AFRICA GROUP I CONSTITUENCY A Newsletter from the Office of the Executive Director

In This Issue

Message from the Executive

Director

Feature Story: Enhanced Support for Infra-structure: An Imperative for Africa’s Devel-opment

Highlights of the IDA Working Group on

Results Meeting

The World Bank Group Establishes a Trust

Fund for the Republic of South Sudan

Uganda’s Minister of Finance Visits the

Office of the Executive Director

Executive Director’s Outreach to Constitu-

ency Countries

Snapshot of Approved Projects

Upcoming Meetings

Hassan A. Taha

Executive Director

Volume II, Issue II

September 2011

The World Bank Africa Group I Constituency Newsletter is published quarterly by the Office of the

Executive Director for Africa Group I.

Executive Director

Hassan A. Taha

Alternate Executive Director

Denny H. Kalyalya

The Executive Director for Africa Group I Constituency is a mem-

ber of the Executive Board of the World Bank Group (IBRD, IDA,

IFC and MIGA) . The Board comprises 25 Executive Directors, each

representing a specified constituency. Africa Group I Constituency

comprises 21 Sub-Saharan African countries: Botswana, Burundi,

Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi,

Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia

(informally), Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and

Zimbabwe.

According to the Executive Directors Handbook and Manual, Ex-

ecutive Directors are responsible for the conduct of the general

operations of the Bank and exercise all the powers delegated to

them by the Board of Governors under the Articles of Agreement.

In the discharge of their duties, they serve a dual function: (i) as

officials of the Bank and (ii) as representatives of the member coun-

try or countries that appointed or elected them.

In terms of specific functions, Executive Directors, among others,

consider and approve or reject IBRD loan and grant proposals, IFC

investments, MIGA guarantees as well as IDA credits, grant and

guarantee proposals made by the President. They also decide on

polices that guide the Bank’s general operations. They are responsi-

ble for presenting to the Board of Governors at the Annual Meet-

ings, audited accounts, an administrative budget, and an annual

report on the Bank’s operations and policies as well as other mat-

ters. In shaping Bank policy, the Board of Executive Directors

takes into account the evolving perspectives of member countries

on the role of the Bank Group as well as the Bank’s operational

experience and policies. The Executive Directors have Board com-

mittees that monitor closely Bank Group operations. The commit-

tees are serviced by independent monitoring and evaluation, audit

as well as investigative entities.

For Electronic or hard copies—see contact below:

Telephone: (202) 458-2105

Facsimile: (202) 522-1549

Email: Ckavuma@worldbank.org

Website: http://www.worldbank.org/eds14

©2011 by Africa Group I Executive Director’s Office, The World

Bank

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Message from the Executive Di-rector

2

Feature Story: Enhanced Support for Infrastructure: An Imperative for Africa’s Development

3

Highlights of the IDA Working Group on Results Meeting

5

The World Bank Group Estab-

lishes a Trust Fund for the Repub-

lic of South Sudan

6

Uganda’s Minister of Finance Visits the Office of the Executive Director

6

World Bank Group Recognizes the Republic of Zambia as a Lower-Middle Income Country

7

Executive Director’s Outreach to Constituency Countries

8

Snapshot of Approved Projects 14

Upcoming Meetings 18

In efforts to address the multi-

sectoral development

challenges, the relevance of

infrastructure is re-emerging as

a critical issue. This is but-

tressed by an evolving consen-

sus that infrastructure has

transformative attributes that

can positively affect other core

development-oriented sectors.

These sectors, in turn, with

their inter-linkages, contribute

to economic growth, poverty reduction and sustainable

development. In this regard, there are several supporting

research findings and documented lessons-learned, which

indicate that appropriate infrastructure engenders in-

creased economic activities, facilitates access to markets,

contributes to the enhancement of the investment cli-

mate and helps to increase the mobility and economic

activities of the population. It is also contended that ap-

propriate infrastructure minimizes some of the other

main causes of poverty, such as, lack of access to material

and information resources as well as social services.

At the regional level, infrastructure development is par-

ticularly crucial to promoting the movement of goods and

services, including intellectual capital. During the past

three months, “transformation through infrastructure for

development” has been among the topical issues dis-

cussed at the Executive Board’s meetings.

The discussions noted that Africa lags behind virtually all

other regions in the area of infrastructure. This defi-

ciency is also virtually in every classification of infra-

structure — energy, transportation, telecommunication,

irrigation, water, sewerage, sanitation and other facilities

in the areas of education, health, human habitat and pub-

lic administration. In this context, it is encouraging that

the World Bank Group would be increasingly focusing on

transformative infrastructure in the development of its new

Infrastructure Strategy. According to a recent Update Re-

port on the Bank’s support for infrastructure, the new strat-

egy would be considering infrastructure not purely as one

component of development, but rather from the perspec-

tive of strategic synergies among infrastructure sub-sectors

and other sectors such as agriculture and the environment.

However, funding remains a daunting challenge for most

Sub-Saharan African countries. It is estimated that the cost

of addressing Africa’s infrastructural needs is $93 billion a

year. Official Development Assistance is inadequate to meet

these needs and the IDA resource envelop cannot ade-

quately meet the needs either.

Given the critical role of infrastructure, the main feature

story of this edition of the Newsletter briefly discusses the

imperative for infrastructural development support, high-

lighting concerns about the funding challenges. Included in

this issue are brief accounts of the IDA Working Group on

Results Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal; and the Bank’s estab-

lishment of a Trust Fund for the Republic of South Sudan, a

country that became independent in July of this year. The

Newsletter also features the elevation of Zambia to a lower

middle-income country status and the visit of the Governor

from Uganda, the Minister of Finance, Planning and Eco-

nomic Development to the Office of the Executive Direc-

tor. Highlights of our visits to a number of Constituency

countries are also included in this edition and, as usual,

there is a snapshot of projects approved at the WBG Boards.

Finally, as we look forward to the upcoming IMF and

World Bank Group Annual Meetings next month in Wash-

ington DC, I would like to use this opportunity, on my own

behalf and on behalf of the AED and the entire staff of the

Office, to welcome and wish you all constructive delibera-

tions.

