Cameroon | World Bank

Status of projects in execution (SOPE) - FY09 : Africa region - Cameroon

The Status of Projects in Execution (SOPE) report for FY09 provides information on all International Bank and Rural Development (IBRD)/International Development Association (IDA) projects that were active on June 30, 2009. The report is intended to bridge the gap in information available to the public between the project appraisal document, disclosed after the Bank approves a project, and the implementation completion report, disclosed after the project closes. In addition to the project progress description, the FY09 SOPE report contains project level comparisons of disbursement estimates and actual disbursements, and a table showing the loan/credit/grant amount and disbursements to date for all active projects.

Cameroon - Education for All-Fast Track Initiative Project

Chad and Cameroon - Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project; Cameroon - Petroleum Capacity Enhancement Project; Chad - Petroleum Sector Management Capacity-Building Project; and Chad - Petroleum Economy Management Project

Ratings for the Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project for Chad and Cameroon are as follows: outcome was moderately satisfactory; risk to the development outcome was significant; Bank performance was moderately satisfactory; and Borrower performance was also moderately satisfactory. Ratings for the Petroleum Capacity Enhancement Project for Cameroon are as follows: outcome was unsatisfactory; risk to the development outcome was significant; Bank performance was moderately satisfactory; and Borrower performance was o moderately unsatisfactory. Ratings for the Petroleum Sector Management Capacity-Building Project for Chad are as follows: outcome was unsatisfactory; risks to development outcome were high; Bank performance was moderately unsatisfactory; and Borrower performance was unsatisfactory. Ratings for the Petroleum Economy Management Project for Chad are as follows: outcome was unsatisfactory; risks to development outcome were high; Bank performance was unsatisfactory; and Borrower performance was highly unsatisfactory. Some lessons learned included: it is imperative to design projects in light of the institutional and administrative capacity realities. In countries with weak capacity, it is important to focus on addressing the basic problems rather than attempting to introduce sophisticated practices. Paradoxically, major components of the program in effect assumed the existence of the very capacity they aimed to build. The temptation to put in place special mechanisms to protect specific resources and accomplish results is understandable in a weak capacity and governance environment, but institutional enclaves are generally not successful beyond the short term and even when successful in the short term they tend to undermine the already weak local systems and thus long-term development.

Cameroon - Agricultural Competitiveness Project

The objective of the Agricultural Competitiveness Project for Cameroon is to increase the competitiveness of eligible producer organizations working on target value chains. There are four components to the project, the first component being rehabilitating key rural infrastructure. The component will finance the rehabilitation of key rural infrastructure. The component will include two sub-components, the first for the rehabilitation of rural roads, and the second for the rehabilitation of irrigated perimeters. The second component is the economic partnerships. This component will support Producer Organizations (POs) working on target value chains and areas in establishing and implementing investment sub-projects linked to Economic Partnerships (EPs). The component will finance economic projects intended to address production, marketing and/or processing bottlenecks in the target value chains. The third component is the institutional support and capacity development. This component will develop the capacity of actors at different levels and will include three sub-components, targeting: (i) apex producer organizations, (ii) core functions of sectoral public services, and (iii) legal and regulatory framework. Finally, the fourth component is the project coordination, monitoring, and evaluation. This component will support the establishment, equipment and operations of the project coordination team, at both national and regional levels, responsible for project implementation, procurement, financial management, and overall monitoring and evaluation.

Cameroon - Second Phase of the Community Development Program Support Project

The objective of the Second Phase of the Community Development Program Support Project for Cameroon is to improve the delivery of specified basic social services in targeted communes, and extend the ongoing process in support to decentralization to new regions. There are three components to the project; the first component of the project is the local development support. This component helps to improve the socioeconomic conditions, increase the productivity of the natural resource base, and increase incomes of the population in the communes supported by the project. Achieving these goals requires putting in place various infrastructures and socioeconomic investments. This component will channel grants to communes to co-finance Communal Development plans (CDP) preparation activities or CDP-subprojects, as the case may be. The second component of the project is the decentralization support for communes. This component strengthens the institutional capacities in support to the decentralization process. It will also provide assistance for the implementation of capacity building activities for communes and other local stakeholders, such as local service providers, multidisciplinary teams of the sectoral ministries and technical service providers to enable them to assume an effective role as promoters of local development. Finally, the third component of the project is the coordination, management, monitoring and evaluation, and communication. This component facilitates: (a) administrative, technical, and financial management of the program; (b) coordination among all institutional partners to ensure efficient support to communes for local development; (c) effective contractual arrangements with communes, sectoral ministries, including acquisition of the equipment necessary for implementing the program; and (d) monitoring and evaluation of the performance and the financial, environmental, and social impacts of the program.

Cameroon - Second Phase of the Community Development Program Support Project

Cameroon - Agricultural Competitiveness Project

Cameroon - Second Phase of the Community Development Program Support Project

The cotton sector of Cameroon

This country study is a background paper prepared for the comparative analysis of organization and performance of cotton sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa, a study carried out by the World Bank, with the objective of analyzing the links between sector structure and observed performance outcomes and thus draw lessons from reform experience that can provide useful guidance to policy-makers, other local stakeholders, and interested donors agencies. It describes and reviews the cotton sector situation in Cameroon, a country where no major structural reform was undertaken during the last decade in the sector; it is still dominated by a vertically integrated parastatal cotton company, Sodecoton, who has a monopoly/monopsony position for input supply and marketing of seed cotton. Despite the fact that the cotton sector suffers from several geographic and climatic challenges, as well as an overpopulated and overworked growing area, the sector has performed relatively well, compared to other West and Central African cotton sectors, in terms of cost efficiency, financial management, lint quality and technical performance in general. This success can be partly explained by the strong managerial capacities of the cotton company, the good co-operation between the cotton company and the farmer organization, and the ability of the cotton company to avoid political interference, thanks to the distance of the cotton area from the capital city, and finally the fact that it integrates cotton seed processing activities. As for other cotton sectors in the African Financial Community (CFA) zone, the future of the sector is however endangered by the declining trend of cotton prices in local currency, which calls for more cost effective soil management techniques than massive fertilizer usage. The privatization of the cotton company, currently considered by Government, will have to be carefully managed, in order to preserve the efficient support to rural development that it has been providing in the cotton growing areas.

Cameroon - Competitive Value Chains Project

Cameroon - Second Phase of the Community Development Program Support Project

Cameroon - Second Phase of the Community Development Program Support Project : resettlement plan

The objective of the Second Phase of the Community Development Program Support Project in Cameroon is to improve delivery of defined services in targeted communities, strengthen the ongoing process of decentralization and enhance the ability of local governments to finance their mandated activities, including their capacity to plan. Some of the negative impacts and their mitigation measures are: a) resettlement and land acquisition will be minimized as much as possible. Where land acquisition is unavoidable, the project will be designed to minimize adverse impacts on the poorest segments of the population; b) project affected persons (PAPs) will be compensated, relocated and rehabilitated, if required, so as to improve their standard of living, income earning capacity and production capacity, or at least to restore them to pre-Project levels; c) the means of resettlement are: compensation at full replacement cost for houses and other structures, agricultural land of equal productive capacity, replacement of residential land at least of equal size and not less than 200 sq. m., dislocation allowance and transition subsidies, full compensation for crops, trees and other similar agricultural products at market value, and other assets, and appropriate rehabilitation measures to compensate for loss of livelihood; and d) where the total amount of agricultural land acquired is less than 20 percent of the PAP's farm land for those with holdings more than 1 ha, and 10 percent of land for those with holdings less than 1 ha, cash compensation may be paid in lieu of land-for-land compensation provided that: i) the PAP receives full replacement value for the land and all assets on it, without any deductions for depreciation; ii) the PAP stands to benefit directly from the Project through an increase in income which will off-set the loss of land, such that net production after Project completion is equal to, or greater than, the pre-Project production; and iii) prior agreement has been reached on acquisition of land through a negotiated settlement at a rate acceptable to the PAP, at replacement value.

