Sentences to ponder

Via the World Bank's Private Sector Development blog:

Mongolia is about the size of Alaska and has a population of fewer then 3
million people. This translates into one of the lowest population
densities in the world. With almost half the population living in
Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, and the rest spread out across the country,
it may seem that Mongolia is not the ideal landscape for mobile financial
services...[but] it is actually one of the most banked countries in the
world.

One question worth considering - do all these development finance programs (mobile banking, microfinance, crop insurance) get a free pass on regulation because they are seen as helping the poor? I sure hope not...

Practicing development: reason and results

Chris Blattman asks:

Why don't we write more about worst practices?

Well for one thing, agencies and consultancies that rely on government funds are loathe to air their dirty laundry when future funding is on the line. Even when they do screw up reports are written so as to subtly blame local partners and government participants. Just like politicians, development professionals and NGOs - meant to act in the long-term interests of their supposed constituencies - profit much more from acting in their own short-term interests (exhibit A - schools).

Well, what to do? We must incentivize frank admissions of errors. Those who openly and honestly declare mistakes and poor programs should actually be rewarded - at least to a certain degree. 

The World Bank already has an Independent Evaluation Group and randomized evaluations are all the rage among academics. For markets to be efficient (and yes, proposals for development funding indeed comprise a market), information must be freely available and accurate; let's hold development results to the same standard.

(Picture from Penguin Blog)

Doing business with the World Bank

Doing Business reports on the ease and openness of starting a business in 181 countries by providing reports and information on a variety of select indicators.

A useful resource for all young entrepreneurs.

Mobile education

I went to New York this past Friday and someone yelled at me on the bus for making a phone call. In the spirit of our age, it immediately inspired me to write a blog post on the topic (ok, ok - I was in the process of writing it already, but it seemed especially serendipitous).

For those of you who may chide me right away for my public chattering, read the whole post. But for those of you too lazy, here is a (long) excerpt.

The use of mobile phones has been used for all types of initiatives that typically fall under the umbrella of development work. Text messages have been used to monitor elections and share market prices for milk. As long as mobiles continue to improve daily life, their importance will grow. If monitored correctly, governments can harness this trend to garner another source of foreign and domestic direct investment to gain desperately needed capital. Doubly productive, the explosion of mobile technology also acts as a "leap frog" technology preventing governments from needing to expend huge sums for the development of traditional infrastructure needed for analog phones and land lines.

Despite all their benefits I would argue that cell phones are still underused in the developing world. In areas where education of youth is prevented either by conflict, distance or terrain, or simply a lack of time due to hours spent working, mobile technology can help provide educational materials and resources that may traditionally be unavailable.

It may sound a little unusual, but radio technology was used throughout Australia in the 1950s and 1960s to educate children where Outback distances prevented collective schooling. If countries are really going to ensure universal primary education by 2015, then governments may be better off distributing cell phones than laptops.

All this and more at Youthink!, the World Bank blog where I'm a regular contributor.

Tin miners and tourists?

Gabon, a small previously oil-rich country in Central Africa, needs some income. Having flittered away it's oil money on bureaucratic diners, the country is attempting to revamp itself as a holiday spot.

But with lacking infrastructure and inhospitable neighbors, Gabon is not a prime tourist destination and finds itself needing some quick cash to buoy the economy. 

Instead it's finding its forests overrun with Chinese prospectors instead of tourists. Chinese strategic interest in African resources is nothing new, but Gabon was once a reason for hope in Africa's dismal resource management record. 

History repeats itself.

(Photo via bear_in_va)

Protectionism coverage at the World Bank

Check out my new coverage on the rise of protectionism over at the World Bank's Youthink! blog.

Shamless plug

For those of you interested in youth issues, specifically with regard to education and poverty, let me point you to a new blog at the World Bank.

The Youthink! site is a comprehensive effort by the Bank to engage youth on issues important to development. I'll be blogging there regularly. Please take a look. 

Bank failures...but not the kind you think

The world's international financial institutions have had a rough day. A new study linked the rise in tuberculosis in Eastern Europe and Russia with IMF loans to post-Soviet countries. The study comes on the heels of an internal review by the World Bank found that the Group has done a lackluster job of enforcing environmental standards in developing countries.

The first study does not imply causation, regardless of how much the NY Times wants it to, but merely an association. Though disturbing, it should not be surprising that IMF loans, which advocate government thrift (often by cutting social programs), result in a rise in disease. Government doctors lose jobs when socialized medicine is cut and disease rates go up - especially TB, which requires short term care and intensive medical supervision. But ideally, as economic growth spreads through the private sector, health care should become a social privilege available to most, if not all. Just don't tell the US government that the Washington Consensus might apply at home. 

More troubling than an obvious, though somewhat scary, epidemiological correlation is the World Bank's apparent disregard for environmental protection. Environmental safeguards may be a vanguard luxury of the US left but for developing nations nature cannot be divorced from responsible development. Water scarcity due to Bank sponsored agricultural expansion and recent food scares prove that attention must be paid to the environment to create sustainable development. Without proper institutional protection, the environment suffers, citizens of the developing world suffer, and the world suffers as climate change grows more ubiquitous.

The IFIs may be growing less relevant in a globalized world but that does not excuse such behavior. Shape up.