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 …
Weather and climate hazards have compounded concerns over food security, population displacements, and impacts on vulnerable populations in 2023, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) State of the Global Climate 2023. This new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) shows that records were once again broken, and in …
Forced labour in the private economy generates US$236 billion in illegal profits per year, a new report from the International Labour Organization (ILO) has found. The total amount of illegal profits from forced labour has risen by US$64 billion (37 per cent) since 2014, a dramatic increase that has been …
Developing and maintaining a secure and equitable water future underpins prosperity and peace for all. The relationship also works in the opposite direction, as poverty and inequality, social tensions, and conflict can amplify water insecurity. This report calls attention to the complex and interlinked relationships between sustainable water management, prosperity …
The potential of African inland fisheries is largely underestimated. However, fully harnessing its potential is essential to meet the continent’s growing demand for food of high nutritional value. The management of these fisheries has been strongly influenced by models emerging from industrial marine fisheries, based on the principle of selectivity …
After a drop in its Human Development Index (HDI) value in 2021 and following a flat trend over the past few years, India’s HDI value has increased to 0.644 in 2022, placing the country 134 out of 193 countries and territories in the just released 2023/24 Human Development Report (HDR) …
This report provides an evidence-based analysis of the controversies around Nigeria's fuel subsidy removal, including the rationale for subsidy removal, the distributional impact, and the determinants of the sustainability of the subsidy removal. The purpose of this report is to explore how savings from fuel subsidy removal can be used …
The number of children who died before their fifth birthday has reached a historic low, dropping to 4.9 million in 2022, according to this latest estimates released by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME). This year’s United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN …
The 20th Tanzania Economic Update (TEU) shows that accelerating a fertility decline has the potential to enable the country to reap the benefits of a demographic dividend, which refers to how improved health and reduced fertility can drive economic growth. When a country experiences better health outcomes and fewer births, …
This paper evaluates the additional spending needed to meet core targets of selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while accounting for the associated cost to address climate risks. The SDGs under study are those related to human and physical capital development. An additional 3.8 percent of global GDP, or US$3.4 trillion, …
This document discusses the growing significance of critical minerals and metals in the worldwide shift towards renewable energy and how it offers a potential avenue for enhancing environmental governance in the area. Moreover, the article notes that these vital resources could serve as economic pillars for numerous African nations through …
The Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction (Buildings-GSR), a report published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), provides an annual snapshot of the progress of the buildings and construction sector on a global scale. The Buildings-GSR reviews the status of …
Global Food 50/50 shines a light on whether organizations active in the global food system are playing their part in addressing two key elements of gender inequality: inequality of opportunity within organizations, and inequality in who benefits from the global food system. The 2023/2024 report provides crucial evidence of gender …
This publication provides an analysis of how climate change boosted temperatures worldwide between December 2023 and February 2024. Primarily by burning coal, oil, and natural gas, humans have raised the temperature of the planet. Scientists report that the average temperature in 2023 was 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than early-industrial levels …
This report presents key findings from a series of IRENA virtual knowledge exchanges on renewables-based clean cooking solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The world continues to fall short in its efforts to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030, with disparities in clean cooking access rates persisting across …
This report assembles an impressive set of data from 24 low- and middle-income countries in five world regions to measure the effects of climate change on rural women, youths and people living in poverty. It analyses socioeconomic data collected from 109 341 rural households (representing over 950 million rural people) …
Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached …
Improving the processing and trade of African wood and wood products (WWPs) has long been a focus for African policymakers because it stimulates multiple benefits for the African continent, including the creation of jobs, investment, and revenues. Further processing of WWPs in Africa will contribute to the continent’s industrialization and …
The aim of this report is to gather evidence that will identify priorities and actions by stakeholders towards positively influencing, up scaling and accelerating gender equality and women’s empowerment in Zimbabwe. The report consolidates information on gender gaps and drivers of inequality in human endowments, economic opportunities, ownership and control …
The 2023 Near East and North Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition comes at a critical juncture as several shocks have hit the region in recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. In 2022, international and domestic food and fertilizer prices hit record highs. …
Despite growing consensus that climate-resilient development should be at the top of the agenda for least developed countries, a persistent implementation gap means there is little practical learning derived for governments on how to operationalise. Describing an action-research project to assess the readiness of Ethiopia’s planning system for locally led …