Doing business 2010 : Cameroon - comparing regulation in 183 economies

Doing Business 2010 is the seventh in a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This paper presents the summary Doing Business indicators for Cameroon. The paper includes the following headings: introduction and aggregate rankings, starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, closing a business, and Doing Business 2010 reform.

Gazing into the mirror : operational internal control in Cameroon customs

Cameroon is a model example of a developing country facing the challenges of trade facilitation, in light of its geographic location within Central Africa. Close to 20 percent of its customs revenues are used to finance the national budget. Cameroon's customs administration therefore plays a critical role in its economy. This paper presents the modernization process launched in Cameroon customs in 2006 and, in particular, the original approach adopted the very early introduction of operational internal control as the keystone of the reform process under way. Beyond the technical measures in and of themselves, the document seeks to show one aspect of Cameroon's reform experience: how technical measures, namely the definition and dissemination of indicators based on a number of principles, have contributed to increased revenues and stronger ethics, an experience that could be replicated in other Sub-Saharan African countries.

Cameroon - Agricultural Competitiveness and Diversification Project

Cameroon - Public/Private Partnership for Growth and Poverty Reduction Project

Ratings for the Public/Private Partnership for Growth and Poverty Reduction Project for Cameroon were as follows: outcomes were moderately unsatisfactory, the risk to development outcome was substantial, Bank performance was unsatisfactory, and Borrower performance was also unsatisfactory. Some lessons learned included: technical assistance operations can support broad reforms but their objectives cannot be defined in the same way as the program it supports. This needs to be explicitly stated in the project documents. Realistic scheduling contributes to the success of the project. The scheduling of activities was very optimistic but these were not modified despite recommendations of the Quality Assurance Group (QAG) to this end. The indicator of bringing public enterprises to the point of sale does not normally reflect progress in privatization. This indicator was introduced in early privatization programs when it was believed that the World Bank could not include the actual privatization as an indicator/requirement. In fact, the notion of bringing an enterprise to the point of sale is a relevant indicator only in the case that there are no buyers after a bidding process. A project should be restructured when the design needs adjustments or when conditions have changed. In the case of this project, it became clear early on that Government priorities had changed; it should also have been clear that the planning/budgeting arrangements for the project were too loose. This project confirms broader lessons learned from the implementation of World Bank projects in general. These are consistent with the conclusions of a study conducted by the sector unit to evaluate the recent performance of Private Sector and Finance Projects.

Cameroon - Competitive Value Chains Project

New Study Shows that Transforming African Infrastructure will require an Additional $31 Billion a Year and Huge Efficiency Gains

2009-11-12T17:00:00.000Z

Contacts:

ICA: Nick Sheppard, tel: +44 1908 337938 or + 44 7724 241214, email: n.sheppard@afdb.org

World Bank, Washington: Francois Gouahinga, tel: +1 202 473 0696, email: fgouahinga@worldbank.org

World Bank, South Africa: Sarwat Hussain, tel +27 73 888 1778, email: shussain@worldbank.org

MIDRAND, South Africa, November 12, 2009 – A study recently conducted in 24 African countries shows that the poor state of infrastructure in Sub Saharan Africa – its electricity, water, roads, and information and communications technology (ICT) – cuts national economic growth by 2 percentage points every year and reduces business productivity by as much as 40 percent.

“Africa’s Infrastructure: A Time for Transformation” finds that Africa has the weakest infrastructure in the world, but ironically Africans in some countries pay twice as much for basic services as people elsewhere. This study argues that well functioning infrastructure is essential to Africa’s economic performance and that improving inefficiencies and reducing waste could result in major improvements in African’s lives.

The report estimates that US$93 billion are needed annually over the next decade, more than twice what was previously thought. Almost half of this amount is needed to address the continent’s current power supply crisis that is hindering Africa’s growth. The new estimate amounts to roughly 15 percent of the continent’s gross domestic product (GDP), comparable to what China invested in infrastructure over the last decade.

The study found that existing spending on African infrastructure is much higher than previously known, $45 billion a year. Also surprising was the fact that most of this is domestically financed by African tax payers and consumers. The study also found that there is also considerable wastage to address; a number of efficiency improvements could potentially expand the available resources by a further $17 billion.

However, even if major efficiencies are gained there is still a funding gap of $31 billion every year, much of it for power and water infrastructure in fragile states. Relative to the size of their economies, the funding gap is daunting for the region’s low-income countries (who would need to spend an additional 9 percent of their GDP) and particularly for the region’s fragile states (who would need to spend an additional 25 percent of their GDP). Resource-rich countries like Nigeria and Zambia face a more manageable funding gap of 4 percent of GDP. Particularly now with the global financial crisis, investing in African infrastructure is critical for Africa’s future.

“Modern infrastructure is the backbone of an economy and the lack of it inhibits economic growth,” says Obiageli Ezekwesili, World Bank Vice President for the Africa Region. “This report shows that investing more funds without tackling inefficiencies would be like pouring water into a leaking bucket. Africa can plug those leaks through reforms and policy improvements which will serve as a signal to investors that Africa is ready for business.”

The report recommends addressing the $17 billion annual efficiency gap and closing the remaining $31 billion annual funding gap for African infrastructure. Closing the efficiency gap requires improving management of utilities, ensuring adequate maintenance, promoting regional integration, recovering costs while recasting subsidies to enable broader access, and improving allocation and spending of public resources. To close the funding gap a wide range of sources will need, including public budgets, resource rents, local capital markets, private sector and non-OECD finance, as well as traditional donor assistance.

Countries with the greatest infrastructure needs are often the least attractive to investors. Many of the countries in Africa will probably take longer than a decade to catch-up on infrastructure and will probably have to use lower cost technologies. But action is needed urgently, the report argues, and the global financial crisis is underscoring the need for a massive effort to overhaul Africa’s infrastructure.

“Africa’s Infrastructure: A Time for Transformation” takes a holistic look at four crucial sectors – energy, water, transport, and ICT – that underpin national economies and are critical for reducing poverty in Africa. Prioritizing these sectors, increasing investments, and improving efficiency can help African countries avert the worsening impacts of the financial crisis and begin laying the foundations for future growth as the global economy rebounds.

· Power: Inadequate access to energy is the single largest impediment to economic growth. No country in the world has developed its economy without abundant energy supplies. Chronic power shortages affect 30 Africa countries; the entire installed generation capacity of 48 Sub Saharan African countries is 68 gigawatts, no more than Spain’s, and 25 percent of that capacity is unavailable because of aging plants and poor maintenance. At US$0.18 per kilowatt-hour on average, Africa’s power is expensive to produce by global standards, yet regional trade could significantly lower costs.

· Water: High hydro-climatic variability, inadequate storage, rising demand, and lack of transboundary cooperation undermine the African water sector. Less than 60 percent of Africa’s population has access to drinking water and only a handful of countries are on track to reach the Millennium Development Goals. With more than 60 transboundary rivers in Africa, developing large-scale infrastructure to manage water use and avoid conflicts is a huge challenge. Over the last 40 years, only 4 million hectares of new irrigation have been developed, compared to 25 and 32 million hectares for China and India respectively.