Message from the Executive Director

2

Mr. Hassan A. Taha

Executive Director

3

Feature Story

ENHANCED SUPPORT FOR INFRASTUCTURE:

An Imperative for Africa’s Development

Development of infrastructure, notably in energy, trans-

port, water, sewerage, sanitation, irrigation, information

and communication technology sectors and other physi-

cal facilities in the areas of education, health, human

habitat and public administration is increasingly being

recognized as a critical contributor to economic growth

and sustainable development. It constitutes an essential

input for the achievement of the MDGs and it facilitates

improvement in human development. It is also important

for enhancing trade and regional integration.

Given the importance of infrastructure to development,

Africa’s development is unlikely to proceed at the re-

quired pace to meet the rising expectations of the popula-

tion due to the general inadequacy of infrastructural

physical facilities and services. Infrastructural deficiency

is generally considered one of the major constraints to

factor productivity, growth and development. As ob-

served by many international development institutions,

while the gravity of the situation varies among countries,

the Africa Region, in general, lags behind virtually every

other region and the magnitude of this lag is most notice-

able in Sub-Saharan Africa. In cases where physical infra-

structural structures and networks exist, services to

households are largely expensive, fragmented and unreli-

able. In the rural areas, the situation is compounded by

access constraints as most households are not connected

to the main structures or networks. Moreover, it is re-

ported that less than a third of the rural population in

Africa has access to an all-weather road. As long as the

access issue is not adequately addressed, the situation may

be tantamount to a virtual exclusion of the poor from the

opportunity to effectively participate in and benefit from

many aspects of the development process. This would

adversely affect not only poverty reduction, but also pro-

gress towards sustainable well-being of the majority of

the people and national prosperity.

In conflict and post-conflict countries, the situation is

even more challenging. Conflicts caused the virtual de-

struction of infrastructural facilities leaving the popula-

tion with very little or no sources of electricity, potable

water, modern sewerage system and communication

technology. Transportation was also impaired as the road

network was left in a severe state of disrepair while many

bridges and buildings were damaged or destroyed. Hu-

man and institutional capacity necessary for the renova-

tion, management and maintenance of the facilities in the

post-crisis period were eroded or degraded due to brain

drain and other debilitating factors.

While there have been some positive developments in

the restoration of these services with the support of the

international community in the post-crisis period, critical

infrastructural challenges remain. Considering that the

state of infrastructure were already less than adequate in

the pre-crisis period, these challenges, in a post-crisis

environment, are more difficult, and constitute urgent

compelling and competing needs in an environment of

very limited fiscal space.

Overall, one of the major issues in meeting the increasing

infrastructural needs of sub-Saharan Africa is funding. It

is reported that the estimated cost of funding require-

ments to bring the level of Sub-Saharan Africa’s infra-

structure (including maintenance) on par with the level

of other regional low income countries, ranges from 10-

30 percent of current GDP. While Official Development

Assistance (ODA) is an important source of funding, it

has not been adequate in the past and is most unlikely to

be so in the foreseeable future. This underscores the im-

perative for additional domestic and more innovative

external sources of funding support.

In addition to such funding, it is necessary to ensure that

investment from whatever source, should have strong

positive net returns for accelerated pro-poor growth and

increased productivity results. Such positive net returns

4

Feature story cont...

are necessary for the transformation of other related

growth-inducing sectors. This calls for initiating the nec-

essary reform measures with a view to ensuring the effi-

ciency of the investment portfolio through, among other

things, improved and strengthened financial and debt

management so that borrowing strategies remain consis-

tent with fiscal and debt sustainability. This also calls for

effective assessment and monitoring frameworks and

mechanisms to boost public-private partnerships. In this

process, the overall enhancement of the enabling envi-

ronment for the private sector cannot be overempha-

sized.

The WBG has been providing support for infrastructure

to developing countries over several decades. In the

1990’s it is reported that support declined considerably

on the expectation that substantial support would have

been forthcoming through the private sector. Even then,

WBG support was provided to only a few countries and it

was confined to a limited number of sectors. In view of

the disappointing situation and the increasing awareness

of the multi-sectoral relevance of infrastructure to pov-

erty reduction and sustainable development, the WBG

has since re-engaged with many of its clients and scaled-

up its support for infrastructural development. The

WBG’s re-engagement was also motivated by the rapid

changes in the external environment such as climate

change, increased globalization of trade and services, in-

creasing relevance of regional integration, rapid urbani-

zation, technological progress and rising energy and food

prices.

The WBG’s current involvement in the infrastructure

sector is elaborated in its Sustainable Infrastructure Ac-

tion Plan (SIAP), 2009-2011. The Plan serves as an over-

arching framework that capitalizes on the WBG’s lessons

from the past several decades and its preceding Infra-

structure Action Plan (IAP). During the period of the

IAP and the SIAP, it is reported that the WBG emerged

as the largest multilateral development financier in in-

frastructure for both low income and middle income

countries. This notwithstanding, huge gaps remain, and

as stated earlier, they are most glaring in sub-Saharan

Africa. This includes the vast majority of countries in

Africa Group I Constituency.

As the SIAP comes to a close in 2011, the WBG has em-

barked on the development of a new Infrastructure

Strategy. According to the recent 2011 Update report on

the development of the new strategy, the WBG would

elevate its support to a new level. This level envisages

increasing support through various institutions of the

Bank and broadening the traditional infrastructure en-

gagement in the core areas (water, transport, energy,

and information and communication technology) to-

wards a transformational infrastructure paradigm that

addresses cross sectoral issues and broader developmen-

tal challenges. It also intends to place more emphasis on

public-private partnership.

The intended thrust of the new WBG strategy is indeed

encouraging, but there is a lingering concern about IDA

being the main WBG source of support for most coun-

tries in Africa, including conflict and post-conflict coun-

tries. Given the high cost of infrastructure and IDA’s

underlying constraints and resource limitations, it is

necessary to re-examine the WBG’s support in this con-

text. There is also an apparent need from countries’ per-

spective to improve efficiency of infrastructure opera-

tions. Reducing inefficiencies would minimize the hid-

den costs and thereby contribute to savings that could

be used to increase resources for infrastructure develop-

ment.

