This note is intended to support ongoing efforts to promote Pan-Arab energy trade by highlighting the role and benefits of intra-regional electricity and gas exchange, with a view to improving energy security in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. After some background, this note...

Kazakhstan is an upper-middle income, resource rich country. Its ascent to upper-middle income status was propelled by rising oil production and booming oil prices which pushed the average annual rate to above 7 percent during 2000-2013. The halving of world oil prices and lower export demand...

This report provides an overview of the World Bank Group’s engagement in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, highlighting the new operating model of the World Bank Group. In particular, the report provides insight on the key challenges and strategic engagement of each sector...

Policy makers across the Middle East and North Africa have for many years articulated plans to integrate their people spatially and economically. Wishing to bring communities together and narrow economic gaps, governments have made large capital investments in transport corridors and "new...

This policy note aims to advance our understanding of urban forced displacement, induced by conflict, by looking at the issue from the perspective of receiving towns and cities. It explores why we need a different approach to addressing urban forced displacement; how to "think differently" about...

Land management in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) is facing important challenges with degradation and needs to learn from others in order to make progress at scale. Sustainable land management and the restoration of degraded lands are important topics in the Middle East and North...

Dust storms are capable of transporting sediment over thousands of kilometers, but due to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region's proximity to the Sahara Desert, the region is one of the dustiest in the world. While natural sources such as the Sahara are the main contributors to dust...

The main objective of this report is to provide an intermediate step toward building more energy-efficient economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The present study complements the 2009 Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) report by providing a quantitative...