Ideas to Action:

Independent research for global prosperity

Multimedia

CGD's weekly Global Prosperity Wonkcast, event videos, whiteboard talks, slides, and more.

Implications of Ghana’s New Middle Income Status – Todd Moss

11/21/11

Tom Bollyky

Ghana’s recent recalculation of its GDP led to an overnight $500 per capita jump, putting in motion unexpectedly rapid graduation from the International Development Association (IDA) and ultimately a new relationship with the World Bank. In this week’s Wonkcast, I speak with Todd Moss, vice president for programs and senior fellow at CGD, about his recent trip to the newly categorized lower-middle income country, the implications of IDA graduation, and a sudden influx of oil wealth.

Helping Africa's Largest Country Shed $30 Billion in Debt

11/17/11

Johnny West

In this two-minute 2006 video clip, CGD’s Todd Moss explains how the Center helped to open the way for Nigeria to obtain $30 billion in debt relief, one of the world’s biggest ever debt deals. Moss tells how CGD research led the World Bank to reclassify Nigeria so it could become eligible for a favorable Paris Club deal. Completion of the deal enabled Nigeria to focus resources on social sector spending and policy efforts on promoting private sector growth and development. Former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iwela, and Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank, praise CGD’s catalytic role. Learn more about CGD’s work on Nigeria debt here.

 

Iraq’s Last Chance to Beat the Oil Curse: Lessons for the Arab Spring (Event Video)

11/7/11

Johnny West

The Arab Spring has grabbed the world’s attention, yet Iraq—the Arab country that not long ago was the very epicenter of American foreign policy—has almost entirely fallen off the front pages. While Iraq’s security has improved greatly, the country is still struggling to consolidate a functional government and come up with a coherent spending plan for its oil wealth. In a new CGD working paper, “Iraq’s Last Window: Diffusing the Risks of a Petro-State,” Johnny West, a longtime journalist in the Middle East and author of the recent book, Karama! Journeys through the Arab Spring, identifies a new opportunity for direct distribution of Iraqi oil rents that he argues could halve poverty, diversify the economy and cement territorial integrity by giving Iraqis a stake in their oil wealth. The event will feature a brief presentation of the paper by West, followed by a discussion with a distinguished panel.

African Development: Making Sense of the Issues and Actors – Todd Moss

10/12/11

Todd Moss

My guest this week is Todd Moss, senior fellow and vice president for programs here at the Center for Global Development. Our topic is the newly updated edition of his popular primer: African Development: Making Sense of the Issues and Actors.

Todd tells me his publisher, Lynne Rienner, urged him to update the book, first published in 2007, because of the rapid pace of change in Africa, and the strong and growing interest in Africa among U.S. college students, a key audience for the book.

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