World Bank Head Hopeful For New Funding

“The World Bank's president is ‘hopeful’ final talks in Berlin next week among donor nations will extract sufficient promises to ensure that future lending by the world's biggest development fund [International Development Association (IDA)] to poor countries is not undermined. …  

In an interview with Reuters late on Thursday, Zoellick said several new donors, including some Baltic states, Cyprus and Egypt, had committed funding. South Africa and Brazil have indicated they would increase their contributions, while there were indications that oil producers Kuwait and Saudi Arabia could add to funding, he added. He said he hoped talks in Beijing next week could see China joining the donor ranks. …   

Ahead of the Berlin meeting, Zoellick said he was focusing on three key issues: agreement on policies that would determine IDA's lending, the amount of money needed and broadening the number of donors to the fund. Annual IDA disbursements have grown to about $10 billion annually, so the fund remains the leading provider of development assistance to poor countries, Zoellick said. …

‘What I do think is people have been very responsive to the agenda we've set as an institution, so I'm hopeful we can get a good result.’” [Reuters/Factiva]

Donors Raise $2.104 Bln For Mauritania-World Bank

“International donors promised $2.104 billion to finance Mauritania's development plan at a conference in Paris this week, the World Bank said in a statement on Thursday. The two-day meeting, which finished on Wednesday, was attended by over 40 delegations representing Mauritania's development partners and international institutions. Countries present included China, the US, Germany, France and Qatar. …   

The French Foreign Ministry announced in a statement an extra EUR 97.6 million in aid on top of the donors’ funds for the same 2008-2010 period. …The government told the donors it would step up its efforts to cut poverty. …   

The donors encouraged the government to ‘open up the transparency of the management of public funds, to reinforce the quality of public spending in order to benefit the majority of Mauritanian citizens.’ They also welcomed measures taken by the new government "in terms of eradicating the aftereffects of slavery and the return of Mauritanian refugees to establish national unity’. …” [Reuters/Factiva]

Donors Pledge Extra $406 Mln In Bird Flu Funds

“Foreign donors have pledged $406 million in additional funds for efforts to combat bird flu, but another $800 million is still needed and countries still need to be better prepared for any pandemic, officials said on Thursday. …

Last year at a similar meeting around $475 million was pledged by donors, but experts played down the apparent shortfall in funding, saying they were confident further funds would be forthcoming. …” [Reuters/Factiva]

AFP writes that “…At the start of the conference, the World Bank had projected a need for $1.2 billion over the next two to three years to help countries fight bird flu. The money was needed to give compensation to farmers whose birds are culled, spread awareness about the virus and develop low-cost vaccines.

‘There is still a gap, but this (sum pledged) is more than what we had anticipated,’ Peter Harrold, acting Vice President of the World Bank, said at the end of the conference. …  

The next conference will be held in Egypt in October 2008. …New Delhi proposed a roadmap for 2008, calling upon nations to invest in public health security, implement international health regulations and improve bio-security in the poultry sector. …” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

Donors Pledge Record $5.4 Billion To Vietnam: WBank

“International donors on Friday pledged a record $5.4 billion in official development assistance (ODA) to communist Vietnam for 2008, almost 20 percent more than this year.   

World Bank country chief Ajay Chhibber said the grants and soft loans from nations, international development agencies and non-governmental organizations would help reduce poverty and protect the environment. More than half of the funds will go to infrastructure such as highways, ports and energy facilities in the developing country that is experiencing more than eight percent economic growth and aims to reach middle income status by 2010. …” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

Reuters notes that “…   Planning and Investment Minister Vo Hong Phuc said the country needed to tackle a host of new issues related to swift economic expansion, including high inflation, the widening income gap and the environment. Phuc also pledged to address issues raised by donors such as corruption and the need to train the labor force as Vietnam moved away from labor-intensive to more high-tech industries. …” [Reuters/Factiva]

Dow Jones reports that Phuc noted “…   Some major donors, such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the EU have significantly increased their aid to Vietnam for the coming year. The World Bank, for example, has pledged to give Vietnam $1.1 billion, up from $890 million for 2007. The ADB plans to give $1.35 billion, up from $1.14 billion pledged for the current year, and the EU has promised $962.8 million from the previous year's $948.2 million. …” [Dow Jones/Factiva]

Survey Says World's Poorest People Are Hardest Hit By Public Corruption

“Some of the world's poorest people in Africa and Asia are hardest hit by public corruption - forced to pay bribes for police protection, education and justice - according to a survey released Thursday.   

Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International's 2007 Global Corruption Barometer showed that as a region, Africa suffered the most public corruption. In the African countries surveyed, 42 percent of people reported that they had been asked to pay a bribe to obtain a service during the past 12 months.   

The Asia-Pacific region was next with 22 percent; then a grouping of Russia, Moldova and Ukraine with 21 percent; Latin America with 13 percent; southeastern Europe with 12 percent; the EU with 5 percent; and North America with 2 percent. …”  [The Associated Press/Factiva]

AFP writes that the survey “…shows that poor people are frequently asked to pay bribes to gain access to services such as healthcare and education. ‘For low-income households this might mean choosing between medical treatment for a child or the next meal,’ Transparency International Chair Huguette Labelle said at a news conference in Berlin to launch the report. …   

More than 63,000 people in 60 countries were polled. One in four who came into contact with the police was asked to pay a bribe and one in every six reported actually handing over money. Judges in many countries are happy to take a bribe in return for dismissing a case or influencing a verdict in a court case, Transparency found. …

‘We are heartened... that the public is increasingly demanding the accountability of the very institutions that most affect their lives, as this is a powerful driver of change,’ its Chair said.” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

Reuters reports that “…Figures…showed that Kosovo, Cameroon and Albania were the worst offenders, with around three quarters of respondents’surveyed saying they paid a bribe in the past 12 months. …   

While the police were seen as top bribe-takers in most regions, people in Europe said they most commonly paid bribes for medical services. …Worldwide, political parties were seen as ‘corrupt’ or ‘extremely corrupt’ by 70 percent of people, while expectations about corruption in the future are gloomy. Over half expect corruption to get worse, while in 2003, the last time the survey was carried out, 43 percent said they thought it would increase.” [Reuters/Factiva]

New World Bank Director Breaks Barriers In Leadership

An interview with National Public Radio, newly appointed World Bank Managing Director, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala writes:

Question: Why return to the World Bank?

Answer: I returned to the World Bank because, essentially, I think there’s a new spirit, a new wave. There’s a new president, Robert Zoellick, who is interested in doing things in different ways, and they’re trying to scale up the impact of the World Bank on developing countries. …

Question: You know, fairly or unfairly, many countries in Africa, and other parts of the world … have a reputation for endemic corruption. … Why does this problem persist? Why does it seem to be so ingrained in the governments for so many of these countries?   

Answer: … I want to really reject this characterization of countries on the continent. …Governance is improving. African countries are doing much better than they did. …You know, for the first time, institutions like the World Bank, the OECD, and the African Development Bank have all published studies showing that African countries are managing themselves better. They are fighting corruption. ... [but] whilst I’m not shifting away any blame from our countries, because I believe we’re the ones to take the first step to fight it, but there are also companies, corporations and others who also participating in this. …Secondly, when there’s corrupt money, where does it go? Doesn’t it go to countries in the West? Many of these countries are harboring money from African countries. And you know, keeping corrupt money is also something that needs to be looked at, because it’s all part and parcel their corruption. …  

Question: Now, let’s talk more about the World Bank … Now you’ve worked in the Bank and you also worked in country, what do you say to that? Do you think that argument has merit? Does that criticism have any merit?   

