Nigeria’s economy needs to grow faster to reduce poverty. Despite favorable global oil prices, “business as usual” economic management is not delivering desired outcomes and, even if a crisis is avoided in the near-term, long-standing policy and institutional challenges are persisting and severely constraining the economy.

This study explores the benefits that can accrue if cities prioritise active mobility and public transport. It quantifies the benefits of walking, cycling, and public transport in the Africa region, comparing alternate investment scenarios for the 188 largest African cities.

India’s economy has demonstrated resilience despite a challenging external environment, says the World Bank in its latest India Development Update, a World Bank flagship publication.

The Global Wage Report 2022-2023 reveals how the severe inflationary crisis, combined with a slowdown in economic growth - driven in part by the war in Ukraine and the global energy crisis - have affected pay packets worldwide, including in the G20 leading industrial nations.

Liberia, due to its location on the west coast of Africa, within the tropical rain forest climate belt with heavy rain, is faced with high climate change risks, including cyclones, floods and rising sea levels.

The Gambia is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change from increases in temperature, decreases in rainfall, and a rise in the sea level, which affect millions of people and make adaptation more urgent. Rapid changes in climate tend to have severe effects on a country’s key economic sectors such as agriculture, tourism, and health.

Ghana is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its location along the Atlantic Ocean in a tropical climate zone. This increasingly exposes the country to the risks of climate change including rising sea levels, drought, higher temperatures and erratic rainfall, which negatively impact the socio-economic development of the country.

Risk factors that could affect the economic outlook are present and relatively prevalent, despite signs that the COVID-19 health crisis could ease significantly. Continuation of the war in Ukraine and prolonged restrictions on exports from Russia could put further upward pressure on food and energy prices.

Chapter 1 of this report looks at these conditions in some length. The analysis covers all the 15 member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS): Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

The economic outlook for Southern Africa will be affected by an additional threat that arises from global warming. The 13 countries are intertwined in a climate-water-energy-food nexus with a high reliance on climate-sensitive sectors.