Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs

415 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

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.

Items in this collection

Now showing 1 - 10 of 36

Zambia : The Enterprise Development Project
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-03) Mohan, P.C.
The Enterprise Development Project (EDP) - 1998-2003 - was designed to support, with a credit of US$ 45 million, Zambia's Economic Reform Program that began in 1991. One of the key aspects of this reform program was to dismantle traditional state-supported enterprise development mechanisms and replace these with market-determined enterprise development structures. Three specific objectives were identified : (i) enhancing Zambian firms' technical know-how by providing demand-driven assistance to Zambian firms in the form of matching grants; (ii) enhancing Zambian firms' access to finance by providing a long-term credit facility for investments and a short-term credit line for exporters; and (iii) strengthening the financial system and availability of information resources in Zambia by providing technical assistance to help strengthen the institutional underpinnings of the financial system at the wholesale, retail and regulatory levels.
Burkina Faso : The Post-Primary Education Project
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-02) Mohan, P.C.
In September 1994, the Government of Burkina Faso held a national convention on post-primary education to analyze the status of this sub-sector and to define a forward-looking strategy. In August 1995, the government initiated a 10-year post-primary education development plan ( PDEPP ) which focused on the educational system as the key determining factor for human resource development. Following a request from the government, the World Bank agreed to providing a credit of US$ 36.6 million (1997-2004) which would support the plan through (i) the promotion of cost-effective and equitable use of education resources; and (ii) an increase in access to and the quality of education.
Senegal : The National Rural Infrastructure Project (NRIP)
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-01) Mohan, P.C.
The objectives of the project - a credit of US$ 28.5 million equivalent over the period 2001-05 - were to: (i) improve decentralized local government and capacity; (ii) establish participatory and decentralized mechanisms for selecting, funding and implementing rural community investment programs; (iii) strengthen national institutions supporting decentralization; and (iv) implement basic infrastructure in a selected number of rural communities. The project was designed as an Adaptable Program of Lending (APL) to support a three-phase program over a 12-year period. The first 4-year period would be used to test and establish mechanisms for sustainable decentralized infrastructure planning and implementation, strengthen the capacity of rural communities to operate and maintain investments and reinforce national institutions responsible for decentralization. The first phase was also to include a program to improve intra-rural community roads and to test maintenance strategies.
Tanzania - River Basin Management and Smallholder Irrigation Project
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-11) Mohan, P.C.
Tanzania's ability to manage scarce water resources became a national issue in the early to mid-1990s. New opportunities in agriculture, and the greater demand for water for irrigation and hydropower, together with the long dry season and several years of less-than-average rainfall, contributed to water scarcity and conflicts, while the lack of information on water quantity and quality, and an inadequate framework for tackling cross-sectoral water issues severely constrained sustainable water resource management. Tanzania has defined nine river basins for water resources administration. The project components included River Basin Management, and Smallholder Irrigation Improvement and this paper examines impact on the ground and lessons learned from the project.
Malawi - The Emergency Drought Recovery Project
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-10) Mohan, P.C.
This project was designed and implemented (January 2003-November 2004) in response to Malawi's severe food crisis in 2002, caused by the drought and floods in 2001 and 2002, which resulted in a significant drop in maize output, the country's main staple food. The food crisis was exacerbated by a suboptimal harvest in the previous year. In addition, the Early Warning System (EWS) failed by predicting a food surplus when in fact a major food deficit was looming. Poor management of the Strategic Grain Reserve and an over-reliance on maize in the diet were additional factors which compounded the crisis. This combination of an IDA credit of $29 million equivalent and a grant of $21 million equivalent were used to finance 3 components. (i) Quick disbursing assistance to support critical imports through a positive list of import requirements linked to the drought and recovery efforts; (ii) Augmentation of the purchasing power of families whose incomes had been reduced as a result of the crisis; and (iii) Support for project implementation, technical assistance and studies. The bulk of the credit/grant ($40 million equivalent) went to support the first component.
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.
Senegal - Successful Innovation in the Water Sector
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-07) Mohan, P.C.
The water sector project's overall development objectives were to address: (a) sustainability, by improving the management, pricing and cost recovery and reducing government subsidies for industrial, domestic and irrigation water; (b) poverty alleviation and health, by increasing access to safe potable water and adequate and more affordable sanitation for the urban poor; and (c) private sector participation, by engaging a private company to manage urban water supply. Implemented over the period 1996-2004, with a credit of US$100 million, the project design and implementation were regarded as highly satisfactory. Donors such as Agence Francaise de Developpement, the European Union and the Banque Ouest Africaine de Developpement (the West African Development Bank) actively participated in the design of the project.
Uganda - Small Towns Water and Sanitation
(2005-06) Mohan, P.C.
The specific objectives of this project (Credit of US$42.3 million over the period 1995-2003) were to: (a) improve health conditions through better water supply, excreta disposal, waste management and public hygiene; (b) alleviate poverty and improve the lot of women; and (c) reduce environmental degradation through better waste management. The project was to provide improved and sustainable water supply and sanitation services in two groups of towns: (a) the 11 small towns ( Busia, Kalisizo, Kyotera, Lugazi, Luwero, Lyantonde, Malaba, Ntungamo, Rakai, Rukunguri and Wobulenzi ), where most of the town populations drew water from boreholes with hand pumps, springs and traditional sources such as rivers and lakes - this was to be implemented by the Directorate of Water Development ( DWD ); and (b) the rehabilitation of the water sewerage services in Jinja, to be expanded to include Njeru.- to be implemented by the National Water and Sewerage Corporation ( NWSC ).
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.