This Country Program Evaluation (CPE) assesses the relevance, effectiveness, and adaptability of the World Bank Group's support to Nepal from FY 2014 through FY23. The evaluation period spans the FY14-18 Country Partnership Strategy and the FY19-24 Country Partnership Framework (CPF). The CPE's...

The 2024 Results and Performance of the World Bank Group report - also known as the RAP- is the fourteenth annual report in the series. The RAP series aggregates and interprets evidence on World Bank Group performance, mainly using IEG's validations of World Bank, International Finance...

Both World Bank shareholders and the Bank’s management have emphasised the need for large-scale private investment to achieve development and climate goals. For the World Bank Group, this means collaborating more closely between its different institutions, an issue that World Bank President...

Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) are government-owned entities that play an increasingly important role in supporting private sector projects in developing countries. This paper synthesizes key findings from the academic and grey literature to provide a comprehensive understanding of...

The World Bank Group strategy emphasizes that private capital is critical for the investments required to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in client countries (World Bank and IMF 2023). A large gap persists between the resources of governments and donors and the investment required...

This Country Program Evaluation assesses the performance and effectiveness of the World Bank Group's support to Georgia in achieving the country's development objectives. In the decade leading up to the evaluation period, Georgia pursued economic reforms to attract critical investments for...

This evaluation assesses the relevance and effectiveness of the World Bank Group's support to Tanzania between Fiscal Years 2012 and 2022. Over the past decade, Tanzania has experienced resilient growth, with an average annual per capita GDP increase of 2.2%. However, poverty remains widespread...

In Africa, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face a chronic financing gap that hinders their growth and the continent's economic development. Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) are often seen as a solution to bridge this gap, particularly through indirect support to local banks....

In 2012, Somalia was considered a failed state characterized by multiple, protracted, and deeply rooted fragility and development challenges. Today, Somalia remains one of the poorest and most fragile countries in the world. The country continues to be affected by ongoing civil conflict, a...

The World Bank Group considers itself a "Knowledge Bank." The Bank's knowledge work contributes to development outcomes both by informing clients in various policy and reform areas, and by informing staff and clients on the selection, design, and implementation of lending operations. This...

Does foreign aid target the poorest people in developing countries? We examine this question in the context of World Bank foreign aid projects at the local level in 50 countries worldwide. We combine georeferenced data on World Bank foreign aid projects with remote-sensing data on nighttime...

Blended finance is central to development finance, catalyzing private capital alongside public resources to address global challenges in developing countries. Despite its growing importance, empirical evidence on its ability to leverage private lenders' credit supply remains limited. This paper...

The spread of illicit activity across the global economy presents significant challenges to international development. Despite the well-recognised global incidence of corruption, fraud, and money laundering in development-focused investment projects, the responses of the multilateral development...

Papua New Guinea has abundant resources in the form of oil and mineral wealth. But a complex set of factors, including systemic gender inequality, underinvestment in non-extractive sectors, and fragility compounded by vulnerability to disasters caused by natural hazards act as barriers to...

The shock of the pandemic and subsequent overlapping crises has led to a reversal in development by exacerbating the challenges facing the most vulnerable 75 economies eligible for concessional loans and grants from the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA). Over 2020-24, per...

These remarks were delivered by the World Bank Group President Ajaya Banga at the IDA for Africa Heads of State Summit on April 29, 2024. The main idea revolves around the potential for transformative change in Africa through strategic investments and development assistance. The President...

This letter updates the assessment of Mongolia's economic conditions since the conclusion of the IMF's 2023 Article IV consultation on September 14, 2023. The assessment has been requested in relation to the program loan under the Asian Development Bank's Policy Based Lending modality

Bangladesh has demonstrated remarkable development progress in the last five decades. The country's journey from one of the poorest countries at independence to a lower-middle-income nation within four decades is a testament to its resilience, policy decisions, and commitment to reducing poverty...

In 2021, the G20 committed to reallocate USD 100 billion of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) recent allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries. However, most of these donations have been made to the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth...