This podcast explores the concepts and realities surrounding resilient housing. Through interviews, sound bites, and trips to countries where resilient housing is underway, we will share with you the World Bank’s new effort to support building homes better before a disaster strikes. From structural engineers to government officials, you will hear from a wide variety of professionals working to strengthen the homes we live in. Leveraging technologies, such as drones, street cameras, and...

Despite the incredible progress that so many African countries have made, poverty remains a defining part of the narrative around Africa. While the share of people living in extreme poverty has come down in the last decades, the number of people has gone up, due to rapid population growth during the same period, to reach nearly 416 million people. If left unchecked, extreme poverty in the world will become almost exclusively an African issue by 2030, in just ten years. In this episode of...

The 2019 World Development Report focused on the Future of Work on a global scale, highlighting the real tension between job losses in “old” manufacturing sectors that are susceptible to automation, and potential job gains driven by innovation in “new” sectors. Our Africa-focused companion report, released in July 2019, finds that Africa has a chance to take a different path – if governments and businesses can take advantage of digital technologies, and if the right policies and investments...

The 2019 World Development Report focused on the Future of Work on a global scale, highlighting the real tension between job losses in “old” manufacturing sectors that are susceptible to automation, and potential job gains driven by innovation in “new” sectors. Our Africa-focused companion report, released in July 2019, finds that Africa has a chance to take a different path – if governments and businesses can take advantage of digital technologies, and if the right policies and investments...

Doing More With Less – Smarter Subsidies for Water Supply and Sanitation shows that most existing water supply and sanitation subsidies are pervasive, expensive, poorly-targeted, non-transparent and distortionary. Yet if designed in smart and targeted ways and implemented effectively, subsidies can be powerful and progressive tools that help ensure all people benefit from water supply and sanitation services.

Quality: Unknown — The Invisible Water Crisis presents new evidence and data that call urgent attention to the hidden dangers lying beneath the water’s surface. This podcast explains how poor water quality stalls economic progress, stymies human potential, and reduces food production.

Discussions on Sub-Saharan Africa often center on extreme poverty: the subcontinent is home to half of the world’s extreme poor, and the number of people living in extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa keeps going up even though the rates of extreme poverty have declined. At the same time, on a continent as economically diverse as Sub-Saharan Africa, the issue of inequality cannot be ignored. Eight of the ten most unequal countries in the world, when looking at the Gini coefficient, are in...

This podcast explores the concepts and realities surrounding resilient housing. Through interviews, sound bites, and trips to countries where resilient housing is underway, our host, David Cavell, will teach you about the World Bank’s new effort to support building homes better before a disaster strikes. From structural engineers to government officials, you will hear from a wide variety of professionals working to strengthen the homes we live in. Leveraging technologies, such as drones,...

Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where the share of adults with a mobile money account now exceeds 10 percent. That mobile revolution began in Kenya. In this episode of Afronomics, World Bank Chief Economist for Africa, Albert Zeufack, speaks with Professor Njuguna Ndung’u who is currently the Executive Director of the African Economic Research Consortium and was the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya from 2007 to 2015. During Prof. Ndung’u’s tenure as Central Bank governor, Kenya...

This podcast explains how a new generation of infrastructure projects that harness the power of nature can help achieve development goals, including water security and climate resilience. In a new report from the World Bank and World Resources Institute, both organizations are calling for green infrastructure, such as mangroves and wetlands, to play a bigger role in traditional infrastructure planning.

In 2017, the World Bank with its partners launched a new initiative for a water-secure world, the Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership (GWSP), housed within the World Bank’s Water Global Practice. This podcast provides a snapshot of its first year of delivery. It shows how by bringing innovation, new knowledge and evidence, and flexibility to World Bank lending operations, the GWSP helps clients achieve even more significant and more sustainable results.

