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São Tomé and Príncipe Circular Economy Diagnostic
No full textIn Säo Tomé and Principe, tourism is
seen as a crucial sector for driving economic growth.
Sustainable tourism is prominently featured in various
diagnostic reports and national strategies concerning Säo
Tomé and Principe. The World Bank's Systematic Country
Diagnostic underscores the importance of targeting luxury
markets for development. These markets can yield higher
revenue per visitor and can address both environmental
concerns and the challenges posed by the country's
limited and expensive connectivity. The strategic focus on
sustainable tourism in Säo Tomé and Principe revolves around
capitalizing on its natural assets while maintaining
environmental considerations, strengthening local supply
chains, and improving ecosystem protection and management.
These measures not only support economic growth but also
contribute to the resilience and long-term prosperity of the nation
A Shared Incentive for Borrowers and Investors
No full textThis paper shows that enhancing data transparency can help increase sovereign bond returns in countries with medium to higher levels of institutional quality. Bond returns are lower in countries with high levels of debt. However, the findings from the fixed effect instrumental variables for panel data analysis highlight that enhancing data transparency can mitigate the negative impact of debt even in a highly indebted country. The novelty of the study is that it examines the relationship between sovereign bond returns and data transparency, and then calculates the benefits accrued by external creditors from improved data transparency in the borrowing country. The determinants differ from the those of sovereign bond spreads. The paper also introduces S&P sovereign credit ratings and total reserves as additional explanatory variables. There are thresholds beyond which data transparency has a positive impact on bond returns. The estimated threshold effect levels show that a country needs to have an International Country Risk Guide score greater than 4.15 in logs for international creditors to reap the benefits from enhancing data transparency
Challenges and Opportunities
Get PDFIn seeking to reach upper
middle-income status by 2030 and high-income status by 2045,
Vietnam aspires to become a modern and industrialized nation
with a higher quality of life for its citizens. After this
brief introduction, the following section provides a
background on the trends in the volume and efficiency levels
of public investment in Vietnam, which are against its
ambition for development. Section 3 analyzes the financial
and opportunity costs and investment inefficiencies due to
the lack of coordination. Section 4 reviews the key
determinants that have hindered more coordinated efforts.
Section 5 provides initial recommendations on the needed
adjustments to the current frameworks, legal, institutional,
incentives, and enforcement arrangements, to enhance
vertical and horizontal coordination of regional
investments, including those that are feasible within the
existing legal framework and those would require revisions
to applicable laws in the longer run
Understanding Income Security for Older Adults - Rethink Social Protection and Jobs in an Actively Aging World
No full textThe note first discusses the main
pillars of financial securityat older ages before focusing
on the status of contributory and noncontributory (orsocial)
pension systems in developing countries. It highlights
worrying under-coverage ofcontributory pension systems in
the face of persistent labor market informality, as well
asthe rise of social pensions and innovative informal sector
matching schemes in response,and the trade-offs between
coverage, adequacy and sustainability of pension systems.
