Chimeras in Africa: The Drive of Development Banks

Abstract

Through the lens of the World Bank and the African Development Bank, this research examines the hope of development in Africa. This paper ties together dual issues of progress: the effectiveness of Multilateral Development Banks and the prospect of development itself in Africa. Using separate frameworks of increasingly microeconomic scope, this research offers three results. First, among its cohort of developing regions, Africa is near the average in its use of International Development Association funds. Next, employing Project Completion Reports from the African Development Bank, this research builds upon existing literature to show that the best countries for development projects are those that are both large and growing slowly, rather than wealthy more dynamic countries. Finally, this paper investigates the effect of World Bank and African Development Bank water projects in Malawi by examining changes to the amount of time needed to retrieve water. Ultimately, while there was significance to decreasing commute times, these results were mainly inconclusive. This result highlights potential problems in execution—the final step of development.