Browsing: World Bank

• Tanzania hosts World Bank Group Human Capital Project (HCP)
• President Samia announces national efforts to increase youth employment
• Africa suffers the lowest learning poverty in the world

It is now three years since the World Bank Group launched the Human Capital Project (HCP) in 2018, and Tanzania is making the best of the initiative.

Let’s first look at the World Bank Group’s intentions under the Human Capital Project (HCP) and then see how Tanzania intends to lead the rest of Africa in the implementation of the project. The HCP is a global effort to “accelerate more and better investments in people for greater equity and economic growth.”

The HCP is an initiative by the World Bank to help countries increase employment and employability of their workforce.

Since its launch in 2018, the initiative now has some 87 members. On July 25, Tanzania hosted the launch of the Africa Heads of …

• The World Bank plans to ease lending terms to increase liquidity.
• Increased disposal income will help reduce global poverty.
• Countries required to highlight financial inclusivity plans.

The World Bank is “taking bold new steps to increase its lending capacity”, a move that will likely trigger various implications for individuals, businesses, and economies across Africa.

In July, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged further reform of the World Bank and other multilateral development banks. Yellen said capital increases will be an option once these institutions make changes to increase their capacity to assist nations in addressing climate change and other issues.

At the same time, the World Bank President Ajay Banga stated, “We are moving quickly. While we are constructing a better bank, a larger bank will eventually be required.”

Increased lending by the world’s biggest lender will mean increased liquidity all around the world. What this means is that you …

• The central role of human capital in development is fast catching up with the developing world.
• Tanzania President Suluhu Hassan says there is no right time to deliberate on the human capital issue than now.
• President Ruto of Kenya says Africa must deliberately to make it possible for the youth to access job opportunities.

The vital role of Africa’s human capital is indispensable. It is a powerful tool in driving the growth of economic investments in the continent of 1.3 billion people. Africa has a combined GDP of nearly $3.1 trillion and over 40 percent of the population is under the age of 15 years and younger. It is therefore important that Africa’s human capital is aligned optimally to foster growth.

The central role of human capital in development is fast catching up with the developing world. It is in light of this that the just ended Africa Human Capital …

• Kenya is among countries that are heavily indebted with the loan stock at staggering 67.3 per cent of GDP.
• Total debt stood at $67.7 billion (Ksh9.6 trillion) as of April, Central Bank of Kenya data shows.
• This comprised $35.9 billion external debt and $24.6 billion borrowed from the domestic market.

President William Ruto is calling for “urgent” redesigning of global financial institutions to ensure fairness in financing of economies, as he continues to lash out at the West over debt traps in poor states.

In what seems to be a swing at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Dr Ruto is pointing to a post-colonial Africa where development has stalled due to limited resources to liberate economies.

Lenders placing debt traps in poor States

This is from what Dr Ruto terms institutions that were extractive by design; only placing debt traps in poor states. Over the years, Kenya’s …

• President William Ruto of Kenya says resources should neither be controlled by the World Bank nor the International Monetary Fund.
• Africa does not want anything for free. But needs a new financial model where power is not in the hands of the few, says Dr Ruto.
• In Paris, President Ruto says the world cannot continue normally when things are not going forward.

Kenya’s President William Ruto has has called for a new world financing model to tackle poverty and negative effects of climate change. Dr Ruto is advocating for a financial architecture made up of equals. This is his latest call as he continues to emerge as Africa’s most vocal leader since his election in August last year.

According to the leader of East Africa’s top economy, President Ruto said resources should neither be controlled by the World Bank nor the International Monetary Fund. “Africa does not want anything for …

• The Kenyan shilling has fallen to a new low of 140.04 against the US dollar.
• Central Bank of Kenya data shows the unit is also losing to other major currencies including British Pound and Euro.
• Last year, the Kenyan shilling depreciated by about 7.5 per cent against the US dollar, the UAE dirham (7.5%), Saudi Riyal (7.4%) and the Chinese Yuan (3.1%), the Kenya Economic Survey 2023 shows.

As developing market currencies continue to suffer from the worldwide increase in interest rates, which is being spearheaded by the US Federal Reserve, the Kenyan Shilling has dropped to a historic low in relation to the US Dollar.

The Fed has increased the benchmark rate ten times in a row, or a total of five percentage points, since March of last year. In the last 40 years, these increases are the most abrupt. In an effort to combat US inflation, interest rates …

The United Nations (UN) has called for major reforms for two institutions considered key players in the new world order. Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, is pushing for major changes in the IMF and the World Bank.

According to Guterres, the International Monetary Fund has profited the rich nations at the expense of the developing ones. The UN secretary-general describes the response by IMF and the World Bank towards the COVID-19 pandemic as a “glaring failure” that left most developing nations significantly indebted.…

• Funding aimed at increasing the efficiency of domestic resource mobilization and public expenditure. 
• The move will enable the government to have more resources to finance public services and respond to economic shocks. 
• The program targets more inclusive access to e-declaration and performance-based management in customs administration.

In order to assist Benin in improving the effectiveness of domestic resource mobilization and public expenditure, the World Bank has granted financing from the International Development Association (IDA) totaling $150 million.

The Economic Governance for Service Delivery Program for Results (PforR) will support projects aimed at increasing the effectiveness of domestic resource mobilization and public expenditure. This will to provide the government with greater funding to support public services and react to economic shocks.

The program aims for performance-based management in customs administration and more inclusive e-declaration access.

Additionally, it encourages the creation of a setting favorable to citizen scrutiny of public finances and …

• Dubai-based logistics giant DP World will be given berths five to seven in the Port of Dar es Salaam to manage. The move comes as rising number of ports in Africa go private as governments seek to boost import/export trade.
• Tanzania plans to increase the port’s revenue collection by 233.7 per cent over the next 10 years under the DP World deal.
• The port handles various types of cargo, including containers, bulk cargo, and petroleum products for Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, and Uganda.

The port of Dar es Salaam, which the World Bank has labelled East Africa’s busiest and most modern, could see its fortunes rise following a deal by Tanzania with DP World to manage and develop it even further.

The Dubai-based logistics multinational DP World has entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement with Tanzania for the development of one of the vital harbours in East Africa.

Private sector infusing

• Most countries in North Africa are struggling with searing poverty and economic vulnerabilities.
• Work opportunities in the region are limited especially for the women and youth. Most workers are engaged in low-productivity informal jobs. 
• The World Bank’s Built to Include: Reimagining Social Protection Systems in the Middle East and North Africa report argues that social protection policies could help.

One of the root causes of poverty and vulnerability in North Africa is the decades-old system driving youth and women exclusion in the labour market, a new World Bank report reveals. 

According to the World Bank, most countries in North Africa have been struggling with poverty and vulnerability for decades. Increasingly, work opportunities in the region are getting limited, particularly for women and youth. Across the economies, most workers are engaged in low-productivity informal jobs. 

Safety nets to mitigate youth and women exclusion

The report, Built to Include: Reimagining Social Protection …