This paper examines women's power relative to that of their husbands in 23 Sub-Saharan African countries to determine how it affects women's health, reproductive outcomes, children's health, and children's education. The analysis uses a novel measure of women's empowerment that is closely linked...

There is frequent public and media concern over the cost of bloated cabinets in many Sub-Saharan African countries. Scholarship on elite clientelism links cabinet positions with corruption and practices that undermine sound policy making. This paper presents new data on the number of ministers...

This study examines the impact of the African Growth and Opportunity Act using the synthetic control method, a quasi-experimental approach. The novelty in the approach is that it addresses problems of estimation that are prevalent in nonexperimental methods used to analyze the impact of...

Off-farm income constitutes a significant share of the household livelihood portfolios across Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, the determinants and dynamics of individuals' participation in off-farm employment activities have not received adequate attention due to the weaknesses in individual-level data...

Women's ownership, use, and control over property matter for their well-being and agency and can influence outcomes for the second generation-women's daughters and sons. Additionally, gender gaps in property ownership induce allocative inefficiencies and foregone economic output, thus having...

The lack of efficient social security systems, the presence of large informal sectors, and the pace at which the population is aging in some Sub-Saharan African countries are red flags warning of a potential long-term problem: that is, the inability of countries to provide old-age income...

Reducing all forms of malnutrition, including stunting, is central to the World Bank Group's twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity, as well as building resilience and preventing instability. Maternal and child under nutrition is estimated to be responsible for...

The report confirms that groundwater, if managed sustainably, can be an important development resource across the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region. The report presents data related to groundwater resource characteristics and highlights the opportunities and challenges presented in promoting...

The strong economic performance of Sub-Saharan Africa's resource-rich countries since the start of the 21st century has been celebrated as a return to more buoyant growth and renewed convergence with the advanced economies.Despite the recent progress in improving living standards and reducing...

This report documents the challenge of achieving inclusive education in Africa. Primary school completion rates are 10 percentage points lower for girls with disabilities than for girls without disabilities. For boys, the disability gap in primary completion rates is 13 points. Gaps are also...