Answer: … First of all, I want to say that one of the reasons I also came back to the Bank is because it’s a fine institution with very dedicated staff. … I want to say that the Bank has changed dramatically from the period (of the 80s]. And you now find the situation where countries like mine, Nigeria, when I was the Finance Minister, where we craft up on programs of reform. … So just like Africa is changing and people need to sit up and take notice, the World Bank is also changing its way of doing business. …” [NPR (US)/Factiva]  

Also in this edition; briefly noted… Comoros is set to receive $34.2 million of debt forgiveness from international donors, the African Development Bank said on Thursday. At the end of 2005, public debt was estimated at $266 million, or 72 percent of GDP. More than 80 percent was owed to multilateral creditors, especially the World Bank and the African Development Bank. [Reuters/Factiva]

Gabon's debut international bond attracted substantial demand from a wide investor base despite ongoing turmoil in global credit markets, the Gabonese finance ministry said in a written statement Thursday. After completing investor road shows in Europe and the US, Gabon attracted orders in excess of $2.4 billion. [Dow Jones/Factiva][repeat from y’day?]

Sierra Leone's new anti-graft chief Abdul Tejan-Cole who took over Sierra Leone's Anti-Corruption Commission this week is seeking wide-ranging new powers and a special court to root out endemic corruption. [Reuters/Factiva]

South Africa's net gold and foreign exchange reserves rose by 2.5 percent to $30.669 billion at the end of November, Central Bank data showed on Friday. [Reuters/Factiva]

The Financial Times reports that the World Bank has acknowledged a series of omissions in reforms it supported to promote the sustainable exploitation of the Congo rainforest.

The International Finance Corporation is investigating allegations of environmental malpractice in Congo's forestry sector by a company it holds a stake in. The IFC said it was reviewing allegations made by environmental groups against Olam, the Singapore-based global commodity trading house, in which the IFC holds $7.5m (€5m, £3.75m) in equity. [The Financial Times (UK)]

Cape Verdeis set to become the 152nd member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) next year after wrapping up entry negotiations on Thursday, trade officials said. The accession package will be submitted for approval to the WTO's ruling General Council on December 18 and Cape Verde will then have until the end of June 2008 to ratify the deal. [Reuters/Factiva][repeatfrom y’day?[]

Latin Americacan only maintain its pace of economic growth in the long term if it eases social inequalities through proper income distribution and reform of the pension system. World Bank Vice President for Latin America Pamela Cox highlighted the negative impact on the social welfare of low tax countries, which see their income reduced because citizens themselves believe that it is not necessary to pay taxes. [Agencia EFE/Factiva]

World Bankunconditionally agreed on extending its loan in rupees instead of dollars for various Maharashtra government state projects worth $5.8 billion. It has also agreed to offer this loan as per London Inter Bank Offer Rate (LIBOR) which is presently 4.75 percent. [DNA (India)/Factiva]   

Bosnian economic growth is expected at 5.5 to 6.0 percent in 2007 and at the same rate in 2008, the International Monetary Fund Resident Representative Graham Slack said in an interview on Thursday. [Reuters/Factiva]

The world economy is reeling from a succession of blows which will cause growth to slow in 2008 to its lowest rate in five years, according to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. [The Financial Times (UK)]

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he favored a binding cap on greenhouse gaze emissions but noted that the coming climate change conference in Indonesia should focus on setting a timeline for a deal by 2009. [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

A UN conference trying to lay the groundwork for a new climate change pact is unlikely to win any binding pledge by the US to cut greenhouse gas emissions, UN Convention on Climate Change, Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said Friday. Developing nations are also likely to refuse to commit to mandatory targets on cutting emissions blamed for global warming, he said. [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is providing a $34 million grant that should help at least 25 million poor people have access to insurance coverage by 2012, the International Labor Organization said on Thursday. The new Micro insurance Innovation Facility aims to offer a range of products to help workers manage economic hardship brought on by factors such as drought, death of a breadwinner, or hospitalization, it said. [Reuters/Factiva]

Children are dying for lack of drugs tailored to their needs, according to the World Health Organization which launched a global campaign on Thursday to promote more research into child medicine. More than half the drugs currently used to treat children in the industrialized world have not been specifically tested on youngsters, even though they metabolize medicines differently to adults. [Reuters/Factiva]