· Transport: Ineffective linkages between different transport modes (air, road, and rail), declining air connectivity, poorly equipped ports, ageing rail networks, and inadequate access to all-season roads are key problems facing Africa’s transport system. Only 40 percent of rural Africans live within two kilometers of an all-season road, compared to some 65 percent in other developing regions. Improving road accessibility in rural areas is critical to raising agricultural productivity across Africa. Limited competition in the trucking industry keeps road freight tariffs unnecessarily high, while red tape along international trade corridors, keeps the movement of freight below 12 kilometers an hour –as fast as a horse and a buggy – even though truck speeds can be 60 km/hour.

· ICT: The number of African mobile phone users has increased from 10 million in 2000 to more than 180 million in 2007. During 1992-2005, private sector investment in ICT infrastructure topped $20 billion but high prices of services remain a problem. In 2007 the average price of prepaid mobile services cost $12.58 a month in Africa, six times the $2 cost in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

The study – conducted by a partnership of institutions including the African Union Commission, African Development Bank, Development Bank of Southern Africa, Infrastructure Consortium for Africa, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, and the World Bank – is one of the most detailed ever undertaken on the African continent. Surveys were conducted among 16 rail operators, 20 road entities, 30 power utilities, 30 ports, 60 airports, 80 water utilities, and over 100 ICT operators, as well as the relevant ministries in 24 countries. The results were derived from detailed analysis of spending needs (based on country-level microeconomic models), fiscal costs (which involved collecting and analysis of new data) and sector performance benchmarks (covering operational and financial aspects as well as the country’s institutional framework).

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Central African Republic and the Republic of Cameroon: CEMAC Transport and Transit Facilitation Project [Additional Financing]

2009-11-05T21:43:17.000Z

WASHINGTON, November 5, 2009 - The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the following projects:

IDA Grant (Central African Republic): US$67 million equivalent

IDA Credit (Republic of Cameroon): US$150 million equivalent

Terms: Maturity = 40 years; Grace Period = 10 years

Project ID: P115259

Project Description: The Transport and Transit Facilitation Project for the Central African Republic and the Republic of Cameroon aims to facilitate regional trade among the CEMAC member states and improve access to world markets for the Central African Republic, the Republic of Cameroon, and the Republic of Chad. The additional financing will help finance the costs associated with: (a) the completion of some of the original Project activities, most of which were funded by other donors and (b) the enhancement of the project's capacity to achieve its objectives.

Media Contact

Francois Gouahinga

202-473-0696

fgouahinga@worldbank.org

For more project information, please visit: http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228424&Projectid=P115259

$215 Million Central Africa Backbone Program Will Bring Low Cost, High Speed Internet to the Region

2009-10-06T14:30:42.000Z

Contact
In Geneva: Ian Larsen
Phone: +41(0)79 477 96 17

E-mail: ilarsen@worldbank.org or ianlarsen71@yahoo.com

GENEVA, October 6, 2009 – Today the Executive Board of Directors of the World Bank Group has announced its endorsement of the $215 million, ten-year Central African Backbone Program (CAB Program). This program will support the countries of the Central African region in developing their high-speed telecommunications backbone infrastructure to increase the availability of high-speed Internet and reduce end-user prices. The CAB Program will also help countries harmonize the laws and regulations that govern the ICT sector to increase private sector investment and improve competition.

Three countries – Cameroon, Chad and Central African Republic (CAR) – are participating in the initial $26.2 million phase of the Program. A further eight countries are also eligible to participate in the Program—Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Niger, Nigeria, São Tomé and Principe, and Sudan.

The CAB Program is being supported through a partnership between the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The program also aims to leverage an additional US$98 million from the private sector. In conjunction with the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), the African Union Commission (AUC) will play an important role in facilitating inter-governmental cooperation and policy harmonization. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will also assist governments in structuring Public Private Partnerships under the program.

Development Impact

The CAB Program brings much needed connectivity to Central Africa. Until now, people in Central Africa have the lowest quality and highest cost Internet and telephone services in Africa. The population pays up to two times more in monthly Internet rates than people living in other African countries, and up to three times more than those living in other parts of the world. “The CAB Program is very important for the countries involved and lies at the heart of their development strategies. It will assist countries to strengthen their enabling environment, create competition and, ultimately increase access and lower the costs for end users,” said Mary Barton-Dock, World Bank Country Director for Cameroon, Chad and Central African Republic.

In its recent Information and Communications for Development 2009: Extending Reach and Increasing Impact, the World Bank found that for every 10 percentage-point increase in high speed Internet connections there is an increase in economic growth of 1.3 percentage points. The report also identifies the mobile platform as the single most powerful way to reach and deliver public and private services to hundreds of millions of people in remote and rural areas across the developing world.

“Ultimately, our goal is to develop regional and national broadband backbones and significantly reduce the cost of ICT services in Central Africa. Through better and affordable connectivity, the aim is to leverage the transformational powers of ICTs to support economic growth, SME development, employment creation, productivity gains and trade integration in the region,” says Mohsen Khalil, Director of Global Information and Communications Technologies at the World Bank Group.

Modernizing the ICT Sector

In addition to infrastructure development, the CAB Program will strengthen the capacity of public institutions such as the sectoral ministries and regulatory authorities and will promote a competition-friendly environment by liberalizing the sector and restructuring telecommunications operators.

The Program is also meant to be a model of regional integration and successful public-private partnerships. Its design and implementation require the cooperation of several countries and international and regional organizations. Design goals will be to: (i) maximize the use of private financing (or minimize the use of public financing); (ii) ensure feasibility and attractiveness of the transaction; and (iii) secure open access to regional connectivity infrastructure and ensure competitive, reasonable tariff of international, regional and national capacity.

“This program is a great example of the World Bank’s increasing emphasis on regional infrastructure as part of Africa’s development,” said Rick Scobey, Acting Director for Regional Integration in Africa at the World Bank.

Part of a Broader Regional Strategy

The World Bank Group and African Development Bank (AfDB), in partnership, are committing significant resources and are making progress on the ground in helping to achieve the goals outlined at the October 2007 Connect Africa Summit. The Summit was convened by the International Telecommunications Union, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the African Union, and the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development.

This partnership has already launched three major regional connectivity programs, among a range of other ICT activities, with a fourth in the pipeline.

Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (RCIP)

The World Bank is providing US$424 million in financing for the Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (RCIP) to support regional connectivity and transparency in government through the use of ICT. The Program is available to all countries in the East and Southern Africa region and can be tailored to each country’s specific needs and priorities. The first phase of RCIP included Kenya, Madagascar and Burundi and was approved by the Board of the World Bank in 2007. The second phase was for Rwanda and was approved in 2008. The third phase includes Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi and was approved by the Board of the World Bank in June 2009.

East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) – World Bank Group, AfDB and other Development Finance Institutions (DFIs)

EASSy is a 10,000 km submarine fiber-optic cable running along the East Coast of Africa from Sudan to South Africa. It will directly connect eight of the countries along the route and indirectly connect all of the others in the region to the international communications infrastructure. It will provide broadband connectivity to the global fiber-optic cable networks, supplying low-cost, high bandwidth capacity to the markets in the region.

The project was developed by a consortium of 26 telecommunications operators, mostly from Eastern and Southern Africa with the support of five DFIs: International Finance Corporation (IFC), the AfDB, European Investment Bank, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). The total cost of the project is $235 million with around $70 million coming as debt-financing from the DFIs. Of this, IFC contributed $32.7 million and AfDB contributed U$14.5 million.