5

The first outreach meeting of thee IDA 16 Results and

Effectiveness Working Group was chaired by Dr Samura

Kamara, Minister of Finance and Economic Development

for Sierra Leone. It was held in Lisbon, Portugal in the

margins of the African Development Bank Annual Meet-

ings in June 2011 as a follow on to the IMF Africa Con-

stituency meeting. Countries represented were Botswana,

Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique,

Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Dr Kamara welcomed participants and gave apologies

from the Co-Chairs of the Working Group (Sheku Sesay,

Bank of Sierra Leone - Africa Group I Constituency Dep-

uty Borrower Representative on the IDA Deputies- and

Paul Wojciechowski, Australian Government) who were

unable to attend. Dr Samara summarised the background

to the Working Group and the importance of results,

both in terms of maximising the effectiveness of poverty

reduction efforts, and in demonstrating to people in both

donor and borrowing countries that IDA resources are

Highlights of the IDA Working Group on Results Meeting

being used effectively. Peter Grant from Agulhas Ap-

plied Knowledge facilitated the Working Group consulta-

tions.

Participants provided positive response to the indicators

and framework. They underscored the importance of

separating effectiveness and measurement. The key pri-

ority they noted was to improve effectiveness. The

World Bank’s alignment with country priorities was

deemed good, but a range of important comments in

other areas that need to be addressed were highlighted.

These included the need for greater selectivity, more

rapid appraisal, less missions, less intrusiveness by the

Board and greater use of country systems.

The Working Group will follow up with a questionnaire

and there will be further opportunities to engage with

the issues at outreach meetings to be held in the margins

of the World Bank and IMF annual meetings in Septem-

ber.

6

The World Bank Group Establishes Trust Fund

for the Republic of South Sudan

On July 9, 2011, the Republic of South Sudan became

the 54th sovereign country in Africa and the youngest

nation in the world. It is in the process of gaining mem-

bership in the IMF and the World Bank Group. In this

transition, the Executive Board of the World Bank ap-

proved on June 14, 2011 a $75 million Trust Fund to

assist the country. It is intended to help provide health

care, infrastructure, and employment to the people of

South Sudan. According to Obiageli Ezekwesili, World

Bank Vice President for the Africa Region, “the decision

to provide early support to the Republic of South Sudan

is consistent with the Bank’s determination to be more

nimble and responsive in order to take advantage of

every window of opportunity that opens in fragile and

conflict- affected situations such as South Sudan”.

As the country joins the global struggle for poverty re-

duction and sustainable development, it is encouraging to

note as observed by Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Sec-

retary General, in his statement that:

“South Sudan has remarkable potential. With substantial oil reserves, huge amount of arable land and the Nile flowing through its center, South Sudan could grow into a prosperous, self-sustaining nation capable of providing secu-rity, services and employment for its popula-tion.”

Africa Group I Constituency congratulates the Govern-

ment and people of the Republic of South Sudan and

wishes them the best in the pursuit of poverty reduction,

development and sustainable prosperity.

Uganda Minister of Finance Visits the Office of the Executive Director

During July, the newly appointed Minister of Finance,

Planning and Economic Development of Uganda, Honor-

able Mrs. Maria Kiwanuka, made a courtesy call on the

Executive Director. She was in Washington D.C to at-

tend the “Open Government Partnership Conference”

organized by the United States State Department.

As the Executive Director was on official mission, the

Alternate Executive Director (AED), Mr. Denny Kalya-

lya, welcomed her to the Office and congratulated her on

her appointment as Governor at the World Bank. He

assured her that the ED’s Office stands ready to assist the

Governor as and when necessary. He noted that the

World Bank engages with Uganda through the Country

Assistance Strategy (CAS), and the New Africa Strategy,

recently inaugurated to replace the African Action Plan.

He added that the World Bank mainly executes its pro-

grams in Uganda through the International Development

Association (IDA). He expressed concern about the re-

source envelope under IDA 16, noting that it is too small

to satisfy the requirements of the recipients. He also

briefed the Governor about the forthcoming Annual

Meetings, during which time discussions will focus on

Gender and Development; Jobs; and the World Bank Cor-

7

porate Scorecard.

In turn, the Governor noted that the issues resonate

with the Uganda Government Budget of 2011/12,

whose theme is, “Promoting Economic Growth, Job

Creation and Improving Service Delivery”. The

Governor informed the AED that the Government

is committed to value addition in the agriculture

sector through agro-processing; provision of infra-

structure to complement efforts in agriculture, espe-

cially roads and energy; and skills enhancement

through technical training. She noted that the Gov-

ernment would appreciate constructive engagement

with the World Bank in respect of the construction

of Karuma Dam to avoid the delays which were

experienced with Bujagali Dam. She noted that the

first phase of Bujagali Dam would be commissioned

by the end of 2011. The meeting was also attended

by Mr. Sheku Bangura (Senior Advisor) and Mrs.

Solome Lumala (Advisor) from the ED’s Office. Mr.

George Ndyamuba – first Secretary at the Ugandan

Embassy, Washington D.C., escorted Mrs. Kiwanuka

to the meeting.

The Governor also had the opportunity to meet with

the Vice President of the Africa Region at the World

Bank, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili where they ex-

changed views of mutual interest. Accompanying the

Governor to the Office of the Vice President were

Mr. Emutasim Elfaki (Senior Advisor) and Mrs.

Solome Lumala (Advisor) from the Office of the ED,

and Mr. George Ndyamuba and Mr. Patrick Muganda

Guma, First Secretary and Counselor, respectively at

the Ugandan Embassy, Washington D.C. Others pre-

sent at the meeting were Mr. Humberto Lopez, Sec-

tor Manager (AFTP2), Ms Kathie Krumm, Former

Sector Manager (AFTP2), Anton Dobronogov, Senior

Economist (AFTP2), Reynold Duncan, Program Co-

ordinator (AFTEG), and Steffi Stallmeister, Acting

Country Program Coordinator, AFCTZ, from the

VP’s office.

Uganda Minister cont...

