Every day, millions of children are robbed of their potential before they even start school. This is not a distant tragedy—it’s a global emergency. Malnutrition is one of the most critical, yet often overlooked, development challenges of our time. Although some progress has been made in recent years, the global fight against malnutrition has stalled, continuing to impact millions, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
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The Development Challenge
Access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy is key to unlocking Africa’s socio-economic transformation. This is the focus of Mission 300, an ambitious effort between the World Bank and the African Development Bank, amongst other partners, to connect 300 million people to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. With electricity comes new opportunities for jobs, trade, and investment, as well as better schools, hospitals, and other essential services. Lives change. In 2020, only 52 percent of the population in Western and Central Africa had access to electricity services. Reaching those without access, including over 220 million people in Western Africa, requires overcoming challenges related to geography, high electricity costs, weak institutional capacity, and political instability.
Continue readingForeign Direct Investment (FDI) has powered prosperity in development for decades. But in recent years FDI flows have been impacted by overlapping crises, including the pandemic, increasing geopolitical fragmentation, and slower world economic growth. This has led to new patterns in FDI, analyzed in a recent MIGA report “Shifting Shores: FDI Relocations and Political Risk.”
Moritz Nebe, Sector Manager at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency which houses the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform, joins Expert Answers to unpack what these changes mean for investors and the developing world.
April 09, 2025
How do social forces, innovation, and technology shape the evolution of institutions over time? How do they contribute to either their persistence or transformation?
M.I.T. Professor Daron Acemoglu, the 2024 laureate of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, will present his research on innovation and technology. His framework examines the social forces that drive institutional stability and change, revealing how these dynamics impact prosperity. He draws comparisons between disruptive periods such as the onset of European colonialism, the spread of industrial technologies in the 19th century, and today’s decisions on the use, adoption, and development of AI.
The event will take place on April 9 at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., and will be broadcast on World Bank Live.
The G20 has delivered a strong message that multilateral development banks (MDBs) need to be “better, bigger, and more effective.” That’s the headline of the G20 reform plan adopted in November 2024, which not only sets out the future path but also establishes how to get there with a detailed roadmap of 13 recommendations and 44 actions.
Continue readingThe digital world doesn’t wait. It evolves—fast. Those who don’t adapt risk being left behind. For the World Bank Group, this isn’t just a challenge, it’s a mandate.
In low- and middle-income countries, where this transformation can be key to unlocking jobs, economic growth, and better public services, the urgency to act is even greater. That’s why we’re changing our approach to digital development to better meet the speed and scale of today’s transformation.
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Investing in human capital—the knowledge, skills, and health people accumulate over a lifetime— unlocks a nation’s wealth and the full potential of individuals. Reliable measurement of human capital development is crucial to this effort. From local to global, human capital data provides key insights into effective approaches, guides efficient resource allocation, and strengthens policymakers’ commitment to investing in people, fostering sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
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Dryland forests in the Sahel are remarkable ecosystems that embody resilience and adaptability. Stretching across the arid landscape, iconic tree species such as Acacia, Baobab, and Shea trees stand as symbols of endurance, providing vital resources like food, medicine, and shade for both communities and livestock. These tenacious forests are not only lifelines for biodiversity but also cornerstones of local livelihoods.
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Forests and food are interconnected. As the world accelerates towards a food transition that delivers better, more sustainable outcomes for people and the planet, we must recognize that forests, woodlands, and landscapes are critical to this transition, but also to wider sustainable development goals. Investments in forests are investments in local communities, national economies, and our planet. We spoke to two of our forestry and agriculture experts on the topic.
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