EASSy is one of three submarine fiber-optic cables that are due to become operational in the region between 2009 and 2010. Experience shows that competition between submarine cables is the best way to achieve efficient and affordable ICT services.

West African Power Pool – Joint World Bank-AfDB

Limited inter-country connectivity in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region results in inefficient, costly routing of calls between neighboring countries by satellite. Policy makers in the region have identified the emerging regional electricity transmission infrastructure as a way of improving high bandwidth regional communications capacity. These electricity networks have built in fiber-optic cables whose spare capacity can be utilized to provide backbone services to communications providers on a wholesale basis.

The World Bank and AfDB have been closely involved in developing the regional electricity transmission infrastructure through the West Africa Power Pool (WAPP). This transmission infrastructure will also be able to carry telecommunications traffic. In 2008, a stakeholder workshop in Benin endorsed the opportunity and committed to removing the bottlenecks associated with creating a regional backhaul network.

The World Bank and AfDB continue to provide support to the development of this network in FY09 through the preparation of the detailed technical, commercial and financial feasibility studies. Staff are also working with governments in the region to address the legal/regulatory and contractual arrangements for implementation, and continue to work with other donor agencies to ensure that efforts in this area are complementary.

“Regional communication infrastructure programs such as the CAB program illustrate what can be achieved through a strong partnership between the governments, private-sector and development partners,” said Yann Burtin, Project Manager for the CAB Program. The contributions of the AfDB and of the African Union Commission are essential to the process, added Burtin.

“The CAB program is an exciting development for Chad, Cameroon and the Central African Program. Regional connectivity projects like this one are increasingly important in the African Development Bank’s strategy for the region,” said Amadou Thierno Diallo, Manager for Energy and ICT at theAfDB.

For more information, please visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/gict

The project Education for All-Fast Track Initiative is now in the pipeline.

2009-09-30T04:00:00.000Z

The project Education for All-Fast Track Initiative is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Chad: Communications Infrastructure and Technology Project [Central African Backbone - APL1A]

2009-09-24T23:11:42.000Z

WASHINGTON, September 24, 2009 - The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the following project:

Cameroon: IDA Credit (Adaptable Program Lending): US$9.9 million equivalent

Central African Republic: IDA Grant (Adaptable Program Lending): US$7.3 million equivalent

Chad: IDA Grant (Adaptable Program Lending): US$9 million equivalent

Terms: Vertical APL with trigger based disbursements

Project ID: P108368

Project Description: The Central African Backbone (CAB) Program Project for the countries of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Chad aims to contribute to increase the geographical reach and usage of regional broadband network services and reduce their prices. There are four components to the project, the first component being enabling environment. This component aims to: (i) promote further regional market integration; (ii) strengthen the legal, regulatory, and institutional framework; (iii) support market liberalization; and (iv) promote the establishment of infrastructure that once in place is accessible to all service providers on open, transparent, competitive, and nondiscriminatory terms. The second component is the connectivity. The third component is the eGovernment and flagship Information and Communication Technology (ICT) applications. Finally, the fourth component is the project management. Depending on the specific implementation arrangements for each country, this component may include elements such as human resources support with management, procurement, financial management, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), internal and external audit, communications expertise, operating expenses, and equipments.

Media Contact

Herbert Boh

(202) 473-3548

hboh@worldbank.org

For more project information, please visit: http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228424&Projectid=P108368

For more information, please visit the Projects website.

The project RAILWAY CONCESSION PROJECT has changed to Closed

2009-07-02T04:00:00.000Z

The project RAILWAY CONCESSION PROJECT has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The Railway Concession Project intends to improve Cameroon's transport sector sustainability, through the private operation of the railway sector, thus eliminating the burden on public finance for provision of railway services. The project components consist of: 1) rehabilitation, and modernization of the rail infrastructure, to be implemented by CAMRAIL, comprising rehabilitation of tracks; construction of small, and medium structures, and bridges; acquisition of signaling, and radio-telecommunications equipment to improve railway operational safety; and general engineering works, including the extension of the railway system to the port of Douala. International aid will further contribute to financing this component, in order to complement concessionaire financing, particularly civil works, sleepers, and welding; 2) rehabilitation of rolling stock, track maintenance equipment, and workshops, for which CAMRAIL will have overall responsibility for implementing this component, given it will not be financed by the Bank; and, 3) environmental, and social activities, focused on the clean-up of polluted railway sites prior to concessioning, particularly the creosote facility, and the diesel fuel stations in Douala, and Yaounde, and includes engineering studies, and pollution abatement supervision works. Regarding social issues, overall safety measures, and resettlement compensation of populations in the railway right-of-way will be undertaken. In accordance with the Concession Agreement, the Government assumes responsibility for pollution abatement that predates the concession, whereas CAMRAIL will implement this activity on behalf of the Borrower.

The project Agricultural Competitiveness Project has changed to Active

2009-06-24T04:00:00.000Z

The project Agricultural Competitiveness Project has changed to Active. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project CM-Community Development Program Support Project Phase-II has changed to Active

2009-06-24T04:00:00.000Z

The project CM-Community Development Program Support Project Phase-II has changed to Active. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

Agricultural Competitiveness in Cameroon Given Boost with $60 Million of World Bank Support

2009-06-19T16:19:02.000Z

Contacts:

In Washington: R.McColgan-Arnold +1 202 473 8302

rmccolgan@worldbank.org

In Yaoundé: Henri Laurent Bateg (237) 22 20 38 15

hbateg@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2009 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$60 million equivalent Agricultural Competitiveness Project in Cameroon.

The Project’s objective is to increase the competitiveness of eligible producer organizations working on target value chains. Concentrating its activities in target areas with high growth potential, it is expected that the project will result in increased value of marketed production through increased productivity, quality, and marketing of productions.

Agriculture contributes more than half of Cameroon non-oil export revenues and employs almost 60 percent o f the economically active population. Ninety percent of all rural households are to some extent engaged in agriculture and approximately one third of them earn their living from export crops.

Market-oriented smallholders and their organizations--around 20,000 rice producers in rehabilitated irrigation perimeters and 20,000 direct promoters of economic partnerships-projects—will be the primary target. However, the project is anticipated to have a significant impact on a number of other beneficiaries, such as: (i) the population living in high potential production areas benefiting from the rehabilitation of rural roads; (ii) other actors along the value chains (traders, transporters, agro-industries, etc.) who would benefit from increased quality and quantity of products, as well as from reduced transport costs; and (iii) smallholders in targeted areas who would receive indirect benefits from the project activities.

“The Project would target six value chains considered strategic both for food security and for their comparative advantage on the regional markets, with due consideration to interventions already ongoing or planned» Said Renato Nardello the Task Team Leader of the project. The target value chains are rice, maize, plantain, palm oil, pork, and poultry. “The choice of the value chains i s based on the results of the Bank-supported “Agricultural Value Chain Analysis, which strongly supported maize, plantain, palm oil and village-level poultry. In addition to these value chains, the Project will target (i) pork, because of its strong complementarily with the maize and poultry value chains, and (ii) rice, because o f its strategic relevance and important underused potential”.

The Project would intervene in six of the ten regions of Cameroon: (i) Center, (ii) North-West, (iii) Far North, (iv) North, (v) East, (vi) West, and (vii) Littoral. Selection of target areas is based on the potential of the selected value chains and on the need to harmonize interventions with other projects to avoid duplications and overlapping.

