Bangladesh has set up an ambitious target of attaining middle-income status by 2021. To achieve this objective, the economy needs to grow at a sustained rate of 7.5-8 percent annually and this would in turn require an increase in private investment to at least 26.6 percent of GDP from 22 percent...

This synthesis provides a review of operationally relevant findings and lessons from World Bank-supported utility reforms in the energy and water sectors, as identified in IEG evaluation products. The report summarizes the IEG evidence of what worked and what did not work, and why, in WB support...

This paper is a synthesis of the findings of reports that look at the drivers of performance in energy and water utilities in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper also provides other insights on issues that complement the findings of these reports. Additional data and evidence were harvested from the...

The pandemic severely disrupted economic activity in Tanzania, and the World Bank's latest firm-level data suggest that the situation had only modestly improved by the end of 2020. New data sources show that COVID-19 continues to weigh heavily on employment and income. Data for the first quarter...

The World Bank Group (WBG) has long recognized that the restoration and preservationof cultural heritage, urban regeneration, and sustainable tourism can play a vital role in developing countries' efforts to promote local economic development, accelerate social integration, and alleviate...

This report aims to provide a market overview that describes the main characteristics and size of current and future demand for tourism products delivered by and based in local communities in Africa. If demand is better understood, supply can be better developed and better placed to take...

WBG support for tourism clients and destinations during the COVID-19 crisis in the form of planning and communication, reducing tax burdens, contamination support, generating alternative revenues, minimizing revenue loss, redeploying assets, and other

The travel and tourism industry was one of the first sectors to be affected by COVID-19. Since March, the entire value chain that defines the industry - spanning airlines, bus and train companies, cruise lines, hotels, restaurants, attractions, travel agencies, tour operators,online travel...

The objectives of this country forest note (CFN) are to identify and determine how to address key opportunities and challenges for sustainable forestry and forest-smart interventions in the Dominican Republic. Essential questions addressed by the CFN are the importance of forests and how the...

Small island developing states and small tourism-dependent coastal states have been the most gravely impacted by global climate and Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic crises and are expected to face even greater economic and social challenges in the years to come. While information and...