The World Bank Group Recognizes the

Republic of Zambia as a Lower Middle Income Country

Following its annual country reclassification exercise

in July 2011, the World Bank has reclassified the

Republic of Zambia from Low Income Country (LIC)

status to Lower Middle Income Country (LMIC).

Based on analytical work, the Bank considers econo-

mies whose per capita Gross National Income (GNI)

is higher than its operational threshold for "Civil

Works Preference" and lower than the threshold for

17-year IBRD loans, as lower-middle income econo-

mies. These operational guidelines were established

based on the view that since poorer countries deserve

better conditions from the Bank, comparative esti-

mates of economic capacity needed to be established.

To this end, GNI, which is a broad enough measure,

was considered to be the best single indicator of eco-

nomic capacity and progress. That notwithstanding,

it is recognized that GNI does not, by itself, consti-

tute or measure welfare or success in development.

Zambia has, in recent years, made remarkable eco-

nomic progress as also acknowledged by the Interna-

tional Monetary Fund (IMF). The country’s eco-

nomic growth rate is considered as one of the best

8

among emerging economies driven by extractive in-

dustries and agriculture sectors. The mining sector

leads Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and min-

eral products (especially copper and cobalt), which

account for approximately 80% of the country’s ex-

ports. Agriculture, by contrast, is the major economic

activity of the Zambian people and this sector remains

largely underdeveloped, despite its potential to reach

much broader segments of the population, particularly

the rural poor.

For the calendar year 2010, the Bank used a GNI per

capita of US$1,006-US$3,975 for a country to be con-

sidered and classified as LMIC. Given that the Repub-

lic of Zambia’s GNI per capita reached US$1,070 for

that particular year, the country was duly reclassified.

However, it should be pointed out that this change

does not have a direct relationship with IDA eligibil-

ity, which is based on a different criteria. For FY12,

IDA’s GNI cutoff rate is US$1,175, and Zambia, with

US$1,070 GNP per capita will, therefore, remain an IDA

-only country and eligible for IDA resources.

Graduation from IDA to MIC status involves a transition

period with three phases. First, the country needs to

exceed the IDA cutoff rate for three consecutive years

before it can move from IDA-only to IDA-only gap

status. In the second phase, the country needs to pass

the IBRD’s credit-worthiness assessment and start ap-

plying for IBRD resources and become an IDA-IBRD

blend country. In the third and final phase, the country

must obtain sufficient IBRD resources, as IDA gradually

phases out. Given the past experience and lessons learnt,

most countries stay in a transitory phase for a period of 3

-6 years before they finally graduate from IDA status.

Executive Director’s Outreach to Constituency Countries

The Executive Director continued his outreach activi-

ties to several member countries of the Constituency.

The primary purpose of the visits is to be better ac-

quainted with these countries’ economic achieve-

ments and development challenges to facilitate en-

hanced representation of their interests at the Boards

of the World Bank Group. The ED also uses the op-

portunity to visit World Bank-funded projects. Mem-

ber countries visited and highlights of the visits are

provided here below.

KENYA (May 30 - June 1, 2011)

During his visit to Kenya, the ED, accompanied by

Senior Advisor responsible for Kenya, Mr. Chris

Hoveka, met with Ministers and senior Government

officials from the Ministries of Finance, Education,

Roads, Transport, and Energy. He also had a briefing

session with the World Bank Country Director. In ad-

dition, the ED visited two Bank- funded projects.

In his meeting with the authorities, the ED apprised

them on the successful replenishment of IDA 16, the

Post-Crisis direction of the World Bank Group, and the

New Africa Strategy that would form the basis for fu-

ture Bank’s engagement with Africa. In turn, the au-

thorities briefed him on the current economic develop-

ments in Kenya and on the progress of Bank-funded

projects. They indicated that they were generally satis-

fied with implementation progress of various projects,

although the disbursements were slow.

Zambia cont...

9

The authorities indicated that Kenya had made good pro-

gress in education, especially at the primary and secon-

dary levels, with the transition rate from secondary to

primary at 72 percent, which was above the target rate of

70 percent. Regarding infrastructure, the authorities un-

derscored the importance of improving transportation

system in Kenya through better roads connections, and

efficient rail and air transportation systems. To reduce

congestion on roads, the government was planning a

commuter rail for Nairobi. Further, it was seeking coop-

eration with the Bank in areas of road safety.

The two projects visited were the Northern Corridor

Transport Improvement Project and the Geothermal Pro-

ject. Both projects were progressing well. The Kenya Na-

tional High Authority now manages the Northern Corri-

dor Project, which was previously under the Ministry of

Roads, since October 2009. The geothermal project is run

by the Kenya Electricity Company (KenGen). KenGen

owns two geothermal power stations with a combined

generation capacity of 150 MW. The power generated is

transmitted to the national grid.

TANZANIA (June 1-4, 2011)

The ED, accompanied by the Advisor responsible for

Tanzania in the ED’s Office, Mr. Wilson T. Banda, met

with the Minister of Finance, Honorable Mustafa H.

Mkulo, and several other senior officials. These officials

included the Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of

Water, Mr. Bashiri Mrindoko, the Commissioner Gen-

eral, Tanzania Revenue Authority, Mr. Harry M. Kitillya,

the Commissioner General, External Finance, Mr. Ngosha

S. Magonya, and the Chief Executive Officer, Dar es Sa-

laam Rapid Transport Project, Mr. Cosmas P.M. Takule.

Honorable Mustafa H. Mkulo raised several issues con-

cerning Tanzania’s development for which he said World

Bank support was needed. Among these issues were: (i)

the persistence of income poverty despite strong eco-

nomic growth in excess of an average 5 percent per an-

num over the past decade, and substantial investment in

infrastructure and the mining industry; (ii) unimpressive

progress in social indicators even though Tanzania has

the third

largest

World Bank

portfolio

among IDA

countries in

Africa and

receives sub-

stantial bi-

lateral aid;

(iii) low

quality of

education

and weak

health delivery institutions despite recent interventions,

some of which were supported by the World Bank; and

(iv) the inadequacy of energy facilities and services.

