meeting in Washington, wb directors signalled strong support for expansion …
THE emerging rule today ironically seems to be that those who make a mess, will be paid to clean it up rather than obligated to undo the harm they have caused and cease committing further damage. International aid agencies look towards the timber industry to help preserve forests; the us …
The GEF (Global Environmental Facility) operates under the framework of conventions and rules established by a governing council consisting of 32 country representatives