The project has four components:

§ Component 1: Rehabilitating Key Rural Infrastructure (US$21.5 million IDA)

§ Component 2: Economic Partnerships (US$22.7 million IDA).

§ Component 3: Institutional support and capacity development (US$5.0 million IDA).

§ Component 4: Project coordination, monitoring and evaluation (US$7.4 million IDA).

Around 500km of rural roads and 12,000 hectares of irrigated perimeters will be rehabilitated with project funds with attention being paid to ensure that sustainable mechanisms for the operation and maintenance of infrastructure are adopted. For instance, rural roads rehabilitated by the Project would be inscribed in the national “priority list” for the allocation of budget resources for road maintenance. A core element of the project is the support to technically and financially solid subprojects presented by producer organization, enabling farmers to increase sales and incomes, the main gauge of sustainability.

For more information on the World Bank’s work in Africa visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/afr/

For more information on the World Bank’s work in Cameroon visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/cameroon

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For more information, please visit the Projects website.

Cameroon: Agricultural Competitiveness Project

2009-06-18T19:38:25.000Z

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2009 - The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the following project:

Cameroon: Agricultural Competitiveness Project

IDA Credit: US$60 million equivalent

Terms: Maturity = 40 years; Grace period = 10 years

Project ID: P112635

Project Description: The objective of the Agricultural Competitiveness Project for Cameroon is to increase the competitiveness of eligible producer organizations working on target value chains. The aim of the project is to rehabilitate key rural infrastructure which will finance the rehabilitation of key rural infrastructure. The project credit will also help fund coordination, monitoring, and evaluation, supporting the establishment, equipment and operations of the project coordination team, at both national and regional levels, responsible for project implementation, procurement, financial management, and overall monitoring and evaluation.

Media Contact:

Rachel McColgan-Arnold

(202) 458-5299

rmccolgan@worldbank.org

For more project information, please visit:

http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64312881&piPK=64302848&theSitePK=40941&Projectid=P112635

For more information, please visit the Projects website.

The project CM-Community Development Program Support Project Phase-II is now in the pipeline.

2009-02-19T05:00:00.000Z

The project CM-Community Development Program Support Project Phase-II is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

Call for Action to Mitigate Effects of the Financial Crisis on Africa

2009-02-05T21:38:43.000Z

Contacts:
In Addis Ababa: Gelila Woodeneh: 1 (251) 62 77 00
gwoodeneh@worldbank.org
In Washington, DC: Herbert Boh: (1) 202 473- 3548
hboh@worldbank.org

ADDIS ABABA, February 4, 2009 – African economies, which were on the verge of turning the corner following more than a decade of faster and steadier economic growth, now desperately need new funding to mitigate contagion from the global financial crisis, the World Bank said Tuesday.

“We call on rich countries to keep Africa in mind as they design programs to help their economies weather the financial crisis,” the World Bank’s Vice-President for the Africa Region, Obiageli Ezekwesili, said during a video press conference from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she was attending the African Union summit.

Connected via video to journalists in 21 other African capitals, Ezekwesili said it was crucial for wealthier nations not to focus on “insular” domestic responses to the crisis. She reiterated a call made earlier by World Bank President Robert Zoellick for donor countries to devote 0.7 percent of the amount of their stimulus packages to a Vulnerability Fund for Africa.

She explained that the Fund would direct spending to projects that are urgently needed to avert the growing unemployment, now building across Africa, as a result of the closure of mining operations, the suspension or cancellation of projects in sectors hardest-hit by a reversal of private capital flows, and tighter public budgets, the fall in commodity prices, and the shrinking of revenue from tourism and remittances.

The Fund would also finance safety net programs, attending to the basic needs of the poorest of the poor: health, education, school feeding projects, basic inputs for farmers, etc. It would help sustain the flow of credit to small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the engines of growth, job and wealth creation.

The Fund, which the World Bank is asking the G20 summit expected to hold in London next April 2 to help set up, would support investments in infrastructure projects that can build a foundation for future productivity and growth in Africa and other poor countries.

To sustain support for aid and the kind of fresh funding proposed under the Vulnerability Fund, Ezekwesili urged African governments to stay the course of public sector reforms; helping to build more capable states; train and retain competent civil servants who demonstrate integrity and tackle inefficiencies in state bureaucracies.

She called on African governments to improve the efficiency of public expenditures, pointing to the need to scrap subsidies that benefit those Africans who do not need them, for those that are better targeted in favor of the poor. A staggering one half of Africa’s US$40 billion annual financing gap for much-needed infrastructure could be closed by improving the efficiency in the way the public service functions.

She urged resource-rich countries, to improve adherence to transparency and accountability mechanisms; to ensure that revenue from natural resources are invested in sustainable poverty alleviation programs; to promote pro-poor growth and to diversify their economies beyond non-renewable sources of wealth.

“Countries like Zambia and other mineral-rich African nations must articulate a development strategy and make policy choices that would guarantee prosperity for ‘a Zambia without copper’,” the World Bank Vice President said, in reply to a question from a Lusaka-based journalist. She said citizens’ groups, the media and parliaments must all play more active roles in holding governments and donors accountable.

“The citizens of Africa are the continent’s most valuable asset,” Ezekwesili said, stressing the importance of tertiary education in building Africa’s skills to compete in a truly globalized economy. She said education, innovation and the technological leap-frogging offered by ICTs (information and communications technology) would help those African economies that invest in them to build the knowledge economy of the future.

“Those who can pay should pay but governments should provide scholarships and other forms of assistance to ensure that poor students who deserve to can attend university,” Ezekwesili said, in response to a question on tertiary education in Tanzania.

She acknowledged the need for governments to stick only to those things they do best – allowing space for the private sector to thrive in what businesses do.

“Governments cannot abandon their regulatory role, especially when it comes to ensuring that their financial sectors work efficiently,” Ezekwesili said.

Some analysts have blamed ineffective regulatory mechanisms for the current global financial crisis.

Initially underestimated, contagion from what started as a crisis in the US subprime mortgage sector, poses a real threat of rolling back gains in poverty alleviation in Africa that had been fuelled by healthy growth rates ranging from 5.9 percent to 8.1 percent for about 65 percent of Africa’s population during 1997-2007. Although still fragile, that growth had clearly broken with a past marked by the economic collapse of the decade 1975-1985 and the stagnation experienced in 1985-1995. Ensuring that Africa also benefits from initiatives to stimulate economies in the North would help restore that growth and return Africa and the world to a path of prosperity.

For more information about the work of the World Bank in Africa, visit:
www.worldbank.org/afr

The project Cameroon - Competitive Value Chains is now in the pipeline.

2008-12-25T05:00:00.000Z

The project Cameroon - Competitive Value Chains is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

New Strategy Mulled for Better Portfolio Performance in Cameroon

2008-12-18T17:10:29.000Z

The disbursement rate for World Bank projects in Cameroon is lower than average, at 11 percent
Government officials met with representatives of the World Bank to conduct a thorough assessment of the situation
A detailed action plan for the future was drafted by both parties, with special emphasis on efficiency

YAOUNDE, December 18, 2008—On November 25 and 26, 2008, the Government of Cameroon and the World Bank organized a mini-review of the portfolio of projects financed by the international financial institution in Cameroon, focusing on improvement of the disbursement rate.

