- Last Tuesday, the establishment of a Chinese international development cooperation agency was announced before the 13th National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China. Devex reporters Jenny Lei Ravelo and Lisa Cornish answered these key questions about the new agency.
- In conversation with Tyler Cowen, Chris Blattman, development economist, talks about development, conflicts, and “doing what’s interesting”.
- Mali has long struggled to contain preventable infectious diseases, such as malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea, and has the sixth-highest mortality rate for children under five in the world. However, a new program has succeeded in reducing child deaths in one district by 95%.
- The World Bank’s David McKenzie interviewed Alix Zwane, CEO of the Global Innovation Fund, about how development economists can have an impact outside of universities.
- Catherine Wolfram and colleagues summarise their findings about the impact of rural electrification in Kenya, showing that energy access alone is not sufficient to lift people out of poverty.
- On a lighter note, Rachel Strohm established a great etymological map of African place names. Travel across “Lion Mountains”, “Land of God”, and “Seat of the Shah”!