Other Infrastructure Study
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Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa, home to more than 1 billion people, half of whom will be under 25 years old by 2050, is a diverse ...
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Publication
Summary Note on Technical Assistance Provided in Support of the Greater Harare Water and Sanitation Strategic Plan
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-01)The severe conditions in Zimbabwe, which reached a nadir in 2008 and 2009, led to a collapse of basic systems including the reliability and safety of water supply and sanitation services, leading to an outbreak of cholera with more than 4,000 deaths and over 90,000 people infected. The World Bank provided Technical Assistance (TA) to the City of Harare to improve water and sanitation services in the period October 2012 to June 2014 to the value of approximately 600,000 US dollars. This Summary Note summarizes the key elements of the work undertaken and makes a set of recommendations to the City of Harare, the adjacent local authorities of Chitungwiza, Epworth, Norton and Ruwa, and Government of Zimbabwe to inform a strategic plan to improve water and Sanitation services in the greater Harare area. This Summary Note also sets out the context at the commencement of the TA, summarizes the work undertaken in the TA and the outcomes from this work, and makes recommendations for the way forward. -
Publication
Where Should the Next Dollar Be Best Spent?: Policy Advice Drawn from the World Bank Zimbabwe Water Sector Investment Analysis
(Washington, DC, 2014-10)This policy paper records the outcome of a strategic analysis of investment requirements in the water sector in Zimbabwe as of December 2013. The work, entitled Zimbabwe water sector investment analysis, was undertaken in close collaboration with senior officials in Zimbabwe as an exercise in determining where World Bank investments may be most effective in the future, and to assist the government of Zimbabwe to develop its own investment strategies. The analysis was framed around two key questions: (1) what immediate investments are required to ensure that water in sufficient quantity and at adequate quality will be available to underpin recovery? This is in order to ensure that water availability would not constitute a constraint to future growth and development; and (2) where in the water sector should the next dollar be best spent? This paper summarizes the context of the water sector in Zimbabwe at the time of the study and reflects the key elements of policy advice derived from the analysis. It is important to record and recognize the key elements of policy advice provided by the World Bank through the water sector investment analysis. -
Publication
Growth Poles Program : Political Economy of Social Capital
(Washington, DC, 2014-04)The Government of Sierra Leone (GosL) and the World Bank (WB) have agreed upon the design and implementation of a growth poles program (GPP) in support of the agenda for prosperity (A4P), the GoSL's third poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSPIII). With support from the European Union competitive industries and innovation practice trust fund, the WB has been undertaking a series of scoping and diagnostic analyses on the GPP since early 2013, and to date this work has constituted the main part of the first phase of the approach (the initial diagnostic stage). This diagnostic work was completed in August 2013 and the diagnostic report confirmed that the growth pole approach can feasibly support and facilitate economic development in two geographical areas of the country. This analytical report attempts to provide a window into the undercurrents and the nuances that affect and shape the characteristics of host communities into which investment takes place. The report also highlights the various input considerations that need to be acknowledged (land, labor, community relations), the governance framework into which the future growth poles approach will fit - central, local, and community and finally concludes with a series of recommendations around key policy, institutional, cross linkages, and contextual challenges that the growth poles approach must consider as it attempts to underpin the government's growth by foreign direct investment agenda. -
Publication
Zimbabwe Infrastructure Policy Review
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-12-09)Many empirical studies have demonstrated the close relationship between a country’s economic development and its stock of infrastructure. Decades of deferred maintenance and lack of long-term financing have taken a heavy toll on Zimbabwe’s infrastructure that at one time was ranked at the top in Africa. Only the information and communications technologies (ICT) sector has been performing relatively well but its high tariffs add to the cost of doing business in Zimbabwe. The strategy in the infrastructure sectors is to encourage public private partnerships (PPPs) for the financing and execution of the different sub-projects. This strategy has been emerging in the electric power, road transport, and ICT sectors and is now being extended to water supply and sanitation. This review builds on the findings from an October-November 2013 mission that, upon the request of the Ministry of Finance, assessed the ministerial submissions for the 2014 public sector investment program (PSIP). The review concludes that the perception of the predictable policies is key for attracting responsible private partners for sustainable PPPs. The review recommends less risky options such as: (i) outsourcing operations of existing plants; (ii) lease contracts of existing plants; and (iii) sales of existing thermal plants. The review notes that the analytical multi donor trust fund (AMDTF) is programmed to close on June 30, 2014. It is of the essence to explore the possibilities to locate concessionary funding for a successor to the AMDTF given the high priority of additional studies in the power, water, and ICT sectors to prepare for the reforms suggested. -
