The First Tranche

Before reimagining development data, remember what we’ve learned Why we’re publishing a free, searchable, and ungated archive featuring a quarter-century of USAID evaluation reports. John Custer, Bryan Burgess, Brad Parks, and Ketevan Gallager

W&M’s AidData leads global effort to solve agricultural challenges using geospatial analysis A recent gathering of 120 international policymakers, researchers and nonprofit leaders in Rome celebrated ‘how far the field has come in just a few short years’. Tina Eshleman, W&M University Marketing

Kenya’s switch to Chinese RMB denominated-debt was a restructuring in disguise A new AidData policy note analyzes Kenya’s railway loan restructuring—and the potential implications for Ethiopia. Oshin Pandey and Sailor Miao

A decade of inquiry about development data—and a new opportunity to act AidData is collaborating with those who fund, produce, and use development data to reimagine resilient data systems amid changes in the funding landscape. Divya Mathew

Leveraging remittances for economic recovery in Yemen A new report by the International Growth Centre and AidData provides evidence on how global restrictions and informal transfer systems shape remittances—Yemen's single largest source of external finance. Narayani Sritharan, Istanbool Ba Abbad, Aymen Othman Ghaleb, Oshin Pandey, Amna Mahmood, Bryan Burgess, Hind Kasim

Rehabilitating some of the world’s toughest roads: AidData and partners evaluate impacts of a nationwide project in Liberia What we’re learning from the first geospatial impact evaluation of a decades-long program to transform rural roads in the wake of Liberia’s civil war. Alex Wooley

Three powers, three playbooks: U.S., Japanese, and Chinese official financing in Southeast Asia over a quarter-century Foreign policy experts shared insights from a new AidData brief at a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. Sam Gruber

AidData to conduct impact evaluations and research gender equity in sub-Saharan Africa A new grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation will enable AidData to finalize years of collaborative research projects in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. Sam Gruber

China’s $24 billion in ports financing encircles the globe, reaching 90 countries New AidData report and dataset provide the clearest picture yet of Beijing’s race for maritime dominance. Alex Wooley

Compliance in every cup? Using Earth Observation data to meet global deforestation rules for coffee production AidData and its partners are exploring how Central American coffee farmers can comply with EU anti-deforestation regulations in cost-effective ways. Sarina Patterson

New dataset, profiles track China’s critical minerals investments across the globe China is the top financier of critical minerals projects worldwide. A forthcoming report will analyze nearly $100 billion in Beijing's state-directed minerals portfolio. Sarina Patterson

How China’s oil-backed lending in Venezuela fell into distress—and what might come next Home to the world’s largest oil reserves, Venezuela was ideal for China’s commodity-backed lending model. But Beijing’s multi-billion dollar bet has turned sour. Oshin Pandey and Pavan Raghavendra