The Yugo, a communist-era car from the former Yugoslavia, was widely ridiculed for shedding its parts on roads across Europe and the United States. Zastava, which made Yugo, fared even worse than its product. After the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, the factory was reduced to producing only...

The Madagascar Urbanization Review aims to: - Contribute to the 2019 National Policy for Urban Development (Politique National de Developpement Urbain), the main policy document outlining the priorities for cities in Madagascar. - Serve as a diagnostic tool to identify the key barriers to...

Sao Tome and Principe (STP), a small island nation of 215,000 people in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Central Africa, is in many ways a country of great untapped wealth. One of Africa's least known countries, its striking volcanic landscape is home to virgin rainforests with rich...

This report, initiated at the request of His Excellency President Alassane Ouattara to Hafez M. H. Ghanem, the World Bank Group Regional Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, is the first country application of the new regional strategy, Supporting Africa's Transformation. Albert...

After its worst economic crisis in 100 years, Latin America and the Caribbean countries are emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. The need to recover dynamic, inclusive, and sustainable growth to redress both the legacy of the pandemic and long-standing social needs has never been more acute....

China's recovery has broadened as economic activity has continued to normalize. Economic growth in China is projected to reach 8.5 percent this year before slowing to 5.4 percent in 2022, as low base effects dissipate and the economy returns to trend growth. As China's recovery firms up,...

After the economic slowdown in 2020, Tajikistan's GDP grew at an annual rate of 8.7 percent in the first half of 2021. According to the Listening-to-Tajikistan (L2T) survey, the social and economic wellbeing of the population severely deteriorated following the outbreak of COVID-19...

Global growth is projected to be slightly faster in 2020 than the post-crisis low registered last year. While growth could be stronger if reduced trade tensions lead to a sustained reduction in uncertainty, the balance of risks to the outlook is to the downside. Growth in emerging market and...

South Asia emerged as the fastest growing region in the world in 2015, posting GDP growth of 7 percent. Weak oil and commodity prices, slowing capital flows and shrinking global trade contributed towards a deceleration of growth in most of the world's economies. South Asia - as a net importer of...