Other Infrastructure Study

372 items available

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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 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.
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.
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.
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.