World Bank Group

🔴 UPCOMING EVENTS: Join us live!

➤ JUNE 2: Industrial Policy for Development http://wrld.bg/L3GG50Z2igE
➤ JUNE 8-10: Fragility Forum http://wrld.bg/NUv450Z2ih0
➤ JUNE 9-11: Global Policy Forum on Natural Capital http://wrld.bg/Pmh550Z2igH
➤ JUNE 10: Development as ‘Creative Destruction’ Revisited http://wrld.bg/tqhB50Z2ihh
➤ JUNE 11-12: Youth Summit: Future Works http://wrld.bg/izE550Z2ihj
➤ JUNE 16-17: Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics http://wrld.bg/Kfe650Z2ig9

Many resource-rich economies face the same structural challenge: how to build a diversified economy when commodity revenues have long dominated government spending and investment. Industrial policy has emerged as a common response. But does it work? Saudi Arabia🇸🇦 offers a rare opportunity to study this challenge in real time.

Can industrial policy drive economic diversification? Early evidence from Saudi Arabia Resource-rich economies across the world face similar diversification challenges and are deploying similar policy tools and the questions this...

In the Dominican Republic🇩🇴, forest conservation is helping rural women lead the way in the coffee sector. From training to decision‑making, sustainable coffee is opening doors to jobs and leadership for them. Learn more:

Coffee that creates jobs: forest conservation opens opportunities for women in the Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic’s Emissions Reduction Program, with support from the World Bank, rewards forest conservation with payments that translate...

🗞️ 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐋𝐘 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄

➤ 5 WAYS WE’RE TURNING MINERAL WEALTH INTO JOBS AND GROWTH. Mineral demand could double by 2040—and we're helping countries get ready. From Argentina's Rincón Lithium Project, where 70% of an anticipated 4,200 workers will be hired locally, to Zambia's goal of tripling copper production by 2031, we've mobilized $1.2 billion and are scaling our minerals support fivefold. http://wrld.bg/rHP850Z5Gof

➤ FOREST PROTECTION IS A JOBS STRATEGY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Protected areas cover more than 25% of the Dominican Republic’s land, drawing 2.4 million visitors a year, and sustainable coffee farming supports over 50,000 families. Through the World Bank-supported Emission Reductions Payment Agreement, 30% of resources go directly to protected area management and ecotourism. http://wrld.bg/v4Np50Z5Gsw

➤ THIS BRIDGE MOVES MADAGASCAR’S VANILLA ECONOMY. The Manambery Bridge in Madagascar is just 140 meters long—but it carries 80% of the world's natural vanilla supply. Around 70,000 smallholder farmers depend on it to get their harvest to market before the beans spoil. A $1.8 million bridge rehabilitation has kept exports flowing, jobs secure, and global supply chains intact—proof that a single piece of infrastructure can carry enormous economic weight. http://wrld.bg/kBci50Z5GtF

➤ IDA: STOPPING INSTABILITY BEFORE IT SPREADS. Development spending and security spending complement each other. The International Development Association (IDA) works in 78 of the world’s poorest countries, helping 200 million people access services and 70 million get jobs—giving them a stake in local stability. In fragile regions where people face displacement and migration, that investment matters: prevention can be 103 times cheaper than crisis. http://wrld.bg/shVs50Z5Guz

➤ HOW ETHIOPIA IS BUILDING A PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING HUB. Ethiopia is now the ninth country in Africa—and the first in its region—to earn the World Health Organization's top rating for medicine regulation, which carries the assurance that locally-produced medicines meet the highest global standards. The new rating strengthens the country's pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, creates jobs, reduces import dependence, and keeps vital medicine and supplies flowing in times of crisis. http://wrld.bg/4RPn50Z5Gvt

☑️ 𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘞𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘜𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴! 𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘹. http://wrld.bg/uTEW50Yt7Pu

A smartphone is more than a device, it’s a gateway to services, income, and opportunity. Yet 800 million women remain offline, largely in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank Group has committed to enabling 300 million more women to access and use broadband connectivity by 2030. Expanding access, skills, and opportunity can unlock the digital world for millions of women.

Women’s digital literacy: Unlocking opportunity For millions of women globally, digital literacy programs can unlock opportunities, like new skills, a growing network, and digital jobs. Yet,...

🌍 Africa has one of the fastest-growing regional economies, backed by an abundance of natural resources, and a vibrant and youthful population that is rapidly expanding. Yet much still needs to be done to counter the challenges faced by many communities, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected areas, and to boost inclusive access to the energy, infrastructure, finance and technology that will support job creation, human development, and economic competitiveness.

The Financial Times FT Live and the World Bank Group’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) have launched the third edition of the Africa Sustainable Futures Awards, a major annual program that promotes innovative, private sector solutions to development challenges in Africa. The 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 showcase commercially viable initiatives that provide transformative, resilient and scalable solutions, and address not just current needs but also the well-being of future generations, at a time when it is more important than ever to build self-sustaining models for growth.

Building on the success of last year’s program, which drew more than 300 entries, special attention in this third year will be given to initiatives that move beyond traditional development models by effectively mobilizing capital, mitigating risks, and driving commercial and operational excellence.

Energy, infrastructure, agribusiness and manufacturing remain key areas of focus, underscoring the importance of private capital in building robust, localized ecosystems that forge paths out of poverty and create more and better jobs, ultimately leading to a more prosperous, self-sufficient and competitive Africa, with the potential to power global growth.

The Awards are open to all private sector organisations. The focus is on specific projects and transactions, and the impact those initiatives have or promise to have on the problems they are targeting. The aim is to recognize and showcase innovation, impact, replicability, financial viability, and sustainability. The judging panel will also look at operational models and how organizations are harnessing disruptive technologies to manage risks and achieve impact and scale. Only initiatives launched in 2016 or later will be eligible. Each category will require entrants to meet a specific minimum revenue level.

The winners will be announced at a special Awards Dinner on October 22, 2026, concluding the FT’s 13th Africa Summit in London, a major event that brings together African government, business, and finance leaders with global investors and industry partners to discuss how to drive forward the continent’s economic transformation.

MORE INFO: http://wrld.bg/O3Y450Z2j0l

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to gender data and their critical role in shaping policies that expand women's access to jobs and economic opportunity. Enroll now and acquire new skills! Free and self-paced.

From data to impact: Strengthening gender statistics across the data lifecycle This course provides a comprehensive introduction to gender data and its critical role in shaping better jobs, policies, and economic opportunities for women.

How should countries set realistic and ambitious development targets?