Higher prices are also impacting food security in some countries 
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2021—Energy prices soared in the third quarter of 2021 and are expected to remain elevated in 2022, adding to global inflationary pressures and potentially shifting economic growth to energy-exporting countries from energy-importing ones.
Expanding trade flows can be part of the solutions to global challenges, when accompanied by the right policies. World Bank President David Malpass and WTO Director General Ngozi Onkonjo-Iweala discussed how global trade has limited the extend of the current global recession and laid out the practical steps countries could take to spread the benefits of trade more widely. Trade costs, on average, are equal to a 114 percent tariff on imported goods in developing countries. Much of that burden on consumers is the result of inefficient border procedures and poor transportation infrastructure. Trade facilitation reforms and investment in infrastructure could give a big boost to trade within regions. Betty Maina, Kenya’s Minister of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, spoke of how trade liberalization is a central part of her country’s aspirations for incomes and development.
“Trade can be a powerful catalyst for growth and social economic development and poverty reduction, particularly if we implement it with the poor in mind,” Maina said.
Leaders from the public and private sectors discussed the importance of investments in logistics and expanding trade finance that could strengthen the contribution of trade to economic recovery, and noted the ways that trade could help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Ahead of the World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meetings, President Malpass delivers a speech in Khartoum, Sudan, entitled “Development in a Time of Upheaval. ” President Malpass will set out the major challenges and opportunities in building a resilient and inclusive recovery for all. He will look at the dynamics of recent global economic growth that have contributed to inequality and a reversal in development progress. President Malpass will also explore how to remove or confront obstacles to development such as high debt, high trade costs, and the diminished capacity of many middle-income countries following COVID-19.
The speech will be followed by a moderated discussion.
Informed decision making requires timely and relevant evidence. This holds for national 
decision makers as well as development practitioners. Here at the World Bank, we have been working on creative solutions that lower the cost of project monitoring and create feedback loops. These feedback loops allow decision makers to assess the impact of their actions and to plan course corrections where needed. They also serve as incentive to act, since most decision makers wish to avoid the possibility of their inaction being exposed in future rounds of feedback and data collection. Feedback loops thus improve development outcomes through two pathways: by providing timely and actionable information and by functioning as an accountability mechanism. SWIFT and IBM are two examples of new tools that make this kind of regular feedback affordable.
Published on http://www.worldbank.org, June 19, 2019
infrastructure disruptions are an everyday concern that affects people’s well-being, economic prospects, and quality of life.Infrastructure is at the heart of lives and livelihoods. It can enable schools and hospitals, businesses and industry, and access to jobs and prosperity. In developing countries, however, disruptions to infrastructure are an everyday concern, reducing opportunities for employment, hampering health and education, and limiting economic growth.
In low and middle-income countries, direct damages from natural hazards to power generation and transport alone cost $18 billion a year, cutting into the already scarce budget of road agencies and power utilities. But the main impact of natural shocks on infrastructure is through the disruptions they impose on people and communities, for instance, businesses unable to keep factories running or use the internet to take orders and process payments; or on the households that don’t have the water they need to prepare meals or on people unable to go to work, send children to school, or get to a hospital.
Deadline: 26-Jun-2019 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)
This firm consultancy will explore how circular economy (CE) approaches, specifically
among poor people and communities can achieve outcomes that promote poverty reduction, enhanced welfare and create new and expanded employment opportunities. The final output would cover, the potential role of CE in development; case studies and assessment of market potential; different policy approaches for scaling CE, and; recommendations to governments. The consultancy will be based on desk review, economic modeling and detailed case studies that will be selected collaboratively. This EOI was tender for a smaller amount and is now being retendered with an updated amount and TOR.
obesity and the quest for better public health. Interest in discouraging consumption through higher taxes is growing as more jurisdictions impose them and as we learn more from their experiences. Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes are one of three taxes for health highlighted in a recently published report by the Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health.After participating in two events on inequality at the Spring Meetings
– Making Growth Work for the Poor and Income Inequality Matters: How to Ensure Economic Growth Benefits the Many and Not the Few, I received a surprising number of emails asking whether my remarks on the importance of addressing rising inequality meant I had abandoned growth as the main priority for developing countries. One thing I certainly took away from this correspondence: Inequality is too complex a phenomenon to address in a brief session at the Spring Meetings.
For African cities to grow economically as they have grown in size, they must create 
productive environments to attract investments, increase economic efficiency, and create livable environments that prevent urban costs from rising with increased population densification. What are the central obstacles that prevent African cities and towns from becoming sustainable engines of economic growth and prosperity? Among the most critical factors that limit the growth and livability of urban areas are land markets, investments in public infrastructure and assets, and the institutions to enable both. To unleash the potential of African cities and towns for delivering services and employment in a livable and environmentally friendly environment, a sequenced approach is needed to reform institutions and policies and to target infrastructure investments. This book lays out three foundations that need fixing to guide cities and towns throughout Sub-Saharan Africa on their way to productivity and livability.
Download full report here.
The World Development Report (WDR) 2019: The Changing Nature of Work studies how 
the nature of work is changing as a result of advances in technology today. Fears that robots will take away jobs from people have dominated the discussion over the future of work, but the World Development Report 2019 finds that on balance this appears to be unfounded. Work is constantly reshaped by technological progress. Firms adopt new ways of production, markets expand, and societies evolve. Overall, technology brings opportunity, paving the way to create new jobs, increase productivity, and deliver effective public services. Firms can grow rapidly thanks to digital transformation, expanding their boundaries and reshaping traditional production patterns.
Netherlands for the World Bank 
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