Latest World Bank News
Solar power companies are growing fast in Africa, where 600 million still lack electricity
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Companies that bring solar power to some of the poorest homes in Central and West Africa are said to be among the fastest growing on a continent whose governments have long struggled to address some of the world's worst infrastructure and the complications of climate...
Palestinians in West Bank risk crossing Israel's separation barrier to flee failing economy
YATTA, West Bank (AP) — At dawn in mid-May, Sayyed Ayyed and dozens of other unemployed Palestinian men gathered at the foot of the towering wall of concrete and barbed wire dividing the occupied West Bank from Israel. A smuggler was there with a ladder and ropes. Each man handed...
Money Gambians send home from Europe is a lifeline for their families but the sacrifices take a toll
KWINELLA, Gambia (AP) — Binta Bah met her husband last year on a dating app and instantly fell in love. They spent hours every day glued to their mobile phones and soon got married on a video call. But they've met in person only once, when Suleyman Bah came home to Gambia for a...
In diesel-dependent East Timor, renewable energy transition remains slow despite government pledges
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — East Timor is at an energy development crossroads. While the small Southeast Asian nation — and one of the world's youngest countries — has made international and domestic pledges to reduce its carbon footprint through untapped solar and other...
East Timor looks to the pope's visit as a reward after 20 years of fragile stability
DILI, East Timor (AP) — East Timor is in a festive mood as it prepares for the arrival of Pope Francis on his first trip to the deeply Catholic country, hard on the heels of the 25th anniversary of the referendum on independence from Indonesia. Francis is due to arrive Monday in...
The trash in Mali's capital is piling up. Donkey carts are coming to help
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — When handling the garbage of a city of over 3 million people and equipped with little more than a face mask and gloves, it helps to have a sense of humor. Yacouba Diallo decided to name the two donkeys that pull his cart after his cousins, Keita and Kanté. ...
Former Mozambique finance minister on trial in US over 'tuna bond' scandal that spurred debt crisis
NEW YORK (AP) — The “ tuna bond ” scandal that shook Mozambique's economy is washing into a U.S. court, where a former Mozambican finance minister is being tried on charges that he took bribes to commit his country — secretly — to huge loans that prosecutors say got looted. ...