Itthen reviews World Bank support on the old age financial
protection agenda, includingdifferent forms of budget
support and investment lending, policy advisory and
analyticalwork, capacity building and technical assistance
(TA), and convening. It concludes bynoting the need to
broaden the policy dialogue to wider dimensions of old age
financialwell-being, as well as innovating with public
sector and market instruments which candiversify sources of
financial security at older ages
Agri-processing Adds Value in Côte d’Ivoire’s Cashew Industry
Get PDFCashews are Côte d’Ivoire’s second most important export commodity after cocoa, and a crucial source of cash for smallholders and processors in the poorer north of the country. From 380,000 tons in 2010, the production of Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN) increased to 1,2 million tons in 2023, 40 percent of the world’s cashew supply, with exports estimated at over 800 million dollars. The volume of RCN processed locally has seen a substantial increase from 68,515 tons in 2018 to more than 345,000 tons in 2024. But the government’s stated ambition is to locally process more than 50 percent of the RCN by 2030. This requires upgrading or building modern processing facilities and bridging a lack of access to working capital. In addition, poorly maintained plantations, a lack of quality stock and inputs, weak extension services, and losses in post-harvest handling and storage result in low yields and quality. Côte d’Ivoire’s cashew subsector has strong potential for growth and job creation if the value chain, and especially local processing, can improve
Leveraging Fiscal Adjustment for Better Development Outcomes
Get PDFEswatini’s fundamental policy challenge is to address the longstanding factors that have constrained growth and hindered broad-based improvements in living standards. Given the state’s significant role in the economy, the build-up of macro imbalances, and slow improvements in social indicators, it is vital to reform fiscal policy to transition to faster, more inclusive, and sustainable private sector-led growth. Eswatini development prospects continue to hinge on its attractiveness as an investment destination relative to its neighbors. The government has an opportunity to address binding constraints on growth by pivoting from a state-led to a private sector-led development model through five fiscal pathways: (1) ensuring macroeconomic stability for greater competitiveness, including reforming the way the country collects and manages revenues to smooth expenditures and avoid disruptions caused by inconsistent funding (e.g., SACU); (2) advancing fiscal reforms to encourage private investment through competition and market contestability; (3) improving public financial management to support fiscal consolidation and greater expenditure efficiency. Aligning budget allocations more closely with the government’s stated development priorities would make public spending a more effective policy instrument, and enhanced financial oversight and better management of public procurement would further improve expenditure efficiency; (4) fiscal policies for building more productive physical capital through better public investment management; and (5) fiscal policies for building human capital
Advancing Regional Connectivity for Growth in South and Central Asia
Get PDFThe Program for Asia Connectivity and Trade (PACT) is a regional trust fund administered by the World Bank and financed by United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) under their Asia Regional Trade and Connectivity Program (ARTCP). PACT, which closed in 2024, aimed at improving pro-poor connectivity infrastructure and unlocking the potential of regional economies by enhancing cross-border connectivity in energy, transport, trade, and digital infrastructure. This result brochure captures the impact and influence of PACT-supported activities in Central and South Asia, mainly in areas of trade and transport, energy, digital, and knowledge connectivity
Exposure to Climatic Shocks in Somalia
No full textSomalia is highly exposed to climatic shocks. According to the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (NG-GAIN) ranking, Somalia is the most vulnerable country in the world to climate change. Somalia is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. Within the country, exposure to climate shocks largely follows the same spatial pattern as poverty. Poorer households were also more often affected. After being negatively affected by drought, most households did not utilize any economic coping mechanisms. Increased economic opportunity, education, and access to social protection can help improve resilience
Türkiye’s Circular Economy Transition in the EU’s Global Value Chain Ecosystem
Get PDFThis report examines the transition
of Turkish firms to align with circular economy (CE)
principles, highlighting both immediate needs and the
longer-term opportunities from engaging in a transition
agenda. The report stresses that the changing landscape
toward the CE in the European Union (EU) offers a
significant strategic opportunity for Türkiye to strengthen
its position in global markets and build resilience against
economic shocks
Do Initial Conditions Matter?
No full textFiscal rules have been shown to
support fiscal discipline by improving government budget
balances and restraining the growth of debt. However,
questions remain about what enhances their effectiveness and
how certain conditions help to build the credibility needed
for their survival and success. Using data from 108
countries between 1984 and 2012, this paper studies the
dynamic effects of fiscal rule adoption. It shows that
although fiscal rules generally improve the primary balance,
their effects depend on the time horizon under consideration
and the context of adoption. In advanced economies and
countries with strong political institutions, the effects
strengthen over time. Conversely, in emerging markets and
developing economies—especially those with weaker
institutions—their impact tends to fade as time passes. The
findings highlight the critical role of economic conditions
and consensus building at the time of adoption.
Specifically, fiscal rules introduced in times of economic
hardship or under highly concentrated political power are
often less effective in the medium term