Other Infrastructure Study

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Zimbabwe Infrastructure Policy Review
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-12-09) Ringskog, Klas
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.
The Future of Water in African Cities : Why Waste Water? Integrating Urban Planning and Water Management in Sub-Saharan Africa, Background Report
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-01) Bloch, Robin
This paper is one of a series of analytical studies commissioned by the World Bank's Africa Region and Water Anchor which are intended to identify and address the future challenges of urban water supply, sanitation and flood management in Sub-Saharan Africa's (SSA) cities and towns. Following the terms of reference for the assignment, and as indicated by its title, the paper is directed at understanding and describing the linkages and interdependencies between water management and water security on the one hand, and urbanization, urban planning and development on the other. The paper is structured in six sections. Section one presents an overview of urbanization trends in SSA. This is followed by a discussion in Section two of what can be seen as the corollary of the unprecedented urban population growth now occurring and projected for SSA, large-scale urban expansion, involving potentially massive increases in urban land cover. This expansion has implications, also discussed in section two, for the internal structuring of African cities and towns, and for the planning and development of the overall urban form which is resulting, as well as for the environmental risks cities and towns face now and into the future. This 'poor urban planning' in the present-day has its roots in the inherited practices of colonial-era planning theories and practices, which are described in section three. These still resonate, as discussed in section four, which discusses key constituent aspects of contemporary planning systems in Africa, as illustrated by a number of case studies. In section five, the focus shifts to the current institutional experience with urban water management, again with a number of good practice cases provided. The author then turn in the concluding section seven to the key concern of this issues paper: that of integrating urban planning and water management as the Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) approach emerges- or, perhaps to put it better, of finding ways in which such integration can promote the emergence of IUWM. This is a necessary but difficult task, complicated by the reality that, as seen in the quote above, IUWM requires quite considerable coordination within the water sector alone. Moreover, our preceding analysis demonstrates, and this is the core argument of this paper, that seen from the side of the overall urban planning system, the deficiencies, decline and the delegitimizing of the 'traditional' planning system and practices in SSA, and the theory which underpins them, along with the failure to modernize them in a consistent fashion, has led, if anything, to greater fragmentation in the planning and managing of urban development. Land use planning and infrastructure (and other sector) planning, including water, typically occur in an uncoordinated fashion. This makes planning adequately for large-scale urban growth and expansion that much more difficult.
International Experience in Bus Rapid Transit Implementation : Synthesis of Lessons Learned from Lagos, Johannesburg, Jakarta, Delhi, and Ahmedabad
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-01) Kumar, Ajay; Zimmerman, Samuel; Agarwal, O.P.
It is in this context that this study has been undertaken to document BRT case studies in terms of the political setting, institutions/governance, public involvement and communications, service/operations/management and planning and their relationship to investment performance. The study has been undertaken in recognition of the fact that successful implementation and operation of BRT systems often reflects non-physical actors like leadership, communications, organizational structure, service planning and operating practices rather than the design of transitways, stations, terminals and vehicles. This paper does not seek to compare BRT with other forms of public transport but only seeks to evaluate a sample of BRT systems in terms of the softer issues that have contributed making a BRT system successful or not so successful.
Equity in Public Services in Tanzania and Uganda
(Washington, DC, 2011-04-30) World Bank
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.
Public-Private Partnership in Telecommunications Infrastructure Projects : Case of the Republic of Congo
(Washington, DC, 2011-01) World Bank
This paper delineates the role of government in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in the telecommunication sector in the Republic of the Congo. PPPs offer policy makers an opportunity to improve the delivery of services and the management of facilities, and help to mobilize private capital which in turn speeds up the delivery of public infrastructure. Along with power and transportation infrastructure projects, telecommunication figures among the most growing area in PPP projects in Africa. Nevertheless, fitting telecommunication projects into a PPP model is challenging. In order to address these challenges, this paper also summarizes the achievements in Congo's economic infrastructure sector, the risks allocated to the implementation of the project, and recommends World Bank Group risk mitigation instruments.
Public-Private Partnership in Telecommunications Infrastructure Projects : Case of the Democratic Republic of Congo
(Washington, DC, 2011-01) World Bank
This paper outlines the role of government in infrastructure Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in the telecommunication industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It also summarizes the state of Congo's telecommunication infrastructure, the advantages of Open Access Network (OAN) as a Broadband PPP Business Model, as well as risks allocated to the implementation of the project and proposes the World Bank Group risk mitigation instruments.
Zimbabwe Infrastructure Dialogue in Roads, Railways, Water, Energy, and Telecommunication Sub-Sectors
(Washington, DC, 2008-06) World Bank
In the 1990s, Zimbabwe's economic growth began to slow following a balance of payments crisis and repeated droughts. By the late 1990s Zimbabwe's economy was in serious trouble driven by economic mismanagement, political violence, and the wider impact of the land reform program on food production. During 2007 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contract by more than 6 percent, making the cumulative output decline over 35 percent since 1999. The unrelenting economic deterioration is doing long-term damage to the foundations of the Zimbabwean economy, private sector investment is virtually zero, infrastructure has deteriorated, and skilled professionals have left the country. With inflation accelerating, the Government introduced, in 2007, blanket price controls and ordered businesses to cut prices by half. Despite the strict price controls inflation continues to rise as the root cause of high inflation, monetization of the large public sector financing needs remains unaddressed. A large part of the high public sector deficit is due to quasi-fiscal spending by the central bank on mainly concessional credits and subsidized foreign exchange for priority sectors, unrealized exchange rate losses, and losses incurred by the central bank's open market operations to mop up liquidities.
Lessons Learned from Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in Transport Sector Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa
(Washington, DC, 2008-06) World Bank
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) pandemic burdens Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and continues to constrain its social and economic advancement. Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has estimated that in southern Africa alone, 930,000 adults and children died of AIDS in 2005. This represents about one-third of AIDS deaths recorded globally that year. In addition, about 12 million children below the age of 17 in SSA are estimated to have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Africa Technical Transport Sector Unit (AFTTR) has made progress in mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in its portfolio. However, there is still more work ahead in ensuring that all projects are mainstreamed as needed. In this context, the transport sector board needs to continue supporting such future mainstreaming efforts by establishing a sector board strategy for HIV/AIDS activities on Bank-financed transport projects. The diverse nature of transportation activities implies that mainstreaming is both challenging and urgent. In 2000, the Africa transport team gave high priority to its contribution to the campaign against the HIV/AIDS pandemic and pledged to mainstream HIV/AIDS actions in the Bank's lending operations and at country level in the transport sector. The transport sector contributed significantly through integrating simple activities into its operations (such as HIV/AIDS contract clauses into bidding documents for road construction site workers). Similarly, the Bank financed a first-round workshop to prepare HIV/AIDS prevention policy in the workplace for Ministry employees. Its main objective is to develop and implement highly focused prevention interventions to reduce HIV/AIDS prevalence and slow down the spread of the disease in the transport sector. This document is subdivided in four sections. The first section gives background information on the transport sector and HIV/AIDS. The second section describes the Bank's transport sector activities, with particular focus on the Africa region and its achievements regarding HIV/AIDS. The third section presents the process and the results of the assessment of the Africa transport sector portfolio for HIV/AIDS mainstreaming. The fourth section enumerates the lessons learned as well as the recommendations made to the World Bank's Transport Sector Board and to stakeholders in the client countries.