Library

The growing disparity between the rich and poor remains one of the critical challenges of recent decades, affecting countries across all continents, irrespective of their gross domestic product per capita. This widening gap not only impedes efforts to eradicate extreme poverty but also hinders...

Mtazamo wa uhamiaji na maendeleo ya mijini lazima upanuliwe. Mijadala kuhusu uhamiaji na maendeleo ya mijini kwa kiasi fulani imekuwa ya kupunguza na potofu. Lengo kubwa limekuwa katika majiji makubwa (mara nyingi tu miji mikuu) na wahamiaji wa vijijini hadi mijini pekee. Hii inaacha changamoto...

Research on migration and urban development in Africa has primarily focused on larger cities and rural-to-urban migration. However, 97 percent of Africa’s urban centers have fewer than 300,000 inhabitants, and a sizable share of urban migrants come from other urban areas. A more holistic and...

The Commons explores the many forms of development being championed by Africa’s residents, users, and citizens. In addition to managing property and shared tangible and intangible resources collectively, communities are experimenting with a concept of “commoning” founded on values such as ...

Sub-Saharan Africa has achieved significant gains in reducing the levels of extreme poverty in recent decades, yet the region continues to experience challenges across the development indicators, including energy access, literacy, delivery of services and goods, and jobs skills, as well as low...

Industrialization drives the sustained growth in jobs and productivity that marks the developmental take-off of most developed economies. Yet, academics and policy makers have questioned the role of manufacturing in development for late industrializers, especially in view of rapid advancements...

Rapid population growth, poorly planned urbanization, and evolving agricultural production and distribution practices are changing foodways in African cities and creating challenges: Africans are increasingly facing hunger, undernutrition, and malnutrition. Yet change also creates new...

The Future of Work in Africa focuses on the key themes of creating productive jobs and addressing the needs of those left behind. It highlights how global trends, especially the adoption of digital technologies, may change the nature of work in Sub-Saharan Africa by creating new opportunities...

The prevalence of stunting in Sub-Saharan Africa has been declining significantly. Yet, because of high fertility rates, this is the only region in the world with a growing number of children under the age of five who have stunted growth, meaning they are too short for their age. This trend, if...

Over the past two decades, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have grown their economies, lifted millions out of poverty, recovered from conflict, and greatly expanded access to education with a boost in public expenditures.

Access to reliable electricity is the backbone of any modern economy. It is even more important with the digital revolution. If African nations want to see their economies transform, the issue of electricity must be tackled head-on. Access is only the starting point, however. Expansion needs...

Despite economic growth and improvements in many dimensions of welfare, poverty remains a pervasive and complex phenomenon in Sub-Saharan Africa (Africa hereafter). Approximately two people in five live in poverty, and, because of shocks, many others are vulnerable to falling into poverty. Part...

Africa’s natural wealth is enormous. Growing investments in infrastructure and a better business climate are helping to translate this wealth into productive physical capital. The continent’s large and growing youth population could also promote economic growth. However, what slows Africa’s...

Enhancing the productivity of agriculture is vital for Sub-Saharan Africa's economic future and is one of the most important tools to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity in the region. How governments elect to spend public resources has significant development impact in this regard....

This study focuses on the local and regional impact of large-scale gold mining in Africa in the context of a mineral boom in the region since 2000. It contributes to filling a gap in the literature on the welfare effects of mineral resources, which, until now, has concentrated more on the...

Drylands make up about 43 percent of the region’s land surface, account for about 75 percent of the area used for agriculture, and are home to about 50 percent of the population, including many poor. Involving complex interactions among many factors, vulnerability in drylands is rising,...

This book lays out a range of policy actions that are needed at the various phases of the demographic transition and uses global and regional experiences to provide evidence on what has worked and what has not. Countries have a menu of options available to speed up the transition, improve...

This book seeks to critically examine the challenges of fragility and security in West Africa, along with the factors of resilience. It seeks to investigate key drivers of conflict and violence, and the way in which they impact the countries of the subregion. Along with emerging threats and...

The need for safety nets in Sub-Saharan Africa is vast. In addition to being the world‘s poorest region, Sub-Saharan Africa is also one of the most unequal. In this context, redistribution must be seen as a legitimate way to fight poverty and ensure shared prosperity - and all the more so in...

This book evaluates -using for the first time a single consistent methodology and the state-of-the-arte climate scenarios-, the impacts of climate change on hydro-power and irrigation expansion plans in Africa’s main rivers basins (Niger, Senegal, Volta, Congo, Nile, Zambezi, Orange); and outlines...