Creating Markets for Energy Efficient Fans in Pakistan

In Punjab, around eight million fans are produced annually in a manufacturing sector that employs thousands of workers. Recently, the government of the state of Punjab, Pakistan’s most populace province, joined forces with the private sector and the World Bank Group to promote the local market for energy efficient fans. The FIAS-supported project is delivering benefits on multiple fronts. It is helping reduce demand on the electricity grid; it is creating cleaner and greener appliances; it is educating consumers on the importance of energy efficiency; and it is creating a new domestic market for improved products.

Something New is Brewing: Purple Tea in Kenya

With the help of the FIAS-supported competition policy team, the Competition Authority of Kenya worked to remove regulatory barriers in the tea industry that prevented entrepreneurs from capitalizing on opportunities in a new market – purple tea. Anthony Njage Mwangi is one of the entrepreneurs who has benefited from the regulatory changes. His business has hired many new workers and has become profitable in the past several years. Now, the five factories producing purple tea directly employ over 2,000 workers. These producers include small and medium-sized enterprises such as Njeru’s, which has so far invested over $1 million in purple tea production. Purple tea has the potential to transform lives and livelihoods for tea farmers in Kenya, where authorities estimate that specialty varieties like purple tea will account for up to 5 percent—approximately $60 million—of all Kenya’s tea exports in the next three to five years. The project is an example of the World Bank Group’s commitment to helping developing countries open markets to competition. When that happens, the result is shared prosperity.

Doing Business Better in Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s ranking in Doing Business—a World Bank report that measures business regulations across 190 economies—jumped up from 183 in 2018 to 167 in 2019, earning the country a coveted spot in this year’s global top improvers. This substantial progress is the upshot of five reforms implemented in 2017 to improve the business environment for the private sector.