Public debate in Nigeria on the country's progress since its return to democracy in 1999 has been dominated by two seemingly opposite themes. The first theme is the strong growth performance of the non-oil economy. This success has been marked by sharp increases in agriculture, trade, and...

In the wake of an acrimonious debate on big dams, the World Bank brokered a global agreement on financing as well as on the sharing of the rewards and risks of the controversial Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric project in Lao PDR. Through this process, it prepared the project for the country and the...

How much is a cleaner environment worth? For policy makers, that question goes largely unanswered. It's not that the environment is seen as unimportant. It's simply much easier to compare the costs and benefits of tangible projects such as airports and electrical grids, than it is to weigh the...

Climate change is the defining development challenge of our time. More than a global environmental issue, climate change and variability threaten to reverse recent progress in poverty reduction and economic growth. Both now and over the long run, climate change and variability threatens human...

In Africa, where poor roads, ports and railway infrastructure often constrain the rapid and efficient transportation of goods earmarked for export as well as passengers, air transport holds both a potential for growth and a role for the economic development of the continent by fostering trade...

This book proposes a new analytical framework to interpret and model the constraints faced by logistics chains in landlocked countries. The case of LLDCs has naturally received special attention for decades, including a specific set of development priorities based on the idea of dependence over...

The World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Research Institute, and the Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development (FASID), in collaboration with researchers affiliated with the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), recently conducted a study on...