This paper focuses on Togo’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. The Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper adopted by the government in March 2008 has allowed Togo once again to benefit from international financial cooperation. With a view to improving political and economic governance, the...

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Togo builds on the strategy laid out in the Interim Strategy for Poverty Reduction (I-PRSP). Owing to circumstances largely beyond the control of the authorities, the results obtained under the implementation of the I-PRSP have been below expectations....

Bhutan has evolved from a closed economy to a trading nation that exhibits a high degree of dependence on trade. Exports have grown rapidly but overall the country’s trade deficit continues to widen owing to an even faster growth in the value of imports. The manufacturing and industry...

This paper reports on the economic and financial reforms in Guinea-Bissau. After a long period of recession since the beginning of 2000 followed by a slight recovery in 2007, the economy of Guinea-Bissau has entered a new growth spurt in 2008. The budget deficit, which averaged 10 percent of GDP...

This paper attempts to offer specific inputs to the debate on local content promotion in the oil industry, using the specific case of São Tomé and Príncipe as point of reference. Our approach emphasizes inter-sectoral linkages and institutional pre-conditions for local content promotion....

This Joint Staff Advisory Note of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) on Ghana reviews the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) for the period 2010–13. The GSGDA comprises three volumes: the policy framework, the costing framework, and the monitoring and evaluation...

This paper focuses on Second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The economic sectors have undergone significant restructuring. This restructuring has been concentrated on production capacities, quality and efficiency, thus contributing to economic...

This paper studies the optimal public investment decisions in countries experiencing a resource windfall. To do so, we use an augmented version of the Permanent Income framework with public investment faced with adjustment costs capturing the associated administrative capacity as well as...

Africa will account for 80 percent of the projected 4 billion increase in the global population by 2100. The accompanying increase in its working age population creates a window of opportunity, which if properly harnessed, can translate into higher growth and yield a demographic dividend. We...