The Minister indicated that overall, there is a need for

additional resources and mechanisms to ensure enhanced

development effectiveness with evidenced-based poverty

reduction results. He pointed out that the Country Assis-

tance Strategy (CAS) covering FY 2011-15, approved by

the IDA Board on June 7, 2011 is expected to provide

Tanzania with resources amounting to US$3.1 billion

which together with pledged donor funds fall short of

resource requirements of the country. He requested the

Bank’s considera-

tion for enclave

financing and

emphasized the

need for better

performance in

the conceptuali-

zation, planning

and execution of

projects. These

activities, he

noted, were en-

cumbered by un-

due delays, deci-

sion-making bot-

tlenecks and related issues concerning the use of country

systems and adherence to national legal regulations.

The Minister also informed the ED that the Government

The Executive Director with Honorable

Mustafa Mkulo, Minister of Finance and

Economic Affairs, Tanzania

The Executive Director with Tanza-

nia Government officials at an inland

transport project, Dar-es-Salaam,

Tanzania

ED’s Outreach cont...

is currently negotiating the Third Tanzania Social Ac-

tion Fund (TASAF) with the Bank. He considered the

previous operations successful and that Government

sees TASAF as an operation that is providing the right

intervention in addressing social and economic issues

at grass roots level.

In his response, the Executive Director promised to

follow-up with management on the concerns and the

request for enclave financing. He also discussed gov-

ernance issues in the WBG, IDA16 replenishment and

general constituency matters including the recent re-

configuration that led to the creation of the third

chair for Africa.

ETHIOPIA (June 6-8, 2011)

The ED, accompanied by Senior Advisor responsible

for Ethiopia, Mr. Felleke Mammo, met with Honor-

able Ato Sufian Ahmed, Minister of Finance and Eco-

nomic Development and World Bank Governor for

Ethiopia, and other Ministers and senior Government

officials including, H.E. Ato Diriba Kuma, Minister of

Transport, H.E. Ato Tefera Deribew, Minister of Agri-

culture, H.E. Ato Yacob Yana, State Minister of Trade

and Investment, Ato Miheret Debebe, Chief Executive

Officer of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation

(EEPCO), and Ato Zaid Wolde-Gebriel, Director Gen-

eral of the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA). He also

visited some World Bank funded projects and paid a

courtesy call on His Excellency, Prime Minister Meles

Zenawi. In this meeting, there was a fruitful discus-

sion on current issues related to Ethiopia, in particu-

lar, and to the Constituency and Africa, in general.

Throughout the visit, the ED was warmly received by

the Ethiopian authorities, and the mission was gener-

ally a valuable experience.

The authorities, including the Prime Minister, recog-

nized the Bank’s support to Ethiopia in the implemen-

tation of its development programs/projects. But, they

expressed concern regarding: (i) the decision-making

process of the Bank in general and that of the Africa

Region in particular. They indicated that these activi-

ties still take long time despite the Bank’s decentrali-

zation. On the decision-making process, the authorities

particularly expressed their frustration with the delays to

get a ‘no-objection’ decision from headquarters and the

associated impact on the timely disbursement of project

funds; (ii) the limitations and cumbersome procedures

associated with the procurement process (iii) the absence

of adequate number of properly qualified and experi-

enced staff at the Country Office, to guide and support

country authorities on challenging issues and situations;

and (iv) the inadequacy of the IDA allocation in view of

the country’s huge financing needs for development.

To address these concerns, the authorities made the fol-

lowing requests: (a) that the ED advocates for the appro-

priate devolvement of ‘decision-making’ power to Coun-

try Offices in order to ensure efficiency and effectiveness

in the delivery of Bank services; (b) the assignment of

appropriately qualified staff for important sectors, such as

the infrastructure sector, at the Country Office. In this

regard, the authorities requested the ED to carefully

monitor the process for the selection and appointment of

the next Country Director for Ethiopia; (c) Bank’s sup-

port for the development of local capacity and for the

expanded use of Country Systems; and (d) a specialized

and appropriately priced IBRD financing facility to cater

for the additional financing needs. In response, the ED

expressed his appreciation to the authorities for the can-

did discussions. He pledged to follow up and engage with

the Board and management on the issues raised.

The ED visited the following projects: (1) the Road Sector

project, the main component of which relates to the Ad-

dis-Nazareth road - a road network connecting Addis

Ababa with the Southern part of the country; (2) the Pro-

ductive Safety Net project, where the Senior Advisor, on

behalf of the ED, met with the direct beneficiaries of the

project at various local development centers. He also

visited other project sites that represent models of local

communities’ participation in building household and

community assets, enhancing livelihood opportunities,

and reducing environmental degradation; and (3) the

Gilgel Gibe III Hydroelectric project, for which the Gov-

ernment has been seeking the Bank’s interest to join

other development partners to finance the project.

ED’s Outreach cont...

10

11

to Botswana with a visit to the Morupule power project

site.

NAMIBIA (July 11 – 12, 2011)

The Executive Director, accompanied by Senior Advisor

responsible for Namibia, Mr. Chris Hoveka, met with

Ministers and senior Government officials from the Min-

istries of Finance, Education, and Mines and Energy. He

also met with the Governor of the Bank of Namibia and

the Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Chamber of

Commerce and Industry (NCCI).

In her welcoming remarks, the Minister of Finance, Hon-

orable Saara Kuugongelwa, congratulated the ED and the

people of Sudan for reaching a peaceful resolution to

their conflict. The ED thanked the Minister for her re-

marks and then briefed her on the New Africa Strategy

that would form the basis for future Bank’s engagement

with Africa in the World Bank post-crisis directions.

On Namibia’s engagement with the World Bank, the au-

thorities indicated that Namibia does not have a big loan

portfolio with the Bank at the moment, and although the

government would like to expand its engagement with

the Bank, it is not prepared to do so under the current

World Bank mode of engagement with middle income

countries. There are particularly two areas of concern to

the government of Namibia: (i) the Bank procurement

policy, and (ii) the Bank pricing policy.

On procurement policy, the authorities expressed the

view that, instead of insisting on the use of its procure-

ment system, the World Bank should allow countries

with relatively good track record of economic manage-

ment to use their own systems. In the case of Namibia,

the procurement system is designed to redress some of

the legacies of colonialism. This system was evaluated

and adopted by the EU for EU funded projects in Namibia

and the government thinks that the World Bank should

follow the EU example. Regarding the pricing policy, the

authorities argued that the Bank needs to review its in-

struments and pricing policy, as what was offered were

neither appropriate nor affordable for African MICs.