Limited understanding of the links between various project activities; lack of familiarity with procurement, financial management, disbursement and other procedures; lack of team spirit among the various players involved in the project. All these problems are hampering smooth implementation of World Bank-financed projects in Cameroon. For example, at this stage, the portfolio of Bank-financed projects is deemed moderately satisfactory, with an average disbursement rate of about 11 percent between 2007 and 2008, while the African average is above 20 percent.

Problems are thus observed at the level of implementation, planning and programming of project activities, availability of matching funds and execution of the actual activities.

Daniel Murphy, the World Bank Senior Country Officer in Cameroon, emphasized that the solution of these problems requires a new strategy for relations between the various players involved in the project, with special emphasis on efficiency.

In order to achieve this goal, project coordinators, administrative, financial and accounting staff (from the Government side) and World Bank experts spent two days presenting, exchanging and compiling the results of their thematic discussions on the thorny issue of disbursements.

The ultimate goal is to achieve the greatest possible level of awareness among the various players of the links existing between activities under a project and the basis for their efficient implementation with a view to achieving a satisfactory disbursement rate and better portfolio performance.

The discussions, which were sometimes heated but always courteous, covered the entire disbursement chain, providing a detailed analysis of any bottlenecks existing upstream and proposing specific solutions for improving project performance and the disbursement rate, as stated by Hélène Njebet, World Bank Operations Analyst in Cameroon.

In order to meet the challenges, the parties urged stakeholders to focus on the actions identified by the working groups and to mobilize for their implementation before the next portfolio review in April 2009.

The participants were thus clearly satisfied with the quality of their work and determined to do better in the future. In particular, a joint review report with a specific action plan (see detailed table below) was prepared in order to improve portfolio performance, especially as regards disbursements.

“Nothing will be the same as before, especially as all the players have been informed and made aware of their respective responsibilities,” noted a project coordinator. “The proof of the pudding will be in the eating.”

The World Bank has a portfolio of 18 projects in Cameroon, for a total of $544 million, in the sectors of education, social development, transport, development of the private sector and finance, environment, agriculture and rural development, energy and mines, health, nutrition, population and urban development.

Consultations on the Bank Web Site

2008-12-09T15:37:38.000Z

Dear reader,

A few years ago, the World Bank’s Web site was noted as a leader among development organizations’ websites. As technology has rapidly advanced and user expectations evolved, our Web site too needs to change and adapt.

You come to our Web site because you are looking for the latest information on development. Our project information, data and research assist you in tackling your challenges or keeping up on the Bank’s activities.

Now we’re catching up. We are revamping our Web site and expanding our online capabilities to better satisfy our business needs and meet audience demands.

We’re examining all aspects of the site—content, technology, business needs and audience demands—to figure out what needs to stay, be improved or be removed.

This is a complex undertaking. We are currently gathering information to determine requirements for our future site.

Through our open online consultation, we are looking for comments from anyone who wishes to discuss their information needs and any difficulties they encounter with the site. The online consultation period ends on December 31, 2008.

All feedback we receive will inform the future design and functionality of the Web site by informing Bank management on audience needs.

Our ultimate goal is to make the Web site better support the institution’s mission of fighting global poverty and helping countries develop.

Your feedback will bring us closer to this goal.

Thank you,

Angie Gentile
Managing Editor, www.worldbank.org

The project Cameroon - Agricultural Competitiveness and Diversification is now in the pipeline.

2008-11-21T05:00:00.000Z

The project Cameroon - Agricultural Competitiveness and Diversification is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

Global Food and Fuel Crisis Will Increase Malnourished by 44 Million

2008-10-08T17:30:00.000Z

Contacts:
In Washington :Carl Hanlon 202-473-8087; chanlon@worldbank.org;
Philip Hay 202-473-1796
phay@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, October 8, 2008 – High food and fuel prices will increase the number of malnourished people around the world in 2008 by 44 million to reach a total of 967 million, a report from the World Bank says.

While food and fuel price increases may have moderated in recent months, prices remain much higher than previous years and show few signs of declining significantly, according to the report entitled “Rising food and fuel prices: addressing the risks to future generations”. Poor families around the world are being pushed to the brink of survival, causing irreparable damage to the health of millions of children. As families cut back on spending, there are also grave risks for the educational performance of poor children.

“While people in the developed world are focused on the financial crisis, many forget that a human crisis is rapidly unfolding in developing countries. It is pushing poor people to the brink of survival,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick. “The financial crisis will only make it more difficult for developing countries to protect their most vulnerable people from the impact of rising food and fuel costs.”

The report, due to be presented on Sunday to the Development Committee at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF, says the food and fuel crisis could have long term effects on poor people and countries. Malnourished children cannot develop into healthy adults and become productive members of society who can contribute to the growth needed to lift themselves and their country out of poverty.

The report says priority should be given to a series of targeted measures. These include:

Making existing targeted cash (or near cash) transfer programs more generous;
Getting nutrition to infants and pregnant women;
expanding so-called ”in-kind” food distribution programs including school feeding and the distribution of fortified calorically dense food;
using fee waivers, lifeline-pricing and other forms of targeted subsidies for poor users/consumers; and
introducing additional measures to prevent children from dropping out of school, such as fee waivers, subsidies for school inputs, or cash transfers.

The report also argues that allocating the necessary amount of budget to finance an expansion of safety net programs may require pruning less-priority spending in other areas. But it notes that well-designed safety net programs do not have to be prohibitively expensive to be effective. Some of the most successful programs in the world cost well under 1 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Moreover, investing in safety net programs now will give governments new tools to address not just the current crisis, but future ones as well.

In May, the World Bank launched a $1.2 billion rapid financing facility to help poor countries cope with the food crisis. Since then, around US$850 million has been committed to finance seeds, plantings, and feeding programs. In April, Zoellick called for a New Deal for Global Food Policy that included short, medium and long-term measures to provide immediate help to poor people and farmers while increasing food production.

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For more information on the Bank's work in nutrition, please visit: www.worldbank.org/nutrition

and for more on social safety nets, click here: www.worldbank.org/safetynets

World Bank Statement on Chad-Cameroon Pipeline

2008-09-09T19:32:40.000Z

Contacts:

In Washington: Carl Hanlon (202) 473-8087

chanlon@worldbank.org;

In Paris: Rachel Winter Jones + 33-1-4069-3052

rjones1@worldbank.org

Washington, September 9, 2008 – In 2001 the World Bank provided financing to Chad to support development of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline with a specific agreement that substantial oil revenues would be directed to poverty reduction.

Over the years, Chad failed to comply with key requirements of this agreement. A new agreement was signed in 2006, but once again the government did not allocate adequate resources critical for poverty reduction in – education, health, infrastructure, rural development and governance. Regrettably, it became evident that the arrangements that had underpinned the Bank’s involvement in the Chad/Cameroon pipeline project were not working. The Bank therefore concluded that it could not continue to support this project under these circumstances.

We conveyed our concerns in discussions with the Government of Chad, including through our development partners, that failure to comply undermines the basis for the World Bank’s involvement in the project. During discussions held with the Government of Chad in N’Djamena the week of August 25, 2008, the Chadian Government agreed to prepay the World Bank for pipeline related financing.

Chad has now fully prepaid both the IBRD and IDA components of the loan, as of September 5, 2008.

While the payment ends the Bank's involvement in the pipeline project, the Bank has explained to the Government of Chad that it recognizes the country's significant development problems, which have been exacerbated by regional instability and the flight of refugees. If the Government of Chad wishes to focus its energies on a program to support inclusive development to overcome poverty, assist displaced people, and improve governance and effectiveness to achieve results, the World Bank is willing to work with Chad to assist.

