Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs

415 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9389

These briefs report on ongoing operational, economic, and sector work carried out by the World Bank and its member governments in the Africa Region.

Items in this collection

Now showing 1 - 10 of 12

Cape Verde : Improving Education and Training

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-10) Mohan, P.C.

This Credit equivalent of US $6 million was intended to develop, through the Education and Training Consolidation and Modernization project (ETCMP ) - 1999-2003 - a technically and financially sustainable education and training system to ensure an educated and flexible work force capable of responding to the country's social and economic goals. The project was a follow-up to the previous IDA-funded Basic Education and Training project.
Benin - Decentralized City Management

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-08) Mohan, P.C.

The objective of the First Decentralized City Management project - 2000-2004 (credit equivalent of US$25.5 million) was to provide better quality and more cost-effective basic services to urban residents, especially the poor, of Benin's 3 main cities - Cotonou, Porto- Novo and Parakou. The project was the first phase of a planned 2-phase Adaptable Program Loan (APL) and followed a previously successful project, the Urban Rehabilitation and Management project.
Sierra Leone - Community Reintegration and Rehabilitation

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-05) Mohan, P.C.

The objective of the project (Credit of US$25 million from the World Bank over the period 2000-2003) was to support the peace process and expedite the return of stability to Sierra Leone through the support of two initiatives - one that helped reintegrate demobilized combatants into social and economic life and the other that sought to restore basic socioeconomic infrastructure and services in the communities most affected by the war. The successful implementation of the project was also a precondition for any other Bank investment in Sierra Leone.
Madagascar - The Third Social Fund Project

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-03) Mohan, P.C.

The project ($ 15 million plus another $18 million - 1999-2003 ) had four objectives: (i) improved access of poor rural populations to social and economic infrastructure; (ii) on a pilot basis, empowerment of poor rural communities and/or communes to identify, organize, manage funds and implement sub-projects responsive to community needs; (iii) employment creation; and (iv) increased capacity of the private sector, local small contractors, artisans, skilled labor, and NGOs. Madagascar was struck by a series of cyclones that damaged basic infrastructure over the first three months of 2000. As part of the multi-pronged approach to assist the country in its rehabilitation efforts, in July 2000, the World Bank's Board approved a Supplemental Credit of $18 million - there was no change, however, in the project's original objectives.
Kenya - The Arid Lands Resource Management Project

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-02) Mohan, P.C.

The project ( 1996-2001 - US$22 million credit ) was uniquely designed as a risk management instrument - it conceived the establishment of a viable, government-run system of drought management, through early warning systems, contingency plans, mitigation and quick response. The design also devolved responsibility to the district and community level, encouraging civil servants and other district development actors to empower local communities in the design and implementation of development projects. The project built on the experience of others before it such as the Netherlands-supported Drought Management Project ( DMP ) and subsequently, the Drought Preparedness, Intervention and Recovery Project ( DPIRP ). The IDA-financed Emergency Drought Recovery Project (EDRP ) also provided useful insights.
Benin - Transport Sector Investment Program

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-12) Mohan, P.C.

The objectives of this project (1997-2001) using $40 million of IDA funds were to: (i) safeguard the competitiveness of Benin's transport sector and of its transit corridor through open modal competition; (ii) improve government's capacity for planning, programming and managing transport sector investments; (iii) boost the allocation of resources to infrastructure maintenance; (iv) boost the recovery of user infrastructure charges; (v) expand private sector participation in public works and maximize its impact on the creation of jobs for unskilled labor; (vi) build capacity in sector institutions and optimize human resource utilization; and (vii) protect the environment and improve safety conditions.
Mauritania : Urban Infrastructure and Pilot Decentralization Project

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-10) Mohan, P.C.