Publication
Water Supply and Sanitation in Mozambique : Turning Finance into Services for 2015 and Beyond
(World Bank, Nairobi, 2012-01)Mozambique has made enormous strides in the water supply sector in the past two decades. The sector has separated water resources and water production roles from water supply asset holding and from water services management. It has also created a regulatory structure and body that has struck a balance between government and private-sector management while giving increasing voice to consumers. The reform process continues today, with expected modifications at decentralized levels of governance. After more than a decade emphasizing service expansion, service sustainability needs attention. The urban water delegated management framework's greatest challenge lies in maintaining operational cost recovery and making steady progress on capital cost recovery. The challenge for rural water supply lies not simply in expanding access, but in ensuring sustainable services. Progress in urban and rural sanitation has stagnated, and updated approaches to service delivery are urgently needed. Sector information management systems and human resource development have not kept pace with institutional expansion, resulting in a potential drag on long-term planning, financing, and implementation. -
Publication
Water Supply and Sanitation in Rwanda : Turning Finance into Services for 2015 and Beyond
(World Bank, Nairobi, 2012)Rwanda has made good progress in extending water supply and sanitation coverage during the past few years, under clear political commitment to three complementary sets of targets: the economic development and poverty reduction strategy (2012), millennium development goals (2015), and vision 2020. The report aims to help countries assess their own service delivery pathways for turning finance into water supply and sanitation services in each of four subsectors: rural and urban water supply, and rural and urban sanitation and hygiene. Rwanda is closing the gap on its targets, but is unlikely to attain the required coverage levels by 2015 without an increase in financing. The coverage trend over the past 10 years for rural water supply demonstrates the country's capacity for developing new projects; while for sanitation the enabling environment and capacity for service development will need to be strengthened further in the medium term. Households' capacity for sharing the costs of water supply capital investments is limited, and the strategy views their main contribution as being towards operations and maintenance costs, through water fees and tariffs. The rural water supply subsector has switched from a community management model, to one of public-private partnership. Nearly 30 percent of rural water schemes are already managed by private operators and the economic and poverty reduction strategy aims for 50 percent by 2012. This second African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW) Country Status Overview (CSO2) has been produced in collaboration with the Government of Rwanda and other stakeholders. -
Publication
Towards a Strategic Analysis of Water Resources Investments in Kenya : Hydrological, Economic, and Institutional Assessment for Storage Development
(Washington, DC, 2011-06-30)The objective of this study was to advance the process of prioritizing water storage investments that could reduce water stress in economically important areas. The specific objectives of the study were to (i) outline a comprehensive framework for screening of potential storage sites; (ii) identify important water stressed areas through an updated water balance; (iii) assess alternative multipurpose water storage projects through physical, hydrological and economic criteria; and (iv) analyze institutional and financing aspects of water resources development in Kenya to identify capacity and knowledge inadequacies. The study focused on identifying viable surface water storage projects to increase water supply reliability and mitigate the effects of common multi-year droughts. No new estimates of groundwater resources were made, though they were considered in quantifying overall water availability. The scope of the study was limited to an initial screening of infrastructure options that will increase the reliability of water supply. The state of water service delivery was not assessed as it was outside the scope of this study. -
Publication
Uganda Water Assistance Strategy
(Washington, DC, 2011-06)Over the past 25 years, Uganda has experienced sustained economic growth, supported by a prudent macroeconomic framework and propelled by consistent policy reforms. Annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth averaged 7.4 percent in the 2000s, compared with 6.5 in the 1990s. Economic growth has enabled substantial poverty reduction, with the proportion of people living in poverty more than halving from 56 percent in the 1992 to 23.3 percent in 2009. However, welfare improvements have not been shared equally; there is increasing urban rural inequality and inequality between regions. Revitalizing economic growth and tackling persistent poverty will require addressing a number of challenges. These include alleviating infrastructure bottlenecks; increasing agricultural productivity; managing land, water and other natural resources; addressing demographic challenges; and confronting governance issues. The development and management of water resources is intimately linked to Uganda's continued development ambitions. Water can be both a positive force-providing productive input to agriculture, industry, energy and tourism, and sustaining human and environmental health-as well as a destructive one-to which the devastating consequences of floods and droughts can attest. The National Water Resources Assessment (NWRA) estimates that Uganda's total renewable water resources are about 43 million cubic meters (MCM), less than was estimated in the Ministry of Water and Environment's (MWE's) Sector Investment Plan (SIP) in 2009. About 13 percent of this is sustainable groundwater (5.67 MCM) and the balance is surface water (37.41 MCM). About one half of all districts in Uganda experience annual rainfall deficits-the difference between evapotranspiration and rainfall-ranging from slightly above zero to 400 mm. The frequency of rainfall anomalies below normal (or long-term annual average) is significantly greater than the frequency of rainfall anomalies higher than normal. The Uganda water Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) aims to assist the Government of Uganda (GoU) in identifying priority actions for building on successful outcomes, tackling remaining challenges, and exploiting opportunities in Uganda's water sector. The objective of the water CAS is to define the World Bank's strategic role in supporting GoU to better manage and develop its water resources. The recommendations of the water CAS are complementary to the World Bank Uganda Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) 2011-15 priorities for Uganda and consistent with the country's development objectives as defined in the National Development Plan (NDP) and water and related sector plans and strategies, which form the foundation of the World Bank Uganda CAS. -
Publication
Equity in Public Services in Tanzania and Uganda
(Washington, DC, 2011-04-30)The context of this note is the concern in both Uganda and Tanzania that the distribution of public servants in both countries has been uneven, leading to inequity in the delivery of public services, with lower quality services linked to persistent poverty in certain underserved or hard-to-reach and stay (HTRS) areas. The note looks in detail at the nature of the problem as it affects education and health services, assesses measures already in place to tackle inequity, and makes recommendations to address the problem in the immediate as well as the long-term. In focus in this note are those areas that suffer from having far below average numbers of public servants, and consequently far below average public services. In Tanzania such areas are more commonly referred to as under-served and again additional resources have been allocated to them. Governments have so far responded with relatively conventional measures, such as financial incentives for staff and improved living conditions. While both of these are important, the scope and depth of the issue requires a more radical approach. A range of ideas is offered for each country, and these are then presented in a matrix. Three priorities needs emerge for both countries: 1) to consider demand as well as supply-side measures, in particular to strengthen Government accountability; 2) to address fiscal constraints by changing policies on allowances which currently favor those at the centre of government, and by giving HTRS areas greater financial management flexibility; and 3) to put a time limit on the assessment of measures to fix the state, leaving open the possibility that market mechanisms might eventually present the best option in dealing with inequity in public services. -
Publication
Development of 13 Mozambican Municipalities in Central and Northern Mozambique : Summary report
(World Bank, 2011-04-01)The objective of this study on the Development of 13 Mozambican Municipalities in Central and Northern Mozambique is to assess the impact that the 2008 reforms on own-source revenues is having on the municipal revenue potential. To do so, it calculates the revenue potential of four fiscal and three non-fiscal revenue sources. The analysis shows that there is substantial untapped revenue potential at the municipal level, with estimates indicating that -in the case of the most buoyant local revenue sources- municipalities are only collecting about half of the revenue potential. In the worst cases, municipalities are collecting far less than 10 percent of the total revenue potential of a local revenue source. The fact that a revenue gaps exists is not only an indication of weak municipal performance. Municipalities have relatively recently been created and it takes time, capacity, and effort, to consolidate their revenue functions. Tax administration is overall still weak and a series of vacuums exist on the municipal fiscal legislation. The analysis reveals that the current revenue instruments at the disposal of municipalities are generally appropriate municipal revenue instruments, so that efforts at the national and municipal levels should be made to build the capacity of the local tax administration to collect these revenues. The report provides specific suggestions on ways to strengthen the revenue collection for the main municipal revenue instruments. However, in addition to increasing municipal tax effort, the expenditure needs of municipalities are so demanding that additional intergovernmental transfers and tax sharing arrangements should also be considered as a building block of municipal finances in Mozambique. The results of this study aim to become part of the ongoing dialogue with the municipalities and national tax authorities to expand the understanding of municipal revenues in Mozambique on the basis of more sound empirical evidence. The scope of this analysis was limited to a sample of six municipalities. In-depth case studies were prepared for each of these municipalities, upon which the current Summary Report is based. The six case municipalities include: Beira, Cuamba, Marromeu, Nacala, Ribaue, and Vilankulo. To bring the Summary Report and the six municipal cases together in the most effective way, the current report follows the same structure as each of the municipal cases. The diagnosis of the current situation is presented in Section 2, followed by a discussion on the estimation of municipal revenue potential in Section 3. Proposals and recommendations regarding the strengthening of municipal revenue collection are presented in Section 4.