BOTSWANA (July 7 – 8, 2011)

The Executive Director, accompanied by Senior Advi-

sor responsible for Botswana, Mr. Chris Hoveka, met

with Ministers and Government officials from the

Ministries of Finance, Works and Transport, Mines,

Energy and Water Resources, and the Governor of the

Bank of Botswana. In addition he visited a partial

Bank-funded power project.

The Minister of Finance and Development Planning,

Honorable Ontefetse Kenneth Matambo (who is also

the Constituency Chairman), briefed the ED on Bot-

swana’s economic challenges. He noted that growth

has slowed down compared to previous years due to

the slow global economic recovery. He further said

that tax revenue is down significantly, but the govern-

ment was committed to fiscal discipline.

In addition, the Minister highlighted the problem of

energy deficit in Botswana and in the region as a re-

sult of increased economic activities over the last few

years. In this context, he expressed appreciation to the

Bank for supporting and partially funding the Moru-

pule Power Project in Botswana, which will contrib-

ute to resolving the long-term energy deficit.

Officials from the Ministry of Works and Transport

briefed the ED on three railway projects currently

underway in Botswana, which aim to improve the

transport infrastructure in the country. One of the

projects involves constructing a railway line linking

Botswana to the Namibian Port of Walvis Bay. The

authorities have submitted the completed project fea-

sibility study to the World Bank for possible funding.

As for the World Bank engagement with Africa, the

Governor of the Bank of Botswana, urged the Bank to

focus its funding activities in Africa on infrastructure

and regional integration. He noted that a more inte-

grated Africa with well-developed infrastructure

would be in a better position to compete effectively

with other regions. In his response, the ED said that

this indeed will be the focus of the Bank as reflected

in the New Africa strategy. The ED ended his mission

ED’s Outreach cont...

12

The authorities emphasized the importance of techni-

cal assistance from multilateral institutions such as the

World Bank on regional integration and trade issues to

help African MICs to negotiate deals that will enable

them to compete effectively in the global economy.

The ED thanked the authorities for raising these im-

portant but difficult issues in the World Bank engage-

ment with client countries. He assured them that his

office will continue to raise these issues at the Board

and will also discuss them with the relevant Bank offi-

cials to find amicable solutions.

MALAWI (July 13-15, 2011)

The ED, accompanied by the Advisor responsible for

Malawi in the ED’s Office, Mr. Wilson Banda, met the

Minister of Finance, Honorable. Ken E. Kandodo and

his team, which comprised senior Cabinet Ministers

from several key Ministries and the Deputy Governor

of Reserve Bank of Malawi. Also in attendance was

staff from the World Bank Country Office. Following

the meeting the ED visited two World Bank-funded

projects.

In the meeting with the ED, deliberations revealed that

Malawi has generally performed well in the past dec-

ade, posting growth rates above 6 percent per annum

during the past five years. Government’s main achieve-

ment was in food security where the country achieved

food surpluses for five years consecutively. However,

this has come at a huge cost to the fiscal budget and the

country’s foreign exchange reserves. The strong eco-

nomic growth had led to an unsustainable demand for

foreign exchange resources, specifically to purchase

fertilizer, fuel, vehicles, and other imported consum-

ables. Strains on the country’s balance of payments

were evident; with wide spread shortages of critical

imports including fuel. Authorities were engaged in

discussions with the IMF and other development part-

ners to find a mutually acceptable solution to this prob-

lem, and to avoid reversing the successes of the past

decade.

On Public Private Partnerships (PPP), Government

acknowledged the important role of the private sector

in sustaining development, but expressed serious res-

ervations on the supportive role of the IFC in this en-

deavor. They noted that the US$50,000 (fifty thousand

United States dollars) threshold was beyond the reach

of many small investors in Malawi.

Regarding projects operation, it was noted that under

the Banks’ decentralized structure in Malawi, projects

implementation was efficient and effective. However,

Government raised concern with regard to continuity

when WBG staff is redeployed.

Against this background, the ED advised the Govern-

ment that the standoff with the IMF on macroeco-

nomic issues was not good for Malawi and would

jeopardize future engagements with the World Bank

Group. He however acknowledged that Malawi had a

strong track record on project implementation. The

ED noted that the new Country Assistance Strategy

(CAS) for Malawi addressed human development;

quality and relevance of education; unemployment,

particularly among graduates and youth; and labor

productivity among other things. He advised Govern-

ment that the flat budget stance adopted by the WBG

was constraining Operations in a number of ways, and

would affect aid delivery in future. He discussed IDA

16 replenishment and the resource envelop available

to beneficiaries.

Among its urgent priorities, Malawi Government

raised the issue of energy generation which has not

been covered in the World Bank’s latest intervention

in that sector. Energy was a major challenge to the

country and would constrain future growth if appro-

priate investments were not done at this stage. Water

is also posing to be a serious challenge, in particular to

residents in the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe. The

ED was informed that Government acknowledges the

need to review water and energy policies so that insti-

tutions responsible can decide on appropriate tariffs to

generate adequate resources to cover operational costs

ED’s Outreach cont...

13

and investment needs.

The ED visited the water project (Malingunde Dam)

in Lilongwe. The dam, built in the 1970s, provides

potable water to over one million residents of the city

of Lilongwe. It was disclosed however, that there is an

urgent need to find additional sites in order to meet

demands of a growing population. In Zomba city, the

ED visited the Masongola irrigation scheme that sup-

ports thousands of families in the district. The World

Bank’s staff was still engaged in expanding the cover-

age area of the project. The scheme allows households

to grow more than one crop in a year for both subsis-

tence and commercial purposes.

Finally the authorities indicated that the main chal-

lenge for Malawi was to re-establish ties with devel-

opment partners, including bilateral donors. An IMF

program remains a condition for future engagement

with the WBG. In this regard, the ED assured authori-

ties that his office will assist in this endeavor when-

ever Malawi sought its support.

