Tag Archives: World Bank report

AMA, Environment

Growing Waste Crisis in the Middle East and North Africa Costs US$7.2 billion a year, Threatens Growth and Tourism

MaraviPost

New World Bank report calls for more investment in better waste management and circular economy

Washington, USA, 28 Janurary 2026 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/-The Middle East and North Africa region generates more waste per person than the global average and causes an estimated US$7.2 billion in environmental damage each year, according to a new World Bank report: Waste Management in the Middle East and North Africa.

The region produces over 155 million tons of waste annually – a figure expected to double by 2050 if no action is taken. Rising waste generation is increasingly threatening public health, the environment, and the region’s tourism industry.

“Urban centers across the MENA region are on the frontline of the waste challenge,” said Almud Weitz, Regional Practice Director, Infrastructure, World Bank.“Improving waste service delivery is critical to reducing pollution, protecting communities, and ensuring cities remain engines of growth and opportunity.”

While waste collection rates are relatively high (nearly 80 percent on average), recycling and treatment lag far behind. Less than 10 percent of waste is recycled, and more than two-thirds is mismanaged, fueling air, soil, and water pollution, marine litter, and serious health risks. The region also has the highest per-capita plastic leakage into the seas, with the Mediterranean among the world’s most polluted.

“Even a modest shift can make a big difference,” said Mesky Brhane, Regional Practice Director, Planet Department, World Bank. “A 1 percent reduction in waste generation could save the region up to US$150 million annually. Modernizing waste systems and embracing circular economy solutions can protect public health, strengthen tourism, and build greener cities.”

Drawing on new data from 19 countries and 26 cities, the report outlines tailored pathways for countries. High-income countries can significantly reduce landfilling and scale circular solutions to capture waste before it goes to landfill; middle-income countries can reach universal collection and improve recovery and treatment; and fragile and conflict-affected states can prioritize low-tech and low-cost approaches, especially community-based.

The report highlights that up to 83 percent of the waste collected in MENA could be reused, recycled, or recovered for energy. Transitioning to a circular economy could also create better jobs, particularly in waste services and recycling, while turning today’s waste crisis into a driver of sustainable growth.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of Word Bank Group.

Contacts
In Washington, DC
Ebrahim Al-Harazi
ealharazi@worldbank.org

The post Growing Waste Crisis in the Middle East and North Africa Costs US$7.2 billion a year, Threatens Growth and Tourism appeared first on African Media Agency.

Business, Regional

Malawi’s Tea prices down over lower demand-World Bank report

Grace Dzuwa
tea selling prices down over low demand

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-A recent report by the World Bank has revealed that weak prices affected sells of one of the country’s cash crops, tea in the first eight months of 2019.

The report says despite Malawi recording 1.6 percent increase in the production of the beverage the tea market took a knock this year.

“The market for tea has been negatively impacted by low demand, compounded by the failure to close a number of producer-buyer contracts, resulting in excess stocks and lower prices.


“As a result, tea prices have declined from an average of US$ 1.8/kg in 2018 to US$ 1.5/ kg in the second quarter of 2019, with the price standing at US$ 1.2/kg as of August 2019,” reads the World Bank’s 10th Malawi Economic Monitor.

Going forward, the bank says external demand for tea could improve due to a drought in Mombasa.
Weak tea prices came during a year when Malawi’s top foreign earner, tobacco, also suffered a similar fate.
In 2019, performance of the tobacco subsector declined, both in terms of production volume and average prices. Tobacco sales volumes declined from 202.0 million kilograms in 2018 to around 165.6 million kilograms through October 2019.

Average sales prices have also declined, from US$ 1.67/kg in 2018 to $ 1.43/kg in 2019, so that overall auction sales have declined from $337.5 million in 2018 to $237.0 million in 2019.
“This should impact tobacco exports in late 2019 and early 2020.

Over the medium term, at the global level, the demand for tobacco is expected to decline by about three percent each year.

“On the other hand, sugar production has increased from 230,020 metric tons in the 2017/18 season to 252,375 in 2018/19, due to favorable weather conditions,” reads the MEM.