Economics & Development

Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic recovery from successive global shocks is losing momentum, with growth projections for 2026 revised downward from those published in October 2025. Geopolitical spillovers from the conflict in the Middle East, high debt service burdens, and structural weaknesses are limiting growth prospects and job creation. Against this backdrop, the report argues that Africa’s growth challenge is structural, reflected in low investment, weak productivity, and limited job creation. While interest in industrial policy has revived, past efforts often failed due to weak implementation capacity, fiscal and institutional constraints. The report presents a pragmatic, ecosystem based approach that aligns policy tools with country capabilities to deliver productivity gains and durable structural transformation.

The development objectives of Emergency Debris Management Project for Sint Maarten are to manage debris from the hurricane and reconstruction activities to facilitate recovery and reduce risks, improve solid waste management capacities and improve waste disposal operations on Pond Island. Some of the negative impacts include: air quality; smoke and fire; landfill gasses; roads and traffic; noise; geology and soils; hydrology and surface water quality; Ecology; Worker Health and Safety; Archaeological, Historic, and Cultural Heritage; and Natural Disaster Risk. Some of the mitigation measures include: Facilitate open forums to the public and stakeholders to freely and openly ask questions regarding impacts from resettlement processes; Cease work if fire breaks out, or if significant smoke formation occurs in the operational area; Use of methane and LEL meters during installation of landfill gas network; Manage onsite parking and the congestion of traffic onsite and offsite; During routine servicing operations, the effectiveness of exhaust silencers will be checked and if found to be defective will be replaced; Fire Suppression of the subsurface fires to prevent void spaces from impacting slope stability; Use of temporary erosion control in areas of work; Monitoring of oxygen levels in GSP and additional measures to increase oxygen levels during installation of ring dike when oxygen levels are too low for aquatic life; Provide all construction equipment, excavators, dozers with enclosed airconditioned cabs and roll-over protection; Keep in place existing Salt Pan structures and cover them without disturbing them with the Ring Dike where necessary; and Conduct regular training and exercises for site staff regarding emergency procedures.