A CGD blog with Asif Saleh. Non-medical masks are a comparatively affordable intervention that could be rolled out at scale in developing countries, were WHO guidance to change. At the moment, apparel firms in developing countries have considerable spare capacity because of cancelled orders. Taking all of this into accoun…

A CGD blog. The World Bank Group has some very clear (and very good) guidelines about what makes for a successful public-private partnership where governments contract service provision like energy supply or education from private firms. Sadly, the bank has been ignoring that rule recently. And that is a sign o…

A CGD blog. When development finance institutions (DFIs) use subsidies to support private firms in developing countries, they fundamentally change the nature of their business. To ensure the maximum development impact of scarce aid resources, subsidies should be competitive wherever possible, capped if not comp…

A CGD blog. The Private Sector Window (PSW) takes resources from the World Bank’s soft lending arm, the International Development Association (IDA), and uses it to support private sector investments in poorer developing countries.This is a comparatively straightforward way for the IFC to move money, but it is h…

A CGD blog. I’m not convinced that the IFC will manage to deliver on all of the promises it is making in order to receive the funds. And I think that congressional concerns with the IFC’s use of aid in an attempt to meet lending targets are right. So, reform should come alongside resources.

A CGD blog with Justin Sandefur. A broad array of international actors agrees that many developing countries desperately need to collect more tax revenue. But one part of the World Bank is pushing in the other direction.

A CGD blog. In global development, we spend a lot of time thinking about cost effectiveness. But what if we step back and look at the broader picture when it comes to the effectiveness of different tools of foreign policy and engagement including diplomacy and defense? What are our most effective approaches to …

A CGD blog with Sam Besse. Less than 45 percent of the area of Tanzania is covered by any form of cell phone reception. Telecom providers target high-population areas first, so the percentage of the population covered by the cell phone signal is 83 percent. But the problem is that the remaining 17 percent of…

A CGD blog with Megan O’Donnell. We’re a third of the way through the lifetime of the Sustainable Development Goals, which were set to transform the world by 2030. But when it comes to SDG 5 on gender equality, global progress towards targets remains either unmeasured or too slow.

A CGD blog with Megan O’Donnell. At their best, experts sitting in think tanks generate rigorous research and analysis inform policies and address the world’s most pressing challenges. But who gets to be counted among these experts? Are think tanks hiring, promoting, and compensating equitably and inclusively? And who is bein…