World Bank’s IDA20 launches $93B in funds for low-income nations

World Bank’s IDA20 launches $93B in funds for low-income nations

The World Bank has formally launched its US$93 billion in funding commitments to help low-income countries build up their economies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other setbacks, with funds sourced in part from 52 donor nations through the IDA20 replenishment. The funding is meant to target “overlapping crises—climate…

World Bank warns of COVID impacts on global poverty

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to push as many as 150 million more people into extreme poverty by 2021, the World Bank says, marking the first time in 20 years that the number of those in such poverty will rise. The pandemic “compounds the forces of conflict and climate change”…

Uganda’s gorillas thrive as tourism takes a COVID hit

Uganda is celebrating the birth of another baby mountain gorilla, the fifth such arrival for the endangered species in the last six weeks. The latest little gorilla was born to Ruterana, an adult female in the Rushegura family group that lives in the Bwindi forest. It is her third child,…

Benin’s Talon talks security, development during U.S. visit

President Patrice Talon of Benin met with United States diplomats and World Bank executives during his trip to Washington D.C., with his discussions focused on investment and the West African nation’s economic development. Talon also met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday to discuss regional security cooperation…

Ethiopia dam talks move closer to final agreement

Ethopia, Egypt and Sudan have made progress in the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which will provide a much-needed 15,000 GWh per year in energy for Ethiopia but threatens Nile River water resources on which the other nations depend. The foreign affairs and water resources ministers of…