African countries pay interest rates eight times higher than those of the typical World Bank loan COMMENT | WILLIAM RUTO | Climate change continues to ravage Africa, which is enduring extreme weather and natural disasters on an unprecedented scale. My own country, Kenya, has just emerged from its longest drought on …
Read More »Women get World bank boost to grow business
Wakiso, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Women have another cause to smile as the World Bank moves to facilitate those in business to help them leap to another level. The US $ 217 million (about Ug shs 900billion) five-year GROW Project will among other things skill women engaged in business before …
Read More »World Bank to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Bank Group and African Development Bank Group are partnering on an ambitious effort to provide at least 300 million people in Africa with electricity access by 2030. The World Bank Group will work to connect 250 million people to electricity through distributed …
Read More »World Bank: African economies projected to grow by 3.4 % in 2024
However, the growth is insufficient to have a significant effect on poverty reduction ANALYSIS | AGENCIES | Increased private consumption and declining inflation are supporting an economic rebound in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, the recovery remains fragile due to uncertain global economic conditions, growing debt service obligations, frequent natural disasters, and escalating …
Read More »World Bank: Africa on recovery path, but growth unsustainable
SPECIAL REPORT | THE INDEPENDENT | African economies are projected to grow by 3.4 percent this year, according to the World Bank report, which rues the inability of these growth rates to eradicate poverty. The growth is deemed impressive, considering that last year, the economies grew at just 2.2 percent, however, …
Read More »Why nations must follow money from environmental crimes
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – the global anti-money laundering watchdog— estimates that environmental crime is one of the most profitable criminal enterprises, generating around USD 110 to 281 billion in criminal gains each year; however, its latest figures suggest that less than 1 …
Read More »Scaling up the World Bank’s development finance
Country vulnerability indices should be multidimensional, adaptable, and emphasise challenges COMMENT | PATRICK GUILLAUMONT | Last October, at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund in Marrakesh, member countries emphasised the urgency of scaling up development finance. In recent years, an extraordinary confluence of …
Read More »World Bank: Uganda’s expenditure on education is consistently low and inefficient
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Bank has warned that the continued under-investment in human capital development is greatly affecting the individual productivity of Ugandans, and will likely stifle the growth trends. According to the 22nd Edition of the World Bank’s Uganda Economic Update, the economy continues to recover …
Read More »Kenya’s economy grows 5 percent in 2023 despite challenges
NAIROBI, KENYA | Xinhua | Kenya’s economy grew 5 percent in 2023, up from 4.8 percent in 2022 despite continued challenges, the World Bank said in a report released recentlyy. According to the World Bank’s 28th edition of Kenya Economic Update (KEU), the improved growth was buoyed by a strong …
Read More »Govt seeks World Bank support to extend USMID Program
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The government has formally approached the World Bank requesting an extension of funding for projects under the Uganda Support for Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) program. This request comes after Multiplex Construction Company Limited, the contractor responsible for works in Mbarara City, Ntungamo, and Kabale …
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