Economics & Development

The objective of this policy note is to provide an overview of the status of digital skills in Nigeria from a comparative perspective and understand how prepared educational institutions are to help develop the digital skills of the population. First, the note summarizes the status of access to digital infrastructure and equipment, a pre-condition to developing digital skills. The note also highlights the level of digital skills in the country based on survey data. Finally, the note summarizes the status of digital infrastructure in schools and educational facilities. The report can be seen as a complement to the digital skills section of the Nigeria Digital Economy Diagnostic Report (World Bank Group, 2019).

This 2024 update will serve as a basis for donor and client country commitments at the next N4G in Paris in 2025 and will continue to guide country clients with the most updated evidence as they design their programs. The update builds on the 2017 framework by doing the following: • Expanding the outcomes of interest to include low birthweight and birth outcomes and overweight and obesity, in addition to child stunting, wasting, breastfeeding, and anemia • Including new evidence on interventions, such as small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) for children and multiple micronutrient supplements for pregnant women • Including emerging new evidence on interventions with a multisectoral approach • Adding key perspectives on gender and the links between nutrition and climate change • Adding the latest landscape and evidence for effective policy measures to address the nutrition–food systems–climate nexus • Updating the financing needs and financing framework with an added focus on innovative financing, including new potential resources, such as leveraging and repurposing existing private and public financing for better nutritional outcomes.

The financial sector has a core role to play in increasing investments and supporting enterprise growth and entrepreneurship in non-mining productive sectors in Mongolia. This study endeavors to identify and make recommendations that will address structural impediments in the financial sector, thereby encouraging investment in productive enterprises. It champions a holistic approach to transforming the financial system, aligning it with the economic transformation goals of the new recovery policy (NRP) and Vision 2050 as well as the climate agenda, while emphasizing the connection between enhancing the functioning of financial markets and promoting greater private investment. Financial deepening has been held back by macroeconomic instability and limited structural economic transformation. Against the background of sustained socioeconomic progress and improved quality of life, little has changed in the structure of financial intermediation in Mongolia since 2012. The financial sector faces several obstacles hindering it from playing a significant role in advancing access to climate finance. t is recommended that the authorities replace the Credit Guarantee Fund of Mongolia (CGFM), the current partial credit guarantee fund, with an institution with a broader mandate that, in addition to partial credit guarantees, includes domestic trade credit, export credit insurance, and climate finance risk coverage.

Global peace has significantly declined over the past 15 years, with the 2023 Global Peace Index highlighting a notable erosion of peace since 2008, affecting 95 out of 163 countries. The impacts of conflict disproportionately affect the poorest and most vulnerable groups, threatening to roll back progress in economic and human development efforts. Social safety nets (SSNs) have emerged as a primary policy instrument in Fragile, Conflict, and Violence (FCV). Safety nets encompass a variety of non-contributory programs, primarily cash and in-kind transfers, accompanying measures, labor-intensive public works (LIPWs), and economic inclusion interventions aimed to provide regular, targeted, and predictable support to the poorest and most vulnerable households. SSNs can be designed and implemented as adaptive and flexible tools to respond to shocks and crises, expanding to reach more individuals or increasing support for current beneficiaries. In conflict settings, often marked by emergencies and limited government response capacity, safety nets can play a critical role in addressing urgent needs and preserving human capital and productive assets in the long term. Despite their increased use in fragile and conflict countries, the impacts of SSNs in such contexts are still not fully understood. This study, part of a broader analytical and research agenda supported by the World Bank's Sahel Adaptive Social Protection Program, reviews and synthesizes available literature to better understand the impacts of SSNs on economic, social, and political outcomes in FCV settings. It explores the effects of SSN programs on household well-being, social cohesion and conflict or shaping attitudes toward state institutions, among others. The findings aim to inform the operational design and implementation of SSNs to promote positive outcomes and avoid exacerbating conflict risks.

