This study focuses on the local and regional impact of large-scale gold mining in Africa in the context of a mineral boom in the region since 2000. It contributes to filling a gap in the literature on the welfare effects of mineral resources, which, until now, has concentrated more on the national or macroeconomic impacts. Economists have long been intrigued by the paradox that a rich endowment of natural resources may retard economic performance, particularly in the case of mineral-exporting developing countries. Studies of this phenomenon, known as the "resource curse," examine the...

Experience has shown that governments choices on spending of public resources makes a great deal of difference in agricultural sector development. Agricultural public spending in Africa not only lags behind other developing regions by several metrics of volume, its impact is also vitiated by misinvestment such as subsidies and transfers that tend to benefit the better off, with insignificant gains for the poor. Shortcomings of the budgeting process also reduce spending effectiveness. African governments and regional institutions such as NEPAD and the CAADP have clearly recognized the...

For Africa to fully realize the potential of social safety nets and bring its poorest and most vulnerable to a point where they can seize economic opportunities, this report discusses the decisive shifts which need to occur in three critical spheres: political, institutional, and fiscal.

Un rapport de la Banque mondiale recommande aux gouvernements des pays d' Afrique subsaharienne d'investir dans des plans d'etectrification coordonnes a long terme pour atteindre plus rapidement leurs objectifs de developpernent.