The Executive Director with World Bank country

office staff in Lilongwe, Malawi

Kamuzu Dam, Lilongwe, Malawi

Likangala Irrigation Scheme, Zomba, Ma-

lawi

ED’s Outreach cont...

14

Snapshot of Approved Board Projects: April — July, 2011 C

oun

try

A

pp

rova

l D

ate

Pro

ject

Tit

le

Sou

rce 

of 

Fu

nd

ing

Am

ou

nt 

(Eq

uiv

alen

t in

US$

Mil

lion

)

Pro

ject

Dev

elo

pm

ent

Ob

ject

ive

Bur

undi

A

pril

5, 2

011

Fin

anci

al a

nd P

riva

te S

ecto

r D

evel

opm

ent (

Add

ition

al F

i-na

ncin

g)

IDA

Gra

nt

8 T

o en

hanc

e th

e bu

sine

ss c

limat

e th

roug

h im

prov

emen

t in

the

fina

n-ci

al a

nd r

egul

ator

y en

viro

nmen

t for

bu

sine

ss, a

nd s

uppo

rt m

easu

res

to

rest

ruct

ure

sele

cted

PE

s.

Eth

iopi

a Ju

ne 2

3, 2

011

Irri

gatio

n an

d D

rain

age

IDA

Cre

dit

60

To

sust

aina

bly

incr

ease

agr

icul

tura

l ou

tput

and

pro

duct

ivity

in p

roje

ct

area

s.

Eth

iopi

a Ju

ly 5

, 201

1 U

rban

Loc

al G

over

nmen

t De-

velo

pmen

t ID

A C

redi

t 15

0 T

o su

ppor

t and

impr

ove

perf

orm

-an

ce in

the

plan

ning

, del

iver

y, a

nd

sust

aine

d pr

ovis

ion

of p

rior

ity m

u-ni

cipa

l ser

vice

s an

d in

fras

truc

ture

by

urb

an lo

cal g

over

nmen

ts.

Ken

ya

Apr

il 21

, 201

1 T

rans

port

Sec

tor

Sup

port

ID

A C

redi

t/FR

DE

30

0/95

. T

o: (

a) in

crea

se r

oad

tran

spor

t eff

i-ci

ency

alo

ng th

e N

orth

ern

Cor

rido

r an

d th

e T

anza

nia-

Sud

an r

oad

corr

i-do

r to

fac

ilit

ate

trad

e an

d re

gion

al

inte

grat

ion;

(b)

enh

ance

avi

atio

n sa

fety

and

sec

urity

to m

eet i

nter

na-

tiona

l sta

ndar

ds; a

nd (

c) s

uppo

rt th

e im

plem

enta

tion

of p

olic

y an

d in

sti-

tutio

nal r

efor

ms

in th

e tr

ansp

ort

sect

or.

Les

otho

Ju

ly, 2

011

Thi

rd P

over

ty R

educ

tion

Sup

-po

rt C

redi

t ID

A C

redi

t 18

T

o su

ppor

t the

Gov

ernm

ent’

s re

-fo

rm p

rogr

am to

red

uce

pove

rty,

in

crea

se g

row

th.,

enha

nce

com

peti

-ti

vene

ss, a

nd im

prov

e so

cial

indi

ca-

tors

.

15

Board Approved Projects cont...

Cou

ntr

y

Ap

pro

val

Dat

e P

roje

ct T

itle

So

urc

e 

of 

Fu

nd

ing

Am

ou

nt 

(Eq

uiv

alen

t in

US$

Mil

lion

)

Pro

ject

Dev

elo

pm

ent

Ob

ject

ive

Lib

eria

A

pril

7, 2

011

Eco

nom

ic G

over

nanc

e an

d In

sti-

tutio

nal R

efor

m (

Add

ition

al F

i-na

ncin

g)

IDA

Cre

dit

7 T

o fu

rthe

r im

prov

e th

e ef

fici

ency

and

tr

ansp

aren

cy in

man

agin

g pu

blic

fi-

nanc

ial a

nd h

uman

res

ourc

es, f

ocus

on

rev

enue

adm

inis

trat

ion,

pub

lic

proc

urem

ent,

budg

et e

xecu

tion

and

payr

oll m

anag

emen

t.

Lib

eria

A

pril

7, 2

011

Em

erge

ncy

Mon

rovi

a U

rban

San

i-ta

tion

(Add

ition

al F

inan

cing

) ID

A C

redi

t 7

To

incr

ease

acc

ess

to s

olid

was

te c

ol-

lect

ion

and

enh

ance

man

agem

ent

serv

ice

in M

onro

via

Lib

eria

Ju

ne 7

, 201

1 L

iber

ia R

oad

Ass

essm

ent R

oad

Man

agem

ent P

roje

ct

IDA

ID

A

Tru

st F

und

(LR

TF

)

67.7

Gra

nt

72.8

Cre

dit

108.

9 24

9.4

To

supp

ort L

iber

ia’s

eff

orts

to r

educ

e tr

ansp

ort c

osts

and

trav

el ti

me

alon

g th

e ro

ad c

orri

dor

from

Mon

rovi

a to

th

e G

uine

a bo

rder

and

to m

aint

ain

the

road

ove

r a

10-y

ear

peri

od.

Mal

awi

M

ay 2

6, 2

011

Sec

ond

Nat

iona

l Wat

er D

evel

op-

men

t (A

dditi

onal

Fin

anci

ng)

IDA

Cre

dit/G

rant

95

T

o in

crea

se a

cces

s to

sus

tain

able

wa-

ter

supp

ly a

nd s

anita

tion

serv

ices

for

pe

ople

livi

ng in

citi

es, t

owns

, vill

ages

an

d M

arke

t Cen

ters

and

to im

prov

e w

ater

res

ourc

e m

anag

emen

t at t

he

natio

nal l

evel

.

Mal

awi

June

16,

201

1 D

evel

opm

ent P

olic

y C

redi

t I

IDA

Cre

dit

40

To

supp

ort p

olic

y an

d in

stitu

tiona

l re

form

s in

the

publ

ic f

inan

cial

man

-ag

emen

t and

eco

nom

ic g

over

nanc

e ne

cess

ary

to a

ccel

erat

e th

e im

plem

en-

tatio

n of

the

Sec

ond

Mal

awi G

row

th

and

Dev

elop

men

t Str

ateg

y (M

GD

S

II).

