World Bank (WB) MENA Senior Infrastructure Economist Axel Baeumler sheds light on the research behind the WB’s USD 500 mn Upper Egypt development program on the World Bank’s Arab Voices blog. Baeumler describes finding solutions to support local private sector growth as “an intractable challenge.” With the informal sector dominating the local economy, he says that “cluster development,” where a group of enterprises produce similar products within the same region, is key to help these micro businesses grow, through support of product development, exposure to new markets and regulatory problem-solving, among others. A performance-based grant mechanism for infrastructure development will also be implemented, as infrastructure had always faced disinvestment and mismanagement in the Upper Egypt.