It’s time to make the World Bank the “World’s Bank.”
Extreme poverty is on the increase for the first time in a generation. Countries affected by fragility and conflict are at the front line. We have 75 months to go before we use what is left of our carbon budget. After that we lose the battle to stay within 1.5°C.
The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years to come. Business as...
Debt
More than a hundred Presidents, celebrities and economists have come together to propose a ten-point-plan to reform the World Bank and make it fit for the 21st Century.
We know that the impact of coronavirus is being felt more by those living in developing countries than elsewhere. Vaccine rollout remains painfully unequal and financing to help with the recovery is still completely inadequate. At the same time, new data shows the extent of Africa‘s debt challenges and the urgency needed to fix it before it‘s too late. Here are six reasons why Africa’s debt crisis could be here to stay.
1. African countries‘ debt rose to US$625 billion...
It‘s in all our interests to end the pandemic and the economic crisis it continues to drive. We have the means to do this, so what are the issues standing between us and finally ending the pandemic?
1. Wealthy countries are still hoarding vaccines despite nearly meeting the global vaccination target
Did you know? New analysis from ONE shows that twice as many people in wealthier countries have received a booster shot as people in low-income countries got their first vaccine...
At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, wealthy countries ripped up the economic rulebook to support their people and economies through the crisis but the response globally and support for other countries who didn‘t have the same luxury has been a little more lacklustre. This hampered many low-income countries’ abilities to respond to the pandemic, particularly against the backdrop of a growing economic crisis, unsustainable debts, and a liquidity crisis.
It’s now been over 18 months since the start of...
Are you the geography expert that you think you are? Think you can name all of the world‘s capital cities? Or locate all of the greatest waterfalls? Take a quiz journey around the world and find out how much you know…
Take the quiz
Why are we focusing on these countries?
All of the correct answers are places that currently can‘t afford to pay their debts and are struggling to deal with the economic consequences of COVID-19. While rich countries have spent...
Yesterday the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) released the latest preliminary data on global aid spending in 2020. It showed that last year, donors provided $161 billion in official development assistance (ODA). This represents a 3.5% increase, in real terms, compared to 2019. It is especially encouraging to see that in a year where there was a global pandemic and economic downturn and even advanced economies suffered, they still managed to prioritise and increase global aid.
More ambition required
However, this...
This year Italy is at the head of the Group of 20 (G20), a crucial role in the global economic landscape. The presidency is a very important responsibility. It is even more so during a pandemic, in which new COVID-19 variants continue to develop, access to vaccines is not yet guaranteed to all, and poverty is growing exponentially after 20 years of progress in its eradication. All these factors make the adoption of comprehensive and inclusive economic measures even...
While the pandemic is hitting all global economies around the world, African countries have been hit especially badly. In the lead-up to the pandemic, there was a decline in official development assistance (ODA) and an increase in debt. And since the pandemic hit, there have been huge declines in remittances, foreign investment, and revenues.
The impact isn’t just economic, but it’s also on an individual level — access to vaccines, children not being able to go to school and learn,...
The World Bank estimates that COVID-19 could push between 143 and 163 million people into extreme poverty around the world in 2021, including nearly 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. And the pandemic could end up costing the global economy more than US$22 trillion by 2025 — roughly US$10 billion a day — compared to pre-pandemic projected growth.
To combat the pandemic, advanced economies have moved fast to pre-order vaccines and pump trillions of dollars to shore up national economies....