Other Infrastructure Study

2020-10, World Bank

The objective of this good practice note (GPN) on dam safety is to provide additional guidance to World Bank staff on the application of relevant requirements under the environmental and social framework (ESF). This GPN provides guidance on using a risk management approach to the application of the dam safety requirements. The guidance contained in this note is designed to enhance the quality of practice without creating new requirements for the application of the ESF. The GPN provides guidance on compliance requirements, a risk management approach to dam safety, risk analysis tools, quality of information and capacity, application to World Bank operations, and procedural aspects. The GPN pertains to: (a) construction of new dams or dams under construction (DUC) under investment project financing (IPF); (b) rehabilitation of existing dams under IPF; and (c) existing dams or DUC that are not financed under IPF, on which the project relies or may rely.

2012, PROFOR

As donors pledge growing support for protecting and managing forests to address climate change, the question of how to pay tropical countries to reduce their emissions from deforestation and forest degradation assumes greater urgency. Depending on the detailed implementation of REDD plus at a national and international level, forest nations may be able to secure funding from a range of sources, including donors and multilateral funds (a funded approach) and the voluntary and compliance carbon markets (a carbon markets-based approach). These payments are supposed to act as financial incentives that will engender changes in behavior and policy frameworks, spur the development of appropriate institutional arrangements and needed technologies, and motivate both national and international coordination to achieve REDD plus objectives. These pages provide a brief synthesis of four papers financed by the Program on Forests (PROFOR). All four papers are included in a CD enclosed at the end of this booklet. The papers are: making benefit sharing arrangements work for forest-dependent people: overview of insights for REDD plus Initiative (Chandrasekharan Behr, 2012); identifying and working with beneficiaries when rights are unclear (Bruce, 2012); assessing options for effective mechanisms to share benefits (PwC, 2012); and benefit sharing in practice.

2013-04, Braune, Loic, Megevand, Carole, Wekhamp, Johanna, Dulal, Hari

The Congo Basin is among the most poorly served areas in terms of transport infrastructure in the world, and it faces a challenging environment with dense tropical forests crisscrossed by numerous rivers that require construction of numerous bridges. Given such complexities, constructing transport infrastructure as well as properly maintaining it is certainly a key challenge for the Congo Basin countries. Recent studies indicate that investment required per kilometer of new roads is substantially higher than in other regions of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the same applies for maintenance. The physical capital of transport infrastructure is deteriorated in the Congo Basin. The ratio of classify roads in good and fair conditions range from 25 percent in Republic of Congo to 68 percent in the Central African Republic, which is globally lower than the average for low-income countries (LICs) and resource-rich countries. Other transportation assets (railways and river system) are also limited: the railway network is essentially a legacy of the colonial era and mainly used for mineral transportation, while the river system is basically only marginal.

2012-06, World Bank

Within a partnership framework with the Emirate of Dubai, the government of Djibouti has developed, during the last decade, an outstanding port and logistics hub with few precedents in other African countries. The objective of the present study is to strengthen the competitiveness of the ports of Djibouti (old port of Djibouti and new port of Doraleh) and ensure their medium-term and long-term development by designing a modern and efficient regulation system for private port operators, and specifically addressing issues related to the quality of service and pricing, in addition to institutional related issues. The port of Djibouti's competitiveness can be measured by its capacity to counter competition from other ports through the quality of its infrastructures and services, performance and port costs. Real or potential competition facing the port of Djibouti concerns non-captive traffic and its two components, transit and transshipment traffic. The port of Djibouti's natural competitors for Ethiopia's transit traffic are the ports of Berbera, Assab, Massawa, Port Soudan and Mombasa due to landlocked Ethiopia's extensive terrestrial borders with Somalia, Eritrea, Soudan, and Kenya. But this competition remains potential and very marginal due to the unfavorable geopolitical context and/or the inferior quality of infrastructures of these ports. Conditions of competition regarding transit traffic could nevertheless evolve as it is in Ethiopia's natural interest to diversify its sea-access routes so as not to depend on a single port that may be tempted to abuse of its dominant position with non-competitive tariffs. Contrary to existing competition on container transshipment traffic, potential competition on transit traffic will have a more considerable impact on all Djibouti port operators in terms of tonnage handled and revenue loss, as it will affect all types of traffic (conventional and containerized, liquid and dry bulk) and because transit charges are considerably more lucrative than transshipment charges. Port activities that need to be regulated to reinforce the port of Djibouti's competitiveness are the commercial services for cargos and vessels provided by port operators.