Remittances are an important source of income for households in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as well as a crucial source of foreign exchange for countries in the region. Despite the relatively large inflows of remittances to SADC, the cost of sending money to and within the...

Agriculture is critical to Rwanda’s economy and a key sector in Rwanda’s Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS). Agriculture finance is a national priority to achieve transformation of the agriculture sector and greater financial inclusion. Prioritizing agriculture...

This roadmap is based on analyses of the experiences with waste management in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Japan, Romania, and the European Union (EU) generally. The experiences of other countries concerning waste management - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Russia -...

Somalia’s economy grew by 2.3 percent in 2017. The economy remains vulnerable to recurrent shocks. Between 2013 and 2017, real annual GDP growth averaged 2.5 percent. Growth occurred despite adverse weather conditions that severely reduced agricultural output in late 2016 and early 2017. For...

At the request of the National Treasury of the Republic of South Africa, the World Bank Group (WBG) undertook a Retail Banking Diagnostic focusing on the provision of consumer transactional accounts and fixed deposits by retail banks in South Africa. The aim of the Retail Banking Diagnostic was...

Central America lags the rest of Latin America in outcomes related to women. The countries of Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) have taken important steps toward increasing the inclusion of women and improving their social and economic...

Despite the region’s vast potential for agriculture production and trade, the agriculture sector in Central African economic and monetary community (CEMAC) remains largely underdeveloped. This study supports CEMAC countries in their efforts to diversify their economies through increased...

This report examines three interrelated issues — digital connectivity, digital entrepreneurship, and taxation of digital platforms — that are closely aligned with Malaysia’s goal of becoming the e-commerce hub of the region. By leveraging the internet, smartphones, Big Data, the internet...