From the COVID-19 pandemic to advanced-economy interest-rate hikes, developments over the last few years have left many developing economies struggling to repay their debts. But the problem might be even bigger than the world realizes, as many sovereign debts are hidden, undisclosed, or opaque. This prevents policy makers and investors from making informed decisions.
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Global poverty estimates were updated today on the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP).As explained in more detail in the What’s New document, more than 100 new surveys were added to the PIP database, bringing the total number of surveys to more than 2,300. With more recent survey data, this March 2024 PIP update is the first to report a global poverty number for 2020-2022, the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. We estimate that COVID-19 increased extreme poverty in the world, as measured by the international poverty line of $2.15, from 8.9 percent in 2019 to 9.7 percent in 2020 (see Figure 1). This is the first increase in global poverty in decades. It is in line with earlier estimates of the COVID-19 impact which used limited survey data and GDP growth projections.
Continue readingHealth care is an investment, not an expense. Affordable accessible health care can unlock human capital and economic dividends for countries.
Today, over half of the world’s population―around 4.5 billion people―lack access to essential health services. And two billion people face financial hardships due to health-related expenses. This is compounded by a range of growing risks such as climate change, pandemics, fragility, and conflict.
Watch this event to learn how the World Bank is working closely with countries and partners to address these challenges and help ensure more people across the world have greater access to high quality and affordable health care.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies have piqued global excitement with their promise to drive economic growth and opportunity, unlock scientific breakthroughs, and build better services. But as we race to close the global digital divide, we must also ask ourselves some tough questions.
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| Mark your calendars for the 2024 Spring Meetings. We will come together April 15-20 to explore how to tackle global challenges head-on, including solutions to ramp up finance and knowledge, foster private sector investment, and prepare for future crises. Tune in as we livestream high-level events. Spring Meetings |
Over half a billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of being left behind without electricity access by 2030, with nearly 400 million of them living in countries subject to fragility, conflict, and violence. Africa is where the energy access battle will be won or lost. Without access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy, the region will not reach its development aspirations or achieve an economic transformation that can lift millions out of poverty.
Together with partners, the World Bank Group has already begun efforts to deploy innovative financial and technical solutions that are essential for accelerating electrification rates that outpace population growth.
The discussion will focus on what it will take to scale up the solutions and investments that will help connect millions more Africans to electricity and transform African economies.
We are at a pivotal moment in shaping the future of education. The potential for generative AI to improve teaching efficiency and enhance teacher effectiveness is immense. It’s a potential that is in the process of being realized in small classrooms and large educational systems alike.
Teachers are arguably the most important school-based determinant of whether and how much students learn. Given this complex and important job, how can generative AI-driven technologies help teachers, and what policy measures should be prioritized to harness the potential of the technology?
Continue reading| Mark your calendars for the 2024 Spring Meetings. We will come together April 15-20 to explore how to tackle global challenges head-on, including solutions to ramp up finance and knowledge, foster private sector investment, and prepare for future crises. Tune in as we livestream high-level events. Spring Meetings |
Leveraging data from Multilateral Development Banks and Development Finance Institutions to support investment and development.
GEMs, the Global Emerging Markets Risk Database Consortium (GEMs), was established in 2009 as a joint initiative between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and IFC and has since grown to comprise 25 MDBs and DFIs.
GEMs is one of the world’s largest credit risk databases for the emerging markets operations of its member institutions, comprised of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). The database pools credit risk data on private/sub-sovereign lending in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) and provides members with additional relevant statistics.
The GEMs Consortium has published for the first time the recovery rates of investments with private and sub-sovereign borrowers in EMDEs for the period 1994-2022. The statistics are collected from the group of 19 multilateral development banks and development finance institutions that are members of the GEMs Consortium and are available online for free on the GEMs website.
“The GEMs Consortium, co-founded by the EIB and the World Bank Group, is an example of how we can have a far greater impact when we work together. The publication today and sharing of information with public and private sector partners is a direct response to the call by the G20 for International Financial Institutions to support reform of the financial system by sharing data and expertise more widely. I’m hopeful that this first important step will help us all to drive transformative investments in emerging markets and developing economies.”
– Nadia Calviño, President of the European Investment Bank.
Netherlands for the World Bank 
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