Over the seven-year period covered by this review, the International Development Association (IDA) significantly enhanced its relevance, and improved its portfolio performance, repositioning its country assistance programs, increasing its responsiveness to borrowers, strengthening its field...

African countries need to improve the performance of their public sectors if they are going to achieve their goals of growth, poverty reduction, and the provision of better services for their citizens. Between 1995 and 2004, the Bank provided some 9 billion in lending and close to 900 million in...