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Enhancing Integration, Unlocking Investment in West Africa
West Africa is stepping up efforts to integrate regional economies and improve the investment climate with the support of the World Bank Group. At a mid-June event in Dakar, a regional public-private dialogue framework was launched to jointly identify regional
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The Time Is Now: Paradigm Shift Signals Opportunity
Few people realise that in 2013 a turning point was reached. In that year, emerging economies displaced developed markets as the main engines of global economic growth. This was not a one-off event or an oddity: it signalled no less
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IFC: The Art and Science of Benefits Sharing
Non-renewable natural resource projects – that is oil, gas, and minerals – are usually seen as part of a nation’s wealth. Accordingly, their use for the long-term sustainable development of a country is a prime objective of any legitimate government.
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Nigeria: An Economic Upswing Foretold
Oil prices have rebounded from their recent lows and may yet provide temporary relief to Nigeria, allowing the incoming administration of President-elect Muhammadu Buhari to forego some of the proposed budget cuts or, alternatively, increase capital expenditure. Though market watchers
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Otaviano Canuto, World Bank Group: BRICS Apart as Oil Prices Plunge
The oil price plunge since last June has been deemed, overall, as a boon for the global economy. However, that depends on where one stands as a producer or user, as illustrated here with the divergence of impacts on BRICS
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Africa: End of the Commodity Super-Cycle Weighs on Growth
Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth will slow in 2015 to 4.0 percent from 4.5 percent in 2014, according to World Bank projections released today. This downturn largely reflects the fall in the prices of oil and other commodities, notes Africa’s Pulse, a twice-yearly
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Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz: A Pragmatist Claiming Centre Stage
It is a long lane that has no turning. The life of Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is marked by quite a few abrupt twists and turns. In August 2008, Mr Abdel Aziz masterminded the military coup that toppled
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A Synchrotron for Africa: Scientists Unite Behind Proposed Project
Of the world’s almost fifty synchrotron light sources, not a single one is to be found in Africa. That, however, may soon change. Later this year, a 15-member steering committee, comprised of European, US, and African scientists and government officials,
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World Bank Group: Sovereign Wealth Funds Investing at Home – Opportunity Fraught with Risk
By Håvard Halland, Alan Gelb, and Silvana Tordo Following the recent discoveries of large oil and gas deposits in East Africa, a number of countries in the region are in the process of establishing, or are discussing the creation of,
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MIGA (World Bank): FDI – Treading Carefully into Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations
More than 1.5 billion people – about one in five of the global population – live in what the World Bank Group terms “fragile and conflict-affected situations” (FCS). For many investors, these countries are “no-go” zones due to their weak
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