To this end, the Bank welcomes the upcoming visit of the Prime Minister of Chad to Washington, planned for the end of September. We will discuss further the future of the relationship between Chad and the Bank, and the cooperation and support we could provide for rebuilding a development program that supports the poorest people in the country.

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The project Cameroon - Partial Risk Guarantees for Kribi Gas Power Generator is now in the pipeline.

2008-07-06T04:00:00.000Z

The project Cameroon - Partial Risk Guarantees for Kribi Gas Power Generator is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Cameroon: Extractive Industries Tansparency Initiative Implementation has changed to Closed

2008-07-06T04:00:00.000Z

The project Cameroon: Extractive Industries Tansparency Initiative Implementation has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Public/Private Partnership for Growth and Poverty Reduction Project has changed to Closed

2008-07-06T04:00:00.000Z

The project Public/Private Partnership for Growth and Poverty Reduction Project has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The Public/Private Partnership for Growth and Poverty Reduction Project aims to improve business environment and competitiveness through privatization and effective public/private partnership with the view to increase private investment; and strengthen the poverty alleviation focus in the government's economic management. The project consists of three mutually reinforcing components designed to improve competitiveness and provide the poor with greater access to services. 1) Enhanced competitiveness will provide continuing support for privatization of public enterprises; provide institutional support to strengthen the new regulatory agencies and committees; and assist the Competitiveness Committee in defining and implementing an action plan to facilitate increases in firm-level productivity and streamline business regulations. 2) The financial sector will implement the Government's reform program for the modernization of the pension system; implement the regulations applicable to micro-credit finance institutions; restructure the postal savings office and checking banks in the absence of commercial banks outside urban areas; and support the establishment of a financial market to foster long term debt and equity financing. 3) Partnership for poverty reduction will establish a baseline for poverty through household surveys; help implement the government's poverty alleviation strategy; and finance the Administrative and Financial Unit.

The project CM-Energy Sector Development SIL (FY08) has changed to Active

2008-06-27T04:00:00.000Z

The project CM-Energy Sector Development SIL (FY08) has changed to Active. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The overall Energy Sector Development Project for Cameroon development objective is to increase access to modern energy in targeted rural areas and improve the planning and management of sector resources by all energy sector institutions. Through its intervention, the project is expected to contribute to improved reliability of electricity supply. Increased access to and reliability of electricity are key factors in the realization of the Government of Cameroon's (GOC) growth and poverty reduction strategy. There are three components to the project. The first component of the project is Rural Energy Fund (REF). This component will help set up a rural energy fund as foreseen under National Energy Plan for Poverty Reduction (PANERP) and the decree establishing Agence d 'Electrification Rurale (AER). A financing mechanism based on best practice examples from countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso will streamline interventions and increase the effectiveness of investments in rural energy. The second component of the project is capacity building. This component will provide technical assistance to Ministere de I'Energie et de I'Eau (MINEE) to (i) improve the planning of least cost investments; (ii) finalize the legal and institutional framework of the energy sector; (iii) communication; and (iv) complementary studies and provide necessary training and equipment. The third component of the project is project preparation including Lom Pangar Project (LPHP) preparation. This component will assist Electricity Development Corporation (EDC) with the preparation of LPHP and AER with the preparation of rural energy projects.

The project Environmental and Social Capacity Building for the Energy Sector has changed to Active

2008-06-27T04:00:00.000Z

The project Environmental and Social Capacity Building for the Energy Sector has changed to Active. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The development objective of the Environmental and Social Capacity Building for the Energy Sector Project for Cameroon is to improve the management of and the accountability for environmental and social issues related to large infrastructure investments, with an initial focus on the energy sector. The project will initially focus capacity building efforts towards the energy sector, in support of the Energy Sector Development Project. The mobilization of supplemental resources to more explicitly address issues in the mining and transport sectors will be explored during the project's midterm review. The expected long-term benefits of the project are to: (i) reduce the negative externalities of large infrastructure projects; (ii) develop a transparent, stable and fair framework for managing environmental and social risks that can improve the enabling environment for large infrastructure investments; and (iii) institutionalizes information flows between the populations affected by large infrastructure projects and other stakeholders, and political decision-makers. The project will include the following three components: (i) strengthening the ministry in charge of the environment to fulfill its mandate to define, monitor and control environmental and social obligations of large infrastructure project, in compliance with the environmental law of 1996 and its implementation decrees; (ii) establishing frameworks to manage social externalities associated with large infrastructure projects, in compliance with international best practices; and (iii) supporting the environment unit in the ministry of energy and water to ensure that the environmental and social issues arising from large energy sector infrastructure projects are addressed in compliance with international best practices.

The project Transparency and Accountability Capacity Building Project has changed to Active

2008-06-27T04:00:00.000Z

The project Transparency and Accountability Capacity Building Project has changed to Active. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project development objective (PDO) of the Transparency and Accountability Capacity Development Project for Cameroon is to contribute: (i) to enhance transparency and efficiency in the public finance management (PFM) of Cameroon; and (ii) to strengthen accountability in the use of public resource in Cameroon. The project will play a key role in Cameroon's acceleration of the pace toward a more transparent and orderly PFM and, in addition, more efficient public service delivery. The PDO will be achieved through the following four project components: the first component of the project is improving budget management including procurement. In this component, focus will be mostly on giving support to revision of processes, methods and regulations for budget programming, budget execution including procurement, budget monitoring and controls, and treasury accounting in the context of the new budget Organic Law, in order to primarily address deficiencies in capital budget management and limitation in the execution of investment projects. The second component of the project is integration and development of the Financial Management Information System (FMIS) including the Human Resources Management (HRM) and Payroll Management Systems. This component consists of two sub-components related respectively to the development and integration of the FM Information applications and to upgrading of the HRM and Payroll systems. The third component of the project is strengthening external oversight and monitoring and evaluation (M&E). The objective of this component will be to enhance external oversight, communication, and M&E, because these are necessary to allow national stakeholders to carry out the effective management and use of public resources, and fight corruption, while enabling the legislature and citizens the ability to exercise scrutiny and increase their demand for more accountability. The fourth and the final component of the project is support to the project focal point for PFM reforms coordination. The main objective of this component will be to support capacity building activities for Minisfere des Finances (Ministry of Finance) (MINFI) and the PFM reforms structures to properly carry out their coordination, monitoring, and leadership roles in PFM reforms in line with Paris Declaration objectives.

Bank and Development Partners Support Europe-based African Diaspora Business Ventures

2008-06-26T19:59:17.000Z

Contacts

In Brussels: Veronique Jacobs 32-2-552-0042

vjacobs@worldbank.org;

In Washington: Eric Chinje 202 458 8418

echinje@worldbank.org

BRUSSELS, June 26, 2008 – The first Development Marketplace for the African Diaspora in Europe (D-MADE) has ended in Brussels with a total jury award of close to a million dollars for sixteen investment projects in Africa. The winning projects will be implemented in 11 African countries, including Mali (4), Cote d'Ivoire (2) Benin (2) and one each for Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

The winners were selected from a group of 68 finalists who presented projects that a 24-person jury deemed innovative, sustainable, replicable and based on sound business principles. The sixteen winners currently live in seven European countries: Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The D-MADE initiative was launched in 2007 to allow entrepreneurs from the African diaspora in Europe to participate in the development of their countries. Over 500 business proposals were submitted for consideration, with sixty-eight of them shortlisted for the second round of assessment.

A knowledge exchange forum which preceded the awards event provided a platform for D-MADE promoters, financial institutions and business development service providers to explore partnerships and business opportunities for the D-MADE finalists.