Это исследование представляет собой новую попытку проанализировать закономерности и тенденции урбанизации в средних и крупных городах Центральной Азии. Оно охватывает широкий спектр параметров и использует основанный на фактических данных подход для определения стратегических направлений и действий по содействию зеленому и устойчивому развитию городов. Центральноазиатское региональное исследование устойчивых и низкоуглеродных городов (CARL-Cities/Study) представляет собой инновационную попытку систематического понимания урбанизации и ее потенциала в ЦА. Оно анализирует тенденции роста городов в средних и крупных городах с использованием комплексных параметров и основанного на фактических данных подхода для содействия зеленой и устойчивой городской среде. Исследование расширяет знания о местных проблемах и определяет действенные шаги для городов в пяти странах по развитию низкоуглеродных, устойчивых к изменению климата городов и регионов. Исследование провело комплексный городской и пространственный анализ 48 городских районов в Центральной Азии, определив ключевые характеристики урбанизации и связанные с климатом. Оно оценило городское развитие по пяти основным измерениям: городская форма, городские услуги и удобства, городская среда, экономическая активность и городская мобильность. В этом отчете суммируются основные выводы и рекомендации исследования.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted daily life and exacerbated global inequalities, leading policymakers to seek innovative, evidence-based solutions to mitigate its impacts. By March 2023, the pandemic had resulted in approximately 6.88 million reported deaths and 14.83 million excess deaths globally. The development and approval of COVID-19 vaccines changed the pandemic’s trajectory, but disparities in vaccine supply and demand led to persistent global vaccine coverage inequalities. Vaccine hesitancy, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), was a major driver of these disparities. To address vaccine hesitancy, the Alliance for Health Online (AHO) and the World Bank’s Mind, Behavior, and Development (eMBeD) Unit within Development Impact (DIME) developed a global research program leveraging social media and behavioral science. This program aimed to diagnose barriers to vaccine uptake, identify effective behaviorally informed communications, and develop public goods to support while introducing innovative approaches such as chatbot functionality and fostering partnerships with the private sector

Nigeria’s expanding digital economy is increasing demand for digital skills, yet important gaps in digital literacy remain among young people. In this context, the World Bank, in collaboration with the Edo State Government, implemented the Pix Digital Skills Assessment under the Digital Skills for Africa initiative to better understand participants’ digital competencies, identify priority skill gaps, and inform future digital literacy efforts. The Pix Nigeria Report, Results of the Task-Based Digital Skills Assessment for Students: Key Insights and Recommendations was conducted in Edo State through the Edo Innovation Hub, a government-owned center established to develop ICT talent, expand digital skills, and create job opportunities for youth. The activity was linked to the broader Edo Basic Education Sector and Skills Transformation Operation (EdoBESST), which aimed to strengthen education and skills development and included Edo Innovates as a vehicle for building labor market–relevant digital and entrepreneurial skills. The Pix assessment generated evidence on the proficiency levels of participating youth, their main strengths and weaknesses across digital competence areas, and the implementation constraints that affected the assessment process. This note summarizes the key findings, lessons learned, and recommendations emerging from the activity.

São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) remains in debt distress, due to prolonged unsettled external arrears of around 1.6 percent of GDP at end-2023. Nevertheless, staff assesses that the country has the capacity to repay the external arrears over time. The recovery of exports and fiscal consolidation will help lower debt risks. Two external debt indicators temporarily breach their respective thresholds under the baseline. Specifically, the present value (PV) of debt-to-exports ratio breaches its threshold through 2027, and the debt service-to-exports ratio breaches the threshold from 2025 to 2028. These breaches are attributed to the large amount of external debt and debt service obligations. The PV of total public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) debt—after accounting for the concessional terms of utility company EMAE’s and central government’s debt and arrears to the country’s fuel supplier ENCO—is projected to temporarily breach the benchmark (35 percent of GDP) associated with a weak debt-carrying capacity through 2024. As public debt remains on a downward trajectory, predicated on the authorities’ commitment to reform EMAE, borrow externally at a measured pace, and implement fiscal consolidation and energy sector reforms, public debt sustainability

Côte d’Ivoire’s overall and external public debt remain at moderate risk of debt distress and show significative improvements compared to the DSA prior to the debt management operation (DMO) completed in S1 2024. Mainly owing to this DMO, the external debt service-to-revenue indicator breaches the threshold in 2024, but the ratio remains below the threshold during the remainder of the projection period as do all other projected external debt burden indicators under the baseline. All indicators are susceptible to breaches under stress scenarios, the most extreme of which involves a shock to exports. The PV of overall debt-to-GDP ratio is below its threshold, but exceeds it in most stress scenarios, the most extreme of which involves the shock to exports. A customized stress test shows that the natural disaster shock is the most extreme shock to public debt. The space to absorb shocks remains limited.

Since its inception in 2018, tracking sustainable development goal (SDG) 7: the energy progress report has become the global reference for information on progress toward the achievement of SDG 7 of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The aim of SDG 7 is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. This report thus summarizes global progress on energy access, energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean cooking, and international cooperation to advance SDG 7. It presents updated statistics for each of the indicators and provides policy insights on priority areas and actions needed to spur further progress on SDG 7.