The Africa Region of the World Bank Group (WBG) invites Ph.D. students and recent graduates who are Sub-Saharan nationals to apply for the third Africa Fellowship Program by November 19, 2017.

The World Bank Group Africa Fellowship Program aims to build a pipeline of Sub-Saharan African researchers and professionals, particularly women, who are interested in working in the development field at home or abroad, and in starting careers with the WBG.

Fellows will spend a minimum of six months at the World Bank offices in Washington, D.C. or in field offices, getting hands-on experience in development work. This includes knowledge generation and dissemination, design of global and country policies, and the building of institutions to achieve inclusive growth in developing countries. While benefitting from research and innovation in multiple sectors, fellows will also work on research, economic policy, technical assistance, and lending operations that contribute to the World Bank goal of eliminating poverty and increasing shared prosperity.

This year, thanks to a generous contribution from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), there are 10 additional fellowship positions with a special focus on forced displacement. The 10 selected fellows will work on forced displacement research in the context of operations led by the World Bank Group (WBG) or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East. For these additional 10 positions, candidates from refugee and internally displaced communities and/or with proven experience on forced displacement will be given a priority.

Fellows will be expected to complete a research project or prepare a research paper to present to staff. High-standard papers may be published internally. Specifically, selected participants will:

• Gain a better understanding of the World Bank Group's mission and operations
• Access quality data for their research work
• Interact with seasoned experts in the field of development
• Contribute to the World Bank Group's mission

Apply online through the World Bank website by November 19, 2017.

The INNOVATE Call for Proposals (the Call) seeks applications from eligible organizations, companies and institutions (i) to pilot a Non-Traditional Finance (NTF) product/service focused on rapid testing and learning OR (ii) to document through a case study an ongoing or completed initiative related to NTF. The initiatives should demonstrate the potential and/or ability of products, services, or delivery channels that can catalyze and/or foster the adoption of agricultural innovations by women and men smallholder farmers in East Africa, South America (the Andes) and South Asia.

INNOVATE aims to learn from the experiences of the grant recipients; to test and document which products, services or delivery channels have potential to catalyze agricultural innovation by smallholder farmers. Therefore, a key focus of the Call is learning. The Call also has a focus on gender, in which applicants shall clearly differentiate between women and men’s priorities and needs, treating them as distinct market segments in the proposal and research process.

Successful proposals will be awarded up to CAD $200,000 (pilot award) or up to CAD $50,000 (case study award).

Eligibility Criteria

• Minimum organizational requirements:
  • Legally registered entities with audited financial statements for the last two years and proof of legal registration for a commercial entity/NGO, or proof of legal registration for a research institute AND current financial policy and procedures
  • Minimum three years' experience
• Applicants shall propose initiatives for implementation in the target regions/countries:
  • East Africa (Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda)
  • South America (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru)
  • South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka)
• Applicants shall apply only for one type of grant and clearly identify/demonstrate a matching contribution.

How to Apply

1. Review the Call Application Guidelines.
2. Download the Proposal Form(PDF) and Budget Template (Excel) (link to app docs) and prepare your proposal. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to complete the Proposal Form.
3. Submit your application through the Online Application Form and upload your completed proposal and supporting documents.
4. The submission deadline is Friday, October 6, 2017, 11:59PM EST.

Read more

International travel to Africa is expected to reach 18.6 million this year, thanks to the popularity of destinations like South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, Cameroon, Mauritius and Tanzania, which account for 70 percent of international trips to the Sub-Saharan region. That figure marks a nearly 7 percent increase compared to 2012, when international arrivals topped out at 16.35 million, reports international market research group Euromonitor. Analysts attribute the growth over the last five years to increased digital integration and cyber connectivity; alliances between hotels, airlines and car rental companies; social media; meta-search engines; the short-term vacation rental market; luxury travel; and niche tourism. 

"Many countries are moving away from only promoting Africa as a traditional safari destination, exploring other niche categories such as beach and medical tourism. The travel and tourism market continues to introduce products that suit different type of travellers, accounting for strong growth in major cities across Sub-Saharan Africa," said Euromonitor Research Analyst Christy Tawii. 

Safaris aside, visitors are also travelling to the region to visit South African vineyards, for example, catch a wave off the coast and bask on its beaches. By 2022, Euromonitor predicts that growth in international arrivals to Sub-Saharan Africa will reach 25 million, thanks to competitive rates, aggressive marketing campaigns and improved air connectivity connecting the region with major markets overseas. This will be especially true for South Africa and Nigeria. 

Meanwhile, an earlier report by Euromonitor also forecast the fastest-growing cities in Africa for 2017, with Kenya leading the charge. Here are the cities to watch out for: 
1. Kisumu, Kenya 
2. Eldoret, Kenya 
3. Nairobi, Kenya 
4. Mombasa, Kenya 
5. Nakuru, Kenya 
6. Tangier, Morocco 
7. Agadir, Morocco 
8. Abuja, Nigeria 
9. Yaoundé, Cameroon 
10. Mansoura, Egypt

Source: News18.com

Apple (AAPL) will soon release its new iPhone and, for now, there’s no way to know whether the tech giant will reinvent the device or continue on its path of slow incremental improvements.

The forthcoming iPhone 8 will likely have the following features:-

• An OLED screen,
• A virtual home button,
• Inductive charging,
• A tap-to-wake feature,
• Facial-recognition unlocking, and more.

Read more about users preference according to Yahoo Finance survey.

Source: Yahoo Finance,

Background

The IZA/DFID Program on Growth and Labor Markets in Low-Income Countries is sponsoring a conference on "Labor Markets in West Africa " on November 16 - 17, 2017. This will be followed by a two-day "IZA/DFID Short Course on Program Evaluation" on Saturday, November 18 and Sunday, November 19, 2017. The course is designed for postgraduate students, faculty members, and researchers in government and non-governmental organizations who would like to develop their skills in program evaluation using the latest econometric methods.

The course will consist of four half-day sessions and will cover the following topics: Design and analysis of randomized controlled trials; propensity score matching methods; difference-in-difference estimators; regression discontinuity designs. The focus will be on application of these methods to the evaluation of labor market related programs, including skills training programs.

Participants who are accepted for the course will be provided with all travel expenses (for travel booked according to the IZA travel guidelines), accommodation including breakfast and all meals which are part of the program from Wednesday night November 15, 2017 through Monday morning November 20, 2017.

Participants who are selected will be required to be in attendance for the full period, including the conference on Thursday and Friday November 16 - 17, 2017. The target class size is 40 participants. The course is intended for participants from low-income countries (the list of countries, see here). In particular, priority will be given to participants based in institutions in West African countries who are involved in the design, implementation, or analysis of training programs, or plan to be involved in the future. The course and the conference will be conducted in English.

 Submission

Applications should be uploaded via the online application form by September 15, 2017. The Program Committee will aim to communicate its decisions to the authors by October 1, 2017.

 Please find last year's program here.