“Credit: World Bank Group. All rights reserved”
Will AI Make or Take the Next Billion Jobs? | The Development Podcast
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Tag Archives: World Bank
What’s Next for Africa’s Integration Agenda
Report advocates shift from trade links to production hubs
ADDIS ABABA, August 28, 2026—A new World Bank report released today titled Integrating Africa: From Threads to Hubs, finds that the continent’s next major integration gains will come from making African markets work together—connecting production across borders, reducing trade and regulatory frictions, strengthening implementation of regional agreements, and delivering the infrastructure, services, and jobs that regional markets need.
Continue readingOne year into AgriConnect: what we’re learning in Africa
Africa has long been regarded as the world’s next breadbasket. It has abundant arable land, fast growing demand, and a vibrant business environment that could provide jobs for millions of young people entering the labor market each year.
Yet, Africa’s agricultural potential is still largely untapped. The continent imports large amounts of food while critical gaps, from energy and irrigation to finance and digital services, hamper productivity and investment. Closing this gap will require $180 billion in investment – and coordinated action across infrastructure, policies and private capital.
Continue readingHow data and evidence can make anticorruption reforms more inclusive
In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), one in five people report experiencing or knowing of sextortion — the exchange of sex, rather than money, for a public service — in their dealings with the state. In Kenya, women seeking public services are more than four times as likely as men to be asked directly for sexual favors. Numbers like these are why anticorruption data cannot afford to be gender-blind. Corruption does not affect everyone equally.
Continue readingWorld Bank’s USD 7-Year Sustainable Development Bond Meets Strong Demand from High-Quality Investors
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 18, 2026 – The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD, Aaa/AAA) today priced a USD 4 billion benchmark bond that matures in August 2033.
With more than 150 investor orders, the transaction attracted over USD 11 billion in high-quality investor orders, primarily driven by bank treasuries, central banks/official institutions, and asset managers.
Continue readingThe unequal costs of a global trade disruption
The Strait of Hormuz, connecting the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, caries a substantial share of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows. A disruption to shipping through the strait, whether from conflict or geopolitical pressure – does not stay regional. The shock spreads through global value chains, raising energy prices, squeezing producers of energy-intensive goods, and suppressing demand. What are the real impacts on countries, sectors, and workers worldwide?
Continue readingDigital Tides: Transforming Communities in the Pacific
“Credit: World Bank Group. All rights reserved”
From Education to Opportunity: Investing in Nepal’s Youth for More and Better Jobs
- From handloom artisans in Bhaktapur, to formally contracted delivery riders operating across Bharatpur, Biratnagar, and beyond, to agricultural and floriculture workers in Surkhet — ESP-supported ventures are creating meaningful jobs across Nepal.
- Through ESP, over 1,900 students and graduates received entrepreneurship training, and 62 ventures received collateral-free, interest-free seed financing averaging NPR 2 million each — helping young Nepalis turn ideas into income-generating businesses.
- With 500,000 young people entering Nepal’s workforce every year, ESP is helping higher education institutions go beyond traditional academics by partnering with the private sector, establishing business incubation centers at six universities, and equipping graduates with the practical skills the labor market demands.
AI Offers Lifeline to Developing Economies in an Era of Weak Growth
If they act now, AI could help them achieve in a decade what might have taken a century
WASHINGTON, August 4, 2026—Artificial intelligence (AI) could allow developing countries to do in a decade what might otherwise take a century—provided that governments act swiftly to close the gaps in power, connectivity, skills, and institutional quality that threaten to leave them behind, according to the World Bank Group’s World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence.
Continue readingMoney on the table: Why better budget planning is key to fixing the water crisis
Water underpins good health, food production, and the energy that powers businesses. It also supports an estimated 1.7 billion jobs worldwide. Yet the world is massively off-track on Sustainable Development Goal 6, which aims to ensure clean water and sanitation for all by 2030. The water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) financing gap demanding dramatically higher public investments. And even the money governments do allocate for water routinely goes unspent.
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