16

Board Approved Projects cont... C

oun

try

A

pp

rova

l

Dat

e P

roje

ct T

itle

So

urc

e 

of 

Fu

nd

ing

Am

ou

nt 

(Eq

uiv

alen

t in

US$

Mil

lion

)

Pro

ject

Dev

elo

pm

ent

Ob

ject

ive

Moz

ambi

que

Apr

il 7,

201

1 R

oads

and

Bri

dges

Man

age-

men

t and

Mai

nten

ance

Pro

gram

(A

dditi

onal

Fin

anci

ng-P

hase

II)

IDA C

redi

t.

41

To

impr

ove

acce

ss o

f th

e po

pu-

latio

n to

all

seas

on r

oads

th

roug

h m

aint

enan

ce, r

ehab

ilita

-tio

n an

d up

grad

ing

of th

e cl

assi

-fi

ed r

oad

netw

ork.

Moz

ambi

que

Jul

y 5,

201

1 T

echn

ical

and

Voc

atio

nal E

du-

catio

n an

d T

rain

ing

(Add

ition

al

Fin

anci

ng)

IDA

Cre

dit

37

To

faci

lita

te th

e tr

ansi

tion

of

the

exis

ting

Tec

hnic

al a

nd V

oca-

tiona

l Edu

catio

n sy

stem

to a

de

man

d-le

d tr

aini

ng s

yste

m a

nd

prov

ide

the

bene

fici

arie

s w

ith

mor

e m

arke

t rel

evan

t ski

lls

and

impr

ove

job

oppo

rtun

ities

.

Rw

anda

A

pril

18, 2

011

Lan

d, H

usba

ndry

Wat

er H

ar-

vest

ing

and

Hill

side

Irr

igat

ion

IDA

12

.5/8

.0

To

incr

ease

the

prod

uctiv

ity a

nd

com

mer

cial

izat

ion

of h

illsi

de

agri

cult

ure

in ta

rget

are

as.

Rw

anda

A

pril

29, 2

011

Ski

lls D

evel

opm

ent

IDA

Cre

dit

30

To

supp

ort t

he G

over

nmen

t to

impr

ove

acce

ss to

qua

lity

and

de

man

d-re

spon

sive

voc

atio

nal

trai

ning

.

Sie

rra

Leo

ne

Apr

il 21

, 201

1 M

inin

g T

echn

ical

Ass

ista

nce

IDA

Gra

nt

4.0

To

scal

e-up

the

exis

ting

Min

ing

Tec

hnic

al A

ssis

tant

Pro

ject

to

prov

ide

addi

tiona

l ins

titut

iona

l ca

paci

ty b

uild

ing

for

the

min

ing

sect

or.

Board Approved Projects cont...

17

Cou

ntr

y

Ap

pro

val

Dat

e P

roje

ct T

itle

So

urc

e 

of 

Fu

nd

ing

Am

ou

nt 

(Eq

uiv

alen

t in

US$

Mil

lion

)

Pro

ject

Dev

elo

pm

ent

Ob

ject

ive

Sie

rra

Leo

ne

May

19,

201

1 R

ural

and

Pri

vate

Sec

tor

Dev

elop

-m

ent (

Supp

lem

enta

l)

IDA

Gra

nt

20

To

furt

her

impr

ove

effi

cien

cies

alo

ng

the

valu

e ch

ain

of a

gric

ultu

ral c

om-

mod

itie

s w

ith

high

er b

enef

its

flow

ing

to p

rodu

cers

Uga

nda

Jun

e 30

, 201

1 F

inan

cial

Sec

tor

DP

C

IDA

50

T

o su

pp

ort

fin

anci

al s

ecto

r d

eep

en-

ing

wit

h s

pec

ial

focu

s on

th

e d

evel

-

opm

ent

of t

he

mar

ket

fo

r te

rm f

i-

nan

ce, a

nd

in

crea

sed

acc

ess

to f

i-

nan

cial

ser

vic

es.

Uga

nda

July

26,

201

1 E

aste

rn A

fric

a R

egio

n: P

rop

osed

Inve

stm

ent

in A

fric

a R

ailw

ays

Lim

ited

IFC

20

T

o re

hab

ilit

ate

the

rail

way

lin

e in

Ken

ya

and

Uga

nd

a. T

his

is

an i

n-

vest

men

t of

IF

C i

n A

fric

an R

ailw

ays

Ltd

, wh

ich

hol

ds

a co

ntr

olli

ng

stak

e

in R

VR

In

vest

men

ts (

pty

) L

td, t

he

com

pan

y t

hat

ow

ns

the

rail

way

net

-

wor

ks

in K

eny

a an

d U

gan

da.

Uga

nda

Jun

e 30

, 201

1 E

lect

rici

ty S

ecto

r D

evel

opm

ent

Pro

ject

I

DA

12

0 T

o i

mp

rov

e th

e re

liab

ilit

y o

f, a

nd

incr

ease

th

e ac

cess

to,

ele

ctri

city

sup

ply

in

th

e so

uth

wes

t re

gion

of

Uga

nd

a.

U

gand

a Ju

ne

16, 2

011

Tra

nsp

ort

Sect

or A

dd

itio

nal

Fi-

nan

cin

g I

DA

75

T

o im

pro

ve t

he

con

nec

tivi

ty a

nd

effi

cien

cy o

f th

e tr

ansp

ort

sect

or,

esp

ecia

lly

th

e co

nd

itio

n o

f th

e n

a-

tion

al r

oad

net

wor

k; t

he

cap

acit

y

for

road

saf

ety

man

agem

ent;

an

d

tran

spor

t se

ctor

an

d n

atio

nal

roa

d

man

agem

ent.

Upcoming Meetings

18

MEETING VENUE DATE

World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings Washington, DC September 23 - 24, 2011

Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness

Buson, Korea November 29—December 1, 2011

A thousand friends are not enough: a single enemy is.

~ Swazi Proverb