All Publications

Oct 1, 2007

Environmental Services Professional Training Course

The objective for the Environmental Services Professional Training Course is to raise employee awareness of the hazards posed in employment and to reduce hospital-acquired illnesses among environmental services professionals.

Aug 6, 2007

Forest-Backed Bonds Proof of Concept Study

This report explores how conventional structured finance methods may improve the access long-term finance for natural tropical forests.

Aug 1, 2007

Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania

This report documents the challenges that women face, but also highlights the successes of Tanzanian businesswomen.

Jun 1, 2007

Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa: Characteristics, Contributions and Challenges

Limited to five countries - Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates - the purpose of this analysis is to help countries in the MENA region better understand the challenges faced by women and to promote an environment in which female as well as male entrepreneurs can thrive.

Apr 1, 2007

Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Ghana

The Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Ghana is an advocacy tool designed to complement the Gender and Growth Assessment in Ghana by presenting the issues, concerns and successes of women entrepreneurs in their own voice.

Jan 18, 2007

Access to Finance for Women Entrepreneurs in South Africa

Access to Finance for Women Entrepreneurs in South Africa: Challenges and Opportunities is the first research study on access to finance for women entrepreneurs in South Africa since apartheid.

90 pages | | © 2007 IFC |

Jan 16, 2007

Sub-Saharan Africa - 2006 Regional Report

The Sub-Saharan region has seen six consecutive years of GDP growth, including economic expansion of 4.6 percent in calendar year 2005. Later that year, IFC launched the Private Enterprise Partnership for Africa, or PEP Africa, as its primary vehicle for promoting sustainable private sector growth.

20 pages | | © 2006 IFC |

Jan 1, 2007

Gender and Economic Growth Assessment for Ghana 2007

The report presents key findings and a matrix of policy recommendations for enhancing gender considerations in economic activity, and in particular how to facilitate the economic role of women in Ghana.

Jan 1, 2007

Gender and Economic Growth in Tanzania

The report examines gender-based barriers in the business environment that limit women's contribution to Tanzania's economy.

Jan 1, 2007

Gender and Economic Growth in Kenya: Unleashing the Power of Women

The report makes specific recommendations to address gender-related barriers in the context of ongoing government and donor initiatives to encourage private sector development as the key driver of poverty reduction and economic growth.

Jan 1, 2007

Survey on the Status of Business Women in Mozambique

This report presents the results of a study which aims to ascertain the status of and challenges facing Mozambican women's small and medium enterprises.

Nov 1, 2006

Access to Finance for Women Entrepreneurs in South Africa

Access to finance in South Africa is not equal across all groups. This fact sheet evaluates the challenges and opportunities to government and financial institutions in addressing this key issue.

Sep 1, 2006

External Monitoring of the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Projects

To highlight the practical challenges and value of the external monitoring mechanism, the publication draws illustrative examples from the experiences of IFC during the Chad-Cameroon pipeline project in 2001.

Jun 1, 2006

Women Entrepreneurs Guide for Senegal

French only.

May 1, 2006

Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Kenya

The report profiles successful women business owners as role models and offers a unique perspective, grounded in experience, on the obstacles and constraints they have had to overcome.

Aug 1, 2005

Case Study Excerpt - Addressing Gender Impacts in Privatization of Kenya Railways

Selecting workers for retrenchment during workforce realignments can be a difficult task. Some selection criterion such as length of service or qualifications can still unfairly target particular groups, especially women in the workforce.

Jun 1, 2005

Case Study Excerpt - Kenya: A Better Living for the Poorest Farmers

This case study highlights Honey Care Africa Limited, a socially responsible Kenyan small business that sells hives to local subsistence farmers and buys their honey at guaranteed prices.

1 page | © June 2005 IFC | Complimentary

Jun 1, 2005

Case Study Excerpt - Helping Businesses Address the Challenge of HIV/AIDS

Africa faces immense challenges in generating private sector development and overcoming a weak investment climate, lack of infrastructure, HIV/AIDS, conflict, and a shortage of human capital. Through the IFC Against AIDS program, the Corporation works with client companies in Africa to accelerate their efforts in fighting HIV/AIDS.

Jan 1, 2005

Gender and Economic Growth in Uganda

This landmark report reflects the government of Uganda's concern that without the full economic contribution of both men and women, opportunities for job creation and economic growth are being missed.

Sep 1, 2004

Sustainability Banking in Africa

This report looks at the role of the financial sector in Africa in promoting sustainability and identifies a number of innovations demonstrating sustainability banking in different countries in Africa.

Dec 1, 2002

Good Practice Note: HIV/AIDS in the Workplace

This document is intended to provide good practice guidance for conducting a health impact assessment (HIA) to determine potential impacts on community health as a result of project development.

Dec 1, 2002

Case Study Excerpt - Plantation Workers Benefit from NGO Partnership with Unilever in Ghana

The Unilever Company in Ghana was alarmed by the potential effects HIV/AIDS could have on its workers and the surrounding community; an estimated 100,000 people. Unilever partnered with a local NGO to improve its existing workplace program and reached nearly two thousand employees, their families, and the surrounding community.

Jan 1, 2001

Public Private Partnerships — Promoting Gender Equity — The Gender and Growth Assessment for Uganda

The Gender and Growth Assessment identified specific legal and administrative barriers to investment that have a gender dimension and suggested that Uganda could gain as much as 2% growth per annum by addressing gender inequalities.

Jan 1, 2001

Access to Finance for Women - Leveraging Donor Funding to Assist Highly Disadvantaged Women Across Africa

This report focuses on AWDF, an Africa-wide fundraising and grant-making initiative for African women. It is the first attempt at an Africawide philanthropic institution promoting social change through the funding of autonomous women's organizations.

Jan 1, 2001

Investing in People: Sustaining Communities Through Improved Business Practice

This Guide aims to further IFC's mission to "promote private sector investment in developing countries, which will reduce poverty and improve people's lives." It seeks to help interested companies by drawing on the community development experiences of some of the world's leading companies.