En 2017, près du tiers des 38 pays africains bénéficiant du guichet concessionnel IDA ont renforcé la qualité de leur politiques et institutions publiques par rapport à 2016. C’est l’une des conclusions de la dernière évaluation des politiques et des institutions en Afrique (CPIA) publiée chaque année par le bureau de l’économiste en chef de la Banque mondiale pour l’Afrique. Elle mesure les progrès réalisés par les pays d’Afrique subsaharienne pour améliorer la qualité de leurs politiques et...

In 2017, nearly third of the 38 African countries that receive the IDA concessional window, strengthened their policy and institutional quality compared to 2016. This is one of the findings of the World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessment. The CPIA, as it is called, is an annual assessment by the World Bank of the quality and institutional framework of African countries and their ability to support sustainable growth and poverty reduction. CPIA scores are composed of...

Aujourd'hui, environ 120 millions de personnes vivent le long des côtes ouest-africaines et sont menacées quotidiennement par l'érosion côtière et les inondations. De grandes portions de littoral ont disparu, emportant avec elles des maisons, des usines et des routes. Les pertes économiques sont colossales pour ce territoire qui génère 42 % du PIB de l'Afrique de l'Ouest. Préserver et protéger ces habitats fragiles apparaît donc comme un investissement rentable et rationnel. Pour en savoir...

Today, there are about 120 million people living along the coast of West Africa who are threatened by coastal erosion and flooding on a daily basis. Large areas of coast line have disappeared, and with them houses, factories and roads. The economic losses are staggering. About 42% of West Africa’s GDP is generated along these same coastal areas. Preserving and protecting these fragile habitats makes dollars… and sense. To learn more, please visit: www.worldbank.org/waca www.worldbank.org/afrce

Population growth, economic expansion and climate change are increasing the pressures on limited water supplies in cities around the world. A holistic approach is needed to help water scarce cities develop resilient strategies for long-term water security. That’s why the World Bank’s Water Scarce Cities initiative is collaborating with urban water practitioners, global thought leaders, and institutions in over 20 water scarce cities to document and share innovative strategies.

Water belongs to everyone and yet many are excluded from its benefits and often from ownership and control of this critical resource. Inclusion – ensuring everyone reaps the benefits of water – is central to achieving universal access to water and sanitation and the way the World Bank thinks about policy and programs, because prosperity is best when shared. Water World is a new podcast series brought to you by the World Bank’s Water Global Practice and the Global Water Security &...

Part Two of our discussion on Africa’s Pulse focusses on how African countries can improve access to electricity to accelerate progress in development outcomes, jobs and prosperity. We’re speaking with special topic author, Mike Toman, and member of the core team of economists who crafted the report, Moussa Blimpo. Technical innovations, especially in solar power, provide the possibility for faster progress in electricity provision by complementing grid expansion with mini-grids and...

What does resilience mean when it comes to water? Is it really that important? Experts explain in this podcast. Water World is a new podcast series brought to you by the World Bank’s Water Global Practice and the Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership (GWSP). It explores the issues that are crucial to delivering a water-secure and healthy world for all. Join us every two weeks to learn more!

AFRONOMICS: Africas Pulse Spring Edition Part 1 by Listen to the latest news, insights, and development highlights from the World Bank.

Achim Steiner, Administrator of the UN Development Program (UNDP), talks about how preventing violent extremism can help us reach the goal to end poverty.

WaterWorld is a new podcast series brought to you by the World Bank’s Water Global Practice and the Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership (GWSP). It explores the issues that are crucial to delivering a water-secure and healthy world for all. Join us every two weeks to learn more!

Poland moved from middle-income to high-income status in less than 15 years. How did the country do this? Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland, discusses Poland’s economic development. (This was recorded during the World Bank Annual Meetings in 2017. Mateusz Morawiecki, was Deputy Prime Minister of Poland then.) More on Poland’s journey to high-income status can be found in our report: Lessons for Poland, Insights from Poland.

Joe Gebbia, Co-founder of Airbnb, talks about the new digital economy and its impact on development.