Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs

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https://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.

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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Public Transport Microenterprises : Formalization Experiences In South Africa
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-12) Ahmed, Yasir
This note outlines the progress achieved by the Western Cape Provincial Government to attain formalization of the minibus taxi industry envisaged in terms of the National Taxi Task Team (NTTT) recommendations released in September 1996. The Western Cape departed from the other eight Provinces of South Africa by deciding to commit key elements of the NTTT recommendations to legislation in the Western Cape Road Transportation Act Amendment Law. This action was prompted by the determination of the Provincial Minister of Transport to arrest the violent situation that had characterized the Minibus Taxi Industry up to then. The formation of a Provincial Taxi Working Group (PTWG) backed by this legislation has been an effective means to advance the formalization process in the Western Cape Province. This initiative is currently at its most active, and will continue through the remainder of 1998 and into 1999, until the minibus taxi industry has been fully regulated. Training and economic restructuring measures are also being provided according to the NTTT recommendations.
CARE Peri-Urban Lusaka Small Enterprise (CARE PULSE) Project Zambia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-12) Amuah, Alexander K.
In January 1992, at the invitation of the Zambian Government, CARE International commenced operations in Zambia and set up a local branch named CARE Zambia. The initial focus of its programs was emergency relief in response to the severe drought of the early 1990s and interventions to militate against the effects of escalating inflation and extreme poverty in urban areas. Two years after its inauguration, CARE Zambia launched the Peri-Urban Lusaka Small Enterprise (PULSE) Project. The overall goal is to increase household income, economic security and employment opportunities among the families of poor micro-entrepreneurs in peri-urban areas of Zambia, through the provision of sustainable savings and credit services. The program provides working capital to micro and small-scale entrepreneurs, mostly women, who reside in the peri-urban areas of Mtendere and George. This service has recently been extended to Mandevu, Chawama and some peri-urban areas of Lusaka.
Ghana - Women's Role in Improved Economic Performance
(Washington, DC, 1999-10) World Bank
The Government of Ghana's program to develop a gender strategy has been supported by the World Bank. This article is based on a Bank-assisted sector study, Ghana: gender analysis and policymaking for development. The Bank team worked closely with Ghanaian Ministries of Agriculture, Micro-finance, Education, and Health to identify gender issues and study feasible recommendations. Along with the government, a broad range of stakeholders participated in the study, including academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and women's groups. Through workshops and mission visits, four points of focus were identified for the study: agriculture, micro-enterprises, education, and health. Many of the stakeholders also emphasized the importance of strengthening Ghana's institutional capacity to develop and implement policies that adequately address gender concerns. The study focuses on two broad areas of gender-based differences and inequalities: the links between gender and economic productivity, and the development of human capital. In addition to the study described here, the Ghanaian government produced two policy documents from this study; both are now under final review within the government.
Uganda’s Integrated Information Management System : A New Approach in Statistical Capacity-Building
(Washington, DC, 1999-09) World Bank
Uganda is embarking on a major program to upgrade its statistical systems. As with many African countries, the quality of national statistics and the timeliness with which they are produced have been issues of considerable concern for a number of years. It has suffered from problems common to many national statistical offices, including: high staff turnover, inadequate funding, lack of timeliness in delivering outputs, unevenness in quality of data produced and inability to respond quickly to new data needs. The starting point for reform has been to persuade government and donors to commit more resources to essential statistical activities. This led to the establishment in 1999 of a new semi-autonomous Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) and to the development of a draft UBOS Corporate Action Plan. The World Bank will be channeling its support through the Second Economic and Financial Management Project (EFMPII). The main goal of the program is to support the building of national capacity to collect, process, store and disseminate statistical information for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating outcomes and outputs of development policies and programs at both national and district levels.
