World Bank Group Announces Record $57 Billion for Sub-Saharan Africa

Funds will scale up investments and de-risk private sector participation for accelerated growth and development

BADEN BADEN, Germany, March 19, 2017— Following a meeting with G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim today announced a record $57 billion in financing for Sub-Saharan African countries over the next three fiscal years. Kim then left on a trip to Rwanda and Tanzania to emphasize the Bank Group’s support for the entire region.

The bulk of the financing – $45 billion – will come from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group’s fund for the poorest countries. The financing for Sub-Saharan Africa also will include an estimated $8 billion in private sector investments from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private sector arm of the Bank Group, and $4 billion in financing from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, its non-concessional public sector arm.

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Feeding the world from Nigeria, one fish at a time

When I was growing up in rural Nigeria in the ‘80s and ‘90s, agriculture was already a central part of my life.  As a child, I gained farm experience working with my father, who was a veterinarian.  My mother, a teacher, would send me off to school each day with the parting words, “Go out there and be the best amongst equals.”  This is still the motto by which I try to live.

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“Forest-Smart” Strategies Deliver Benefits for People and the Environment

“Smart” approaches aren’t just for cell phones.

It’s time to take some of the qualities of J-Capela-260_Mozambique_World-Banksmart technology – capable, cross-cutting and transformative – and apply them to the way we manage one of our most fundamental natural resources: forests.

What does it mean to be “forest smart”? In essence, it has to do with taking a comprehensive look at landscapes to understand how forests are being affected by activities in other sectors, and how to enhance the benefits that we derive from forests.

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World Water Day: Take Action around the World to Tackle a Water Crisis

Today we celebrate World Water Day around the world.WWD17-feature

  • In Marseille, young people are coming together to promote innovative projects by entrepreneurs for recycling water in households, agriculture, industry and the environment, and to focus attention on the shared responsibility to build water security for the future of the Mediterranean Region.
  • In Durban, the UN is launching the 2017 World Water Development Report (WWDR) titled “Wastewater: The Untapped Resource” and the High Level Panel on Water is unveiling the initiative on “Access to water and sanitation for 10 billion people” to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  • In Rome, an unprecedented conversation is happening at the Vatican to shift how the world values and understands its single most precious resource: water.
  • In Indonesia, national television is focusing on good practices in fecal sludge management, highlighting the link between poor sanitation and stunting, and discussing how to meet the country’s target of universal access to water and sanitation by 2019.

World Water Day is about taking action around the world to tackle a water crisis.

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Improving Vocational Education Brings Opportunities for Young People in Yunnan

Yunnan Province, on China’s southwestern border, is well known for its beautiful natural landscape and rich ethnic culture. Yet it is also one of the country’s poorest provinces. Its per capita GDP in 2010 was only half of the national average. With 84% of mountainous land, the majority of its 45 million people live in rural areas – 1/3 of them belongs to 25 ethnic minority groups.

The labor force in Yunnan generally possesses low levels of education and skills. Most have completed just nine years of compulsory education or less, and professional and technical workers often lack skills certificates.

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World Bank Group – WBG-NL Partnership “Food for All”

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In May 2015, the Netherlands and the World Bank Group signed a “Food for All” Partnership agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) to increase knowledge, support job creation, and secure the long-term sustainability of agriculture in developing countries. “Food for All’’ brings together the World Bank Group and civil society, academia, government, private sector, and other stakeholders from the Netherlands.

REMINDER: ” Food for all Talks “!  Friday March 24, 2017 (11:00 – 12:30 AM EST in Washington DC || 16:00 – 17:30 pm CET in Netherlands) and can also be attended globally through WebEx .

The agreement focuses on strengthening collaboration in key strategic areas such as food, nutrition and health; inclusive and sustainable agricultural growth with a focus on pro-poor value chains and market transformations that better link farmers to markets; and ecologically sustainable food systems for climate-smart, resilient agriculture.

“Working in partnerships is critical in the multi-stakeholder context of food and agriculture. This partnership between the World Bank and the Netherlands will provoke inclusive, innovative and knowledge-intensive forms of cooperation. Together we address the needs of malnourished people and effectively contribute to a zero hunger world.” 

Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Netherlands, May 2015

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Event: “Food for All” Talks

Event date: Friday March 24, 2017 (11:00 – 12:30 AM EST in Washington DC || 16:00 – 17:30 pm CET in Netherlands) and can also be attended globally through WebEx .

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  • Join Using WebEx: Meeting password: mVKNghm3, Meeting number: 733 678 144.
  • Join Using Phone: Toll: 1-650-479-3207, Access code: 733 678 144
  • By Video Conference55791008@worldbank.org, External IP: 192.86.102.202, internal dial-in number 55791008

The Food for All Talks is a series initiated by the World Bank Group-Netherlands Partnership and delivers new insights on strategic issues and operational questions around agriculture and food value chains for the WBG. During the second Talk entitled “Agriculture – Food – Bio Sciences”, Louise Fresco and Shenggen Fan will be interviewed. 

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Unleashing the potential of women entrepreneurs in Africa

Walk around a major city in Sub-Saharan Africa and you will quickly realize that women nasikiliza-unleashing-the-potential-of-women-entrepreneurs-in-africa-feature-780x439are a highly visible part of the economy, selling all manner of products and services. In some ways, women are powering the economies of the continent to a greater degree than anywhere else in the world; Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where women make up the majority of self-employed individuals.  

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In Nigeria, Fadama is Synonymous with a Decline in Poverty

INYI, March 14, 2017 – In many parts of Africa, a series of laudatory appellations called Fadama Production Grouppraise songs are widely used to capture the essence of the person or object being praised. In the Inyi village community in Oduma, in Nigeria’s Enugu State, the Fadama project has earned its own praise song.

Inyi women gather in the village hall, dancing and chanting in unison: “Fadama – Ubiam eri mbombo ozo” orin English, “Fadama – poverty has run away, there is no more poverty.”

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New seminar on Standard Procurement Documents (SPDs)

As part of the implementation of the World Bank’s new Procurement Framework, the i-love-procurement2Bank is hosting a series of seminars for the private sector. These focus on the practical implementation of the Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers, the new procurement documents, and enhanced procurement processes. A schedule of the seminars will be posted on the World Bank website soon.

Topic: Standard Procurement Documents (SPDs)
By popular demand, the Bank is repeating the first seminar (delivered in December 2016). This focuses on the new Standard Procurement Documents (SPDs). This seminar is being offered on two separate dates.

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