The projects ranged from the processing of raw cashew nuts for export in Ghana to introducing new technologies to remote rural areas for use in medical situations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The fantastic energy and drive generated by this diaspora has to be tapped and supported," said Michel Wormser, Africa Region Director on behalf of Vice-President Obiageli Ezekwesili. "We need to partner with these communities to learn from their expertise and to encourage the entrepreneurship and creativity of their members."

Rome-based Gary Mamadou Tounkara of Mali presented a winning project to transform and develop a range of products from shea butter. "We will work to improve the economic conditions of rural women in the Sahel region who heavily rely on the extraction of shea butter as a source of revenue," he said. “Kariplus” will help in the production and marketing of a variety of shea butter products in the local and global markets.

Building on their experiences in the Netherlands, Ethiopian brothers Redwan and Elias Haroon developed a project to cultivate and market vegetables in the Greta Rift Valley, using production and irrigation technologies that are still unused in that region.

A second winning proposal from the Netherlands also focused on agriculture and came from Cameroonian-born Charles Zama who plans to work with a network of five thousand households to cultivate the jatropha plant from which oils will be extracted and bio-fuels produced. "Cameroon was one of the countries with the highest number of shortlisted projects. I am glad I won this one for my country," he said, beaming with satisfaction.

France-based Dr. Marianne Branco of Benin won for a project on hospital hygiene and the treatment of biomedical waste while her Switzerland-based countryman, Zinde Charles Zannou got the nod from the jury for his mobile "Toi Toi" toilets project which, he believes, will transform hygienic conditions in one of West Africa's largest open markets, the Dantokpa market in Cotonou.

In expressing their gratitude to the D-MADE promoters, the participants expressed hope for more development marketplaces for the African diaspora in Europe, emphasizing the difficulties entrepreneurs have in accessing financing, advice and technical assistance for micro and small projects in Africa.

Support for D-MADE came from the Belgian Development Cooperation, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French Ministry of Immigration and Development Partnership, the French Development Agency, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and Brussels Airlines, which sponsored the travel of the finalists and jurors. Their representatives underscored the fact that D-MADE had unleashed an innovative way to dialogue with a group of migrants who genuinely care about Africa and who are willing to put their personal time, money and energy into supporting the continent's development.

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For more information about the World Bank in Sub-Saharan Africa, please visit:

www.worldbank.org/afr

For more information about the DMADE initiative please visit:

http://www.dmade.org/

The project Cameroon Health Sector Support Investment (SWAP) has changed to Active

2008-06-26T04:00:00.000Z

The project Cameroon Health Sector Support Investment (SWAP) has changed to Active. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The objective of the Health Sector Support Investment Project for Cameroon is to increase utilization and improve the quality of health services with a particular focus on child and maternal health and communicable diseases. There are two components to the project. The first component is the district service delivery. It will address three critical impediments confronting the delivery of services at the district level: (i) scarcity of funds to meet operating expenses will be addressed by channeling financial resources to districts for operating resources to meet the day-to-day requirements of a district health system (e.g., supervision, community outreach, recruitment of contractual staff, bonus payments, consumables); (ii) lack of focus on achievement of results and lack of accountability mechanisms of the district health system will be addressed by pilot testing a few different approaches to performance-based contracting, including contracting of districts, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and health facilities; and (iii) modest managerial capacity at district level will be addressed by also pilot testing alternative approaches to strengthening district management, such as competitively recruiting private sector individuals. It will support the financing of performance based contracts (including financing of operating costs, goods, and technical assistance) between the provincial health funds and district health committees, NGOs or health facilities, contribute to the operating costs of the special funds for health promotion, and finance the procurement of required drugs, reagents and commodities to be done at the national level. The second component is the institutional strengthening. It will include technical and financial support to strengthen two key normative functions of the Ministry of Health at the national, provincial, and district levels. Support will be provided in two main areas: (a) contract design and management, including setting up the institutional framework and systems and building capacity to prepare, negotiate, and manage contracts; and (b) putting in place a unified information system to generate up to date, reliable, financial and programmatic data.

Cameroon: Transparency and Accountability Capacity Development Project

2008-06-24T18:46:46.000Z

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008- The following project was approved today by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors:

IDA Credit: US$ 15 million

TERMS: Maturity = 40 Years; Grace Period = 10 Years

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This project aims to contribute (i) to enhance transparency and efficiency in Public Financial Management Sector (PFM), and (ii) to strengthen accountability in the use of public resource. The project will play a key role in Cameroon through the acceleration of the pace towards a more orderly and open PFM and thus more efficient service delivery.

For more information, please call Aby K. Toure at (202) 473-8302 or e-mail at akonate@worldbank.org

For more information, please visit the Projects website.

Cameroon: Health Sector Support Investment Project

2008-06-24T18:45:05.000Z

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008- The following project was approved today by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors:

IDA Credit: US$25 million

TERMS: Maturity = 40 Years; Grace Period = 10 Years

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project aims to support the implementation of the 2008-2015 Health Sector Strategy in order to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. This project supports the Government's efforts to increase utilization and improve the quality of health services with a particular focus on child and maternal health and communicable diseases. The operation will finance: (i) district-level services using a performance based contracting approach; and (ii) institutional capacity building for contracting, and for putting in place a unified monitoring and evaluation system.

For more information, please call Aby K. Toure at (202) 473-8302 or e-mail at akonate@worldbank.org

For more information, please visit the Projects website.

Cameroon: Environmental and Social Capacity Building for the Energy Sector

2008-06-24T18:43:33.000Z

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008- The following project was approved today by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors:

IDA Credit: US$20 million

TERMS: Maturity = 40 Years; Grace Period = 10 Years

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This project aims to improve the management of and the accountability for environmental and social issues related to large infrastructure investments, with an initial focus on the energy sector. The project would initially focus capacity building efforts towards the energy sector, in support of the Energy Sector Development Project. The mobilization o f supplemental resources to more explicitly address issues in the mining and transport sectors would be explored during the project’s midterm review.

For more information, please call Aby K. Toure at (202) 473-8302 or e-mail at akonate@worldbank.org

For more information, please visit the Projects website.

Cameroon– Energy Sector Development Project

2008-06-24T18:41:14.000Z

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008- The following project was approved today by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors:

IDA Credit: US$65 million

TERMS: Maturity = 40 Years; Grace Period = 10 Years

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project aims to increase access to modern energy in targeted rural areas and improve the planning and management of sector resources by all energy sector institutions. Through its intervention, the project is expected to contribute to improved reliability of electricity supply. Increased access to and reliability of electricity are key factors in the realization of the Government of Cameroon’s (GOC) growth and poverty reduction strategy.

For more information, please call Aby K. Toure at (202) 473-8302 or e-mail at akonate@worldbank.org

For more information, please visit the Projects website.

US$20 Million IDA Credit to Support an Environmental and Social Capacity Building Project for the Energy Sector in Cameroon

2008-06-24T18:26:52.000Z

Contacts
In Washington: Aby Toure +1 202 473 8302
akonate@worldbank.org;

In Yaoundé: Henri Laurent Bateg (237) 2220 3815

hbateg@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$ 20 million equivalent operation to finance an Environmental and Social Capacity Building project for the Energy sector in Cameroon.

The development objective of this project, as the Task Team Leader Yves Prevost said, is to “Improve the management of and the accountability for environmental and social issues related to large infrastructure investments, with an initial focus on the energy sector”.

The