World Bank Ghana

Feeding 10 billion people by 2050 on a livable planet means balancing food production & water use.

report, Nourish & Flourish, shows how smarter agricultural water use can boost yields, jobs & ecosystems, creating at least 245 million jobs.https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/to-feed-the-future-and-create-jobs-manage-the-water?cid=afw_fb_ghana_en_ext

Every year, West Africa sends more than $3.5 billion abroad to buy rice. Yet, this is a crop that grows and thrives in the region. How can we change
this? Discover why investing in the rice value chain could be a major driver of
economic growth and jobs: https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/west-africas-rice-imperative-why-investing-in-the-value-chain-is-the-most-important-bet-we-can-make?cid=afw_fb_ghana_en_ext

Strong health systems save time and lives. In , digital tools and referrals are helping smaller clinics connect patients to faster, better care.

Physician Assistant Victor Ayuma sees the effect of coordinated health services every day: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/immersive-story/2026/06/29/western-central-africa-fit-to-prosper?cid=afw_fb_ghana_en_ext

Better policy is one of the foundations of the 's .

For small farmers, policy can be a real growth tool. Better spending on research, irrigation, and extension can help agriculture deliver more productivity and opportunity.

🎧https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/podcast/2026/06/06/unpacking-agriconnect-how-do-we-reach-300-million-farmers?cid=afw_fb_ghana_en_ext

💧In Africa, over 400 million people lack drinking water, and more than 700 million lack basic sanitation. Water scarcity could cost up to 6% of GDP in some regions. At the same time, water represents one of Africa’s greatest opportunities for agriculture, energy, health, and regional stability. But realizing this potential requires coordinated action.
On July 15-16 in N'Djamena, Chad 🇹🇩, the African Water Forum - co-hosted by the Government of Chad and the World Bank Group - will gather Heads of State, ministers, leaders of regional institutions, development partners, and the private sector to accelerate investments and regional cooperation for water security.

The Forum is part of , the new global coalition that brings together governments, multilateral development banks, the private sector, and philanthropies around a shared goal: to deliver water security for over 1 billion people by 2030.
Learn more: https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2026/07/15/african-water-forum-from-vision-to-action?cid=afw_fb_wbafrica_en_ext

Every year, 30 government officials from across the World Bank Group's client countries pack their bags for Washington, D.C., not as visitors, but as colleagues. For six months, they work side by side with WBG staff, embedded in units across the institution, contributing to projects and gaining firsthand experience of how the Bank Group operates. On June 9, this year's cohort met with WBG President Ajay Banga — a milestone moment before they prepare to graduate at the end of June and carry their experience back home.

The Voice Secondment Program (VSP), established by the Board of Directors in 2004, is one of the WBG's most distinctive capacity-building initiatives. Managed by the Board and administered by the Corporate Secretariat, the program selects mid-career government officials, primarily from Small Island Developing States, fragile and conflict-affected settings, and low- and middle-income countries, through a competitive process. Since its founding, the VSP has hosted 462 participants from 130 countries. Alumni have gone on to become Ministers of Finance, Deputy Ministers, Chief Economists, and Permanent Secretaries. Others have joined the WBG Board as advisors.

The program's premise is simple but powerful: immersion works. Rather than learn about the WBG from a distance, the VSP brings participants from ministries of finance and other government agencies directly into the institution so they can engage with WBG operational procedures, policies, and instruments first-hand. This insider perspective not only deepens technical understanding but also enables participants to translate WBG processes and priorities more effectively back to their home institutions, including helping them better brief and prepare their ministers for global engagements such as the Spring and Annual Meetings. During their time in DC, the group had the opportunity to meet with some of our partners, including visits to the United Nations and the IMF.

For this year's cohort, that immersion has been transformative. Aishwarya Menon described her placement as "a masterclass in global collaboration," learning to view projects through what she called "the 'People' lens — to understand human development impacts." Naemi Shidhudhu highlighted how the experience deepened her appreciation for evidence-based policymaking, noting the importance of "grounding policy decisions in rigorous data and analytical evidence" while keeping implementation at the center.

For Mohamed Samir, the defining feature was the reciprocity of the experience — the sense that learning flowed in both directions. "The most effective approaches are always those that start from local realities, never from prefabricated models." He also urged the WBG to view smaller states like his home country, the Comoros, not merely as aid recipients but as "genuine sources of knowledge."

Likewise, Naemi Shidhudhu echoed this from another angle, advocating for development support that is "carefully tailored to each country's specific structural constraints, institutional capacity, and development priorities" — a perspective sharpened, she noted, by seeing how the Bank Group actually works from the inside.

Donna Samantha Sandy joined the program without prior exposure to the WBG. She has since participated in missions to client countries in the LAC region, gaining "first-hand insight into how the Bank Group plans and executes its goals." She now looks forward to mentoring future secondees herself — and shares that bringing the WBG Knowledge Bank by introducing basic WBG courses into secondary and tertiary education in client countries could deepen understanding of the WBG's work.

Finally, the opportunity to connect with WBG colleagues has been a recurring theme across this year's VSP group. Nijrad Rodsangnon and Gordana Stanisic pointed to the opportunities to connect with World Bank Group staff and executives as one of the program's most valuable dimensions, describing an environment where learning happens not just in formal settings but through every conversation and collaboration.

As the 2026 VSP cohort prepares to graduate and return to their home institutions, they leave behind a stronger link between the WBG and the countries it serves. In turn they take with them a network, new perspectives, and an insider's understanding of how development finance gets made. The VSP's alumni are not just program graduates. They are, as the program has always intended, future leaders.

LEARN MORE: https://bit.ly/4evq8PU

Globally, the average Human Capital Index Plus score is about 186. In Sub-Saharan Africa, it’s closer to 127.

Learn why Sub-Saharan Africa faces a “human capital crisis” and how some countries are already beating the odds and changing the narrative: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/podcast/2026/06/17/human-capital-counting-what-counts-over-a-lifetime-people-first-podcast?cid=afw_fb_ghana_en_ext

By 2050, almost 1 in 5 young people will be living in Western & Central Africa, but health & nutrition deficits persist in the region. By investing in health today, countries can ensure that the next generation is not just fit to survive but . http://wrld.bg/AZX650YWlg0

50+ million people connected to electricity = 50+ million lives changed!

Beyond the headline numbers, means jobs, economic growth, and opportunity. Learn more about : http://wrld.bg/gyig50Zi7gy