The Development Podcast

The world's population growth tells two stories: in many countries populations are aging, while in others, populations are getting younger. Projections show most countries will likely see shrinking populations within...

How can energy-efficient light bulbs, bricks, and buildings cut costs and improve energy security? In this episode of The Development Podcast , , we discover that energy efficiency doesn’t just save money—it also drives...

Risk is all around us , an inherent part of life. And in the world of development, there are also risks, including war, civil disturbance and expropriation. In this episode of The Development Podcast , we take a deep...

The digital world is developing at a phenomenal pace. From AI tools at our fingertips, to advancements in energy, consumer technology, and connectivity: change is here. Harnessing these changes can unlock prosperity...

With 1.2 billion young people in emerging economies reaching working age over the next decade—and only about 420 million jobs expected to be generated— the urgency of finding scalable and sustainable solutions has never...

To mark Women’s Month we’re digging into an often overlooked, but critical sector for the global economy, and for many millions of women: Artisanal and Smallscale Mining (ASM) . From gold, cobalt, copper and gemstones...

Many of us take turning on a light switch or connecting our devices to a home Wi-Fi network for granted. If our phones need charging, we plug them in, if we want hot water we boil a kettle. These are things we don’t...

As the world approaches the quarter way point of the 21st century, we take stock of the last year in development and the challenges ahead . And we return to the work of the International Development Association (IDA)...

The International Development Association (IDA) is the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s low-income countries. IDA's grants and low-interest loans help countries invest in their futures, improve lives, and...

The International Monetary Fund-World Bank Group 2024 Annual Meetings marked a turn of the page to the next phase of our mission: Ensuring job creation—and employment—are not the byproduct of our projects but an...

As the old saying goes, if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. But of course, what you measure is important too. In this episode of The Development Podcast , we explore how the World Bank Group aims to...

Creating a world free of poverty on a livable planet has been the vision and mission of the World Bank Group since October 2023. But what does it mean for people and planet? We’ve just wrapped up our series of podcasts...

Does artificial intelligence amount to a dystopian nightmare for the developing world, eliminating jobs and confirming the worse biases across societies? Or could it lead the way to a brighter future, helping to solve...

Forests are disappearing at an alarming rate of 10 million hectares each year and about 12% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to deforestation and forest degradation. But nature provides the...

The 2024 World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings took place from April 11-18. The focus for this year was on how the World Bank Group can turn its vision – of creating a world free of poverty on a livable planet – into...