The project, implemented between 1996 and 2001 with World Bank funding of US$24 million had two components: (i) a program of poverty-oriented, labor-intensive works subprojects in participating cities, consisting of the rehabilitation or construction of urban infrastructure and community facilities; and (ii) capacity building ( pilot decentralization) at the municipal and national levels. The project capitalized on the work and experience gained by the country, the Region and the Bank through the earlier "highly satisfactory" Construction Capacity and Employment Project (CCEP). The project created approximately 46,281 man-months of temporary jobs- more than twice the projected number. There was a delegation of 125 contract management conventions covering 149 infrastructure construction and/or rehabilitation subprojects completed in 13 cities, which accounts for 85 percent of the urban population or 1.2 million inhabitants. Nouakchott and Nouadhibou consumed 40 percent of the investments, commensurate with their share of the urban population (37 percent). Of the 149 subprojects, 144 were fully executed (5 were under implementation in 2002) targeting the most under-serviced neighborhoods. Two-thirds of the subprojects were for educational and social infrastructure and contributed to the reduction of crowding, improvement of hygiene and security in schools, access to primary health, and, to a lesser extent, access to productive assets. Revenue-generating projects accounted for about 18 percent of the total coat of $15.4 million-these included the rehabilitation and/or construction of new markets, slaughterhouses, livestock enclosures, and taxi stations.
Mozambique - Improving the Quality of University Graduates

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-07) Mohan, P.C.

In 1990, Mozambique had fewer than 3,000 university-trained persons. Less than 15 percent of civil service personnel had a university degree, and more than a third of civil servants had less than seven years of primary education. Highly trained and professionally experienced Mozambicans tended to gravitate towards the private sector. Consequently, the planning and management of both public and private sector activities were adversely impacted. This Infobrief focuses on the expansion in the quantity and improvement in the quality of university graduates, a specific objective of the World Bank-assisted Capacity Building: Human Resources Development project which was implemented between 1993 and 2001. The number of students graduating annually from UEM has increased five times during project implementation (1994-2001), from 148 in 1994 to 695 in 2000. The percentage of graduates who complete all degree requirements within the official prescribed time has increased from 5 percent in 1997 to 15 percent in 2000. The overall average examination pass rate has improved from 39 percent in 1994 to 53 percent in 2000. Under the project, 4,350 book titles were imported and 159 textbook titles were produced locally. While the targeted number of books distributed to each student was five, survey questionnaires to a sample of economics and engineering students found that each student had 7-10 books. Critical capacity building needs in the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) were addressed through a strategy based on linking with selected universities outside the country. Libraries and reading space serving the faculties of agriculture, architecture, economics, veterinary science and medicine were expanded. Overall, about 50 percent of the university infrastructure was rehabilitated as planned.
Malawi - Lessons Learned From Public Works Programs

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-06) Mohan, P.C.

In designing Public Work programs (PWPs), it is important to clarify whether the objectives are developmental or to deal with short-term shocks. PWPs make a significant contribution to sustained poverty reduction only when carefully designed to include a graduation strategy (e.g., economic activities training, savings and life skills training) or where continuity of employment is viable (e.g., financed through routine maintenance budgets). Programs lasting twelve months or more can allow for asset acquisition, training and higher risk economic activity. In this way, beneficiaries can begin to graduate out of PWP employment. Valuable assets have been created under PWPs, contributing to economic growth (environmental protection, access routes etc.). In Malawi, full cost recovery will not be possible for some time. It is therefore essential that PWPs budget for maintenance of such assets. PWPs are a valuable vehicle for developing capacity and empowering local government bodies in Malawi. Adequate provision must be made however, for local government administrative and supervision costs. PWPs are a means of skills transfer in participating communities. As a result, follow-on programs find residual knowledge and organizational capacity in place.
Indigenous Knowledge for Development

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2001-11) Mohan, P.C.

The Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program, started in 1998, was the Bank's response to clients, and civil society who called for a more systematic integration of the indigenous knowledge (IK) in the development process. The program developed partnerships, and collaborative links with mostly nongovernmental organizations-operated IK resource centers in Africa, and, its objectives include raising awareness about the potential use of IK in development, disseminating pertinent information, and integrating IK into Bank projects, and capacity building of local institutions. The note reviews the impact on the ground of Bank projects, of research cooperation between NGOs, and/or other institutions on medicinal plants, of sharing environmental management programs, and of information exchange and dissemination. Lessons address the need to recognize IK existing trends, and institutionalize selectively, while seeking partnerships to foster the process with a national, local, and institutional official support. Moreover, lessons stress the need for wider stakeholder involvement, to pursue, and enrich the development process.