This paper provides a brief overview of the postal network reform in Azerbaijan and transformation of Azerpost, Azerbaijan’s state postal operator, into an efficient platform for basic financial services delivery throughout the country.

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) is a constitutionally recognized semiautonomous region in northern Iraq. Its government, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), based in Erbil, has the right, under the Iraqi constitution of 2005, to exercise legislative, executive, and judicial powers according to the constitution, except in what is listed therein as exclusive powers of the federal authorities. The Iraqi constitution defines the Kurdistan Region as a federal entity of Iraq. KRG has a parliamentary democracy with a regional assembly that consists of 111 seats.

There has been significant development of Mali’s banking sector in recent years, but it remains shallow, and access to banking services is limited. With the opening of a new bank in 2014, there are now 14 commercial banks operating in Mali. There has been a positive evolution of the banking sector in Mali from 2009-13. There have been a number of changes in recent years in the ownership structure of the banking sector, which is now dominated by foreign shareholders, primarily from Africa.

This systematic country diagnostic is structured in two main parts, one backward looking and the other forward looking. The backward-looking analysis aims to draw lessons on the determinants of poverty and sustainable and inclusive growth from (a) stakeholder consultations; (b) a poverty profile; (c) a jobs profile; and (d) a review of Cote d’Ivoire’s experience, and a comparison with Ghana and Sri Lanka, countries with similarities to Côte d’Ivoire, but with different growth trajectories.

Urban sanitation remains a significant challenge for most low- and middle-income countries. While sanitation coverage has been increasing across both the 48 least developed countries (LDCs) and developing regions as a whole, progress has been relatively slow. In many cities, even where improved on-site facilities are used to contain excreta, the level of quality and access to services for the emptying, conveyance, treatment, and disposal of the resulting fecal sludge is usually limited. These services are collectively called fecal sludge management (FSM) services.

A country’s legal and judicial environment can help or hinder access to credit. In addition to the banking law governing the organization of the sector, the operations of credit institutions are subject to several laws. Four components of Malian business law are particularly relevant in assessing the position of creditors, the law on secured transactions, the law on collective proceedings, the law on information-sharing related to debtors (sometimes called the credit reporting law), and the law on collection and enforcement proceedings.

This document is hence organized not around the three types of challenges, but around five themes of governance, public finance issues, private sector-led economy, poverty and environment, and human capital, all crucial to achieving faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth. Chapter one provides the country context. Chapter two discusses the quality of governance, an overarching issue in Madagascar. It has a direct bearing on the pace, the inclusiveness and sustainability of growth.

The objective of the Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) is to assess the adequacy and performance of the policy, legal, and institutional framework for environmental management in Ukraine, in light of the decentralization process of environmental governance and wider reform objectives, and to provide recommendations to government to address the key gaps identified. Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe and has a population of 43 million, the majority of whom live in urban areas.

The objective of the Ugandan government is to make Uganda an upper - middle income country within thirty years. Economic diversification is a key component of that strategy. The country economic memorandum (CEM) report discusses how the emergence of oil and mineral production can contribute to Uganda’s effort to promote economic diversification as a means to achieve sustainable and shared growth.

This report summarizes the experiences of 19 companies from across the region. Each of the case studies highlights the key corporate governance changes made and the positive impacts that resulted, as reported by the company. The companies represent various countries, sectors, types, and sizes. All of the companies featured are former IFC Advisory Services clients. Some are IFC Investment clients as well. IFC conducted an in-depth corporate governance assessment for each of these companies using IFC’s Corporate Governance Methodology.

Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank, and Ambassador Andrew Young engaged in a roundtable discussion on economic development, moderated by Dean Bahl of Georgia State. Wolfowitz has made Africa the first priority of the Bank. There is really a chance for Africa to turn the corner. It’s going to have to start with the best performers, doing what the so-called Tigers did in East Asia, showing the way for other countries. Young said you can make more money honestly in a growing economy, than you can steal in a dying economy. Wolfowitz gave examples of the turnaround in Africa.

James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank Group, reassessed the global financial architecture and its impact on Latin America. Latin American countries, being small economies, are very vulnerable to world pressures. After a huge drop in private sector finance, we’re seeing the first signs of return. What we need now is greater transparency and supervision in banking and the private sector—and a better common set of principles and standards. We need decent government, trained government, with capacity at all levels. We need legal systems that work.