Ethiopia - The Gilgel Gibe Resettlement Project
(Washington, DC, 1999-08) World Bank
The development plan of the Federal Government of Ethiopia emphasized low-cost energy supply as a prerequisite to the enhancement of industrial and economic development for the period 1984-1993. Current power planning studies have estimated Ethiopia's hydropower potential at 30,000 MW, which greatly exceeds foreseeable domestic demands. Presently, only 1 percent of the potential is utilized. The government has therefore initiated the implementation of the Gilgel Gibe hydroelectric power plant to enhance industrial development and increase its national income through export sales of surplus energy to neighboring countries. The World Bank-assisted Ethiopia Second Energy, projected to end in the year 2000 will help to realize this objective. The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) will implement the construction of the power plant, whose reservoir will cover an area of 6200 ha, necessitating land acquisition and involuntary resettlement. An environmental assessment (EA) including a social assessment was carried out and a resettlement action plan (RAP) designed to address the adverse social impacts presumed to be linked to the building of the reservoir. The reservoir as well as the resettlement site are located in the Oromia Region under the Jima zone administration. The host population and the resettled population are both Oromo and of Moslem faith. The main economic activity of the population is agriculture and animal husbandry.
Uganda - Using Surveys for Public Sector Reform
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-07) Reinikka, Ritva
Data that can be used to inform policy decisions are typically scarce in low-income countries, where standard policy prescriptions are less likely to apply. Interventions based on inadequate information and thus misguided assumptions may not achieve expected results, despite the fact that substantial public or donor funds are being spent. For example, an adjustment operation that focuses on spending allocations may achieve its benchmarks but have no effect on actual service delivery. Diagnostic surveys can provide vital information for decision-makers when institutional weaknesses inhibit a more regular flow of information. If strategically designed, a survey can help induce policy change by pointing directly to the main bottlenecks, making it easier for policymakers to find solutions. This note summarizes a case in Uganda where a diagnostic survey proved particularly useful in an effort to improve public spending on health and education.
Ghana - Financial Services for Women Entrepreneurs in the Informal Sector
(1999-06) World Bank
The Ghana Microfinance Institution (MFI) action research network brings together organizations interested in providing financial services to the poor in Ghana. With World Bank support, the network carried out this study which provides brief descriptions of the innovations that informal, semi-formal, and formal MFIs have developed in providing financial services to female entrepreneurs in Ghana. It also makes recommendations on how such services can be strengthened and improved.
Zambia - The Social Recovery Project's Community Initiatives Component
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-06) Barkworth, Clare
The Social Recovery Project (SRP) supports small, simple and locally-generated community-based projects that improve infrastructure and service delivery to the poor during the adjustment period in Zambia. Communities themselves prioritize their needs, identify solutions, organize themselves, contribute in cash and kind and initiate activities that provide solutions to their problems. The first community-based project was financed by the first Social Recovery Project in early 1992. The second Social Recovery Project was negotiated and became effective in 1995. In 1997 two further facilities were made available for community-based roads and environment projects. The Microprojects Unit (MPU), based in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, provides the institutional base of the Social Recovery Project. The MPU is a small semi-autonomous unit with a network of regional offices throughout the country, which support and facilitate district and community activities.
Informatics and Social Action Funds in SubSaharan Africa
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-05) Pidatala, Krishna; Raheem, Ghazali
The note outlines the impact of three of the largest Bank-assisted social action funds in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the role the informatics component of each of these funds (Ethiopia, Malawi, and Zambia), played in the dynamics of project implementation. Lessons highlight the significance of informatics as a development tool, particularly in the design, and implementation of social funds. However, due to the diverse geographical nature of these social action funds, technical expertise was spread too thin at the regional levels, contributing to ineffective results in information technology, consequently with increased costs in time, and resources.
Zambia's Credit Management Services : Micro-Credit Schemes for Women Enterpreneurs
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-05) Amuah, Alexander
Credit Management Services Limited (CMS) was established in 1992 as a subsidiary of Molver and Company, a Zambian accounting company. It provides lending services through four schemes. This Action Research best practice study focuses on micro-credit schemes for women entrepreneurs. CMS lends to members of existing women's clubs. The success of CMS is to a large extent attributable to its innovative approach to micro-credit delivery -- portfolio diversification, use of existing institutions, transparent MIS, and regular club meetings. The CMS management has learned these lessons: a) high potential for rural savings, b) close supervision improves performance; c) women are a lower credit risk; d) the value of strict contract enforcement; and e) critical minimum loan size.