"This study discusses potential economic implications for Nigeria of an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union. It uses the World Bank's Tariff Reform Impact Simulation Tool to assess the effects of preferential tariff liberalization with respect to the European Union. The...

Trade can play a crucial role in the development of services sectors in Africa. Services offer new dynamic opportunities for exports, especially for land-locked countries, while opening up to imports of services and foreign direct investment is a key mechanism to increase competition and drive...

This report addresses the question raised in its title - now that 18 interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) have been initialed and negotiations of full EPAs have been launched, what should African countries and regional EPA-groups do? Part two of the report analyzes the outcome of the...

The objective of this study is to assess the impact of the East-West Highway improvement program on Georgia's ability to access international markets. As highlighted extensively in the literature, improving transport infrastructure and the efficiency of the logistics sector can help countries...

Financial consumer protection sets clear rules of conduct for financial firms regarding their retail customers. It aims to ensure that consumers: 1) receive information to allow them to make informed decisions, 2) are not subject to unfair or deceptive practices, and 3) have access to recourse...

Over the last decade, consumer credit in the Russian Federation has expanded from almost nothing to 9.2 percent of GDP in 2008, at 84 percent average annual growth in 2003-2008 year for five years. Yet, the increases have been uneven throughout the Russian population: more than 40 percent are...

Eight years of strong economic growth in Ukraine in 2000-2008, at an average of seven percent per year, ended with a sharp 15 percent decline in 2009. The national currency plummeted and the banking sector nearly collapsed, with non-performing loans increasing from 2.3 percent to 11.2 percent of...