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Blog post
The need to prioritise export linkages in Uganda’s new growth strategy
Establishing a unit that focuses on tackling information constraints between firms, as well as a supplier database registry of domestic firms, can support export linkages in Uganda. Linking domestic tax data to such a firm registry would further enhance access to information, thereby improving export linkages and domestic firm competitiveness, in the pursuit of economic...
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Blog post
Lessons in the pursuit of industrial development by African governments
Industrial policy appears to be making a comeback in Africa. The African Development Bank (AFDB) reports that about 26 countries on the continent currently have a national strategy for industrialisation. This should not be too surprising. The end of the commodity super cycle (the rise and fall of commodity prices over the past two decades), the slowdown in the continent’s...
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Blog post
Women empowerment in nutrition: Do women really have a say in preparing and providing food?
Decision-making capacity of women within the household and in the community is considered to be a reflection of their empowerment. In this note, Sweta Bhusan discusses one dimension of decision-making that revolves around procuring, preparing and serving food to household members. Even as we celebrate womanhood across the globe, scores of the 600 million women spread...
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Blog post
Determining the costs and benefits of Africa’s alignment with China
China’s economic model challenges that of the West, manifesting in a global economic imbalance. Africa is determined to align with China in this division, and China has its ambitions for Africa too. Despite China being Africa’s most favoured nation, politically and economically, what does the continent stand to gain from this asymmetric relationship? Napoleon once said...
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Blog post
Water and power: Mega-dams, mega-damage?
‘Water grabbing’ refers to a situation in which public or private entities are able to take control of, or reallocate, precious water resources for profit or for power — and at the expense of local communities and the ecosystems on which their livelihoods are based. The effects have been well-documented: examples include families driven away from their villages...
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Blog post
Using a mobile app to improve pre- and post-natal health in Myanmar
Human capital is a key factor for sustained economic growth (López-Casasnovas, 2007). Pre-natal and early-life health are particularly crucial pillars to economic development as they provide a foundation for the accumulation of cognitive and non-cognitive skills. They have also shown to be one of the highest-return socio-economic interventions available (Heckman, 2014...
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Blog post
Driving urban development: An agenda for accessibility
On the 8th September 2017, the World Bank, George Washington University and the International Growth Centre hosted the 4th Urbanization and Poverty Reduction Research Conference: Building or Rebuilding Cities for Growth in Washington DC. The conference brought together top academics and practitioners to discuss the role sustainable cities play in economic growth and poverty...
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Blog post
Making the most of urban land: the role of rights and responsibilities
On the 8th September 2017, the World Bank, George Washington University and the International Growth Centre hosted the 4th Urbanization and Poverty Reduction Research Conference: Building or Rebuilding Cities for Growth in Washington DC. The conference brought together top academics and practitioners to discuss the role sustainable cities play in economic growth and poverty...
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Blog post
World Habitat Day 2017
To mark 2017’s World Habitat Day, the theme of which is Housing Policies: Affordable Homes, we asked researchers working on housing to provide their thoughts on the future of urban housing policy: Could you give an example of an interesting policy that could help to tackle some of the housing challenges faced in developing cities? Simon Franklin: large scale low cost...
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Blog post
Tackling the big stink: Investing in water and sanitation systems
The question of how to finance water systems is not a new one. While drawing from lessons from the past, this post looks at the impact of investing in water systems, and the challenges funding mechanisms face. Not too long ago, today’s metropolises, London, Paris and Berlin, were grappling with similar questions to those that many developing country cities currently...
Blog post
Food fights: Food prices and civil conflict in Africa
Over one million people have died from direct exposure to civil conflict in Africa since the end of the Cold War alone. What causal role do economic factors play in this tragedy? We study the effect of world food prices on violence across the continent, finding that the impact depends on both the type of conflict and whether a region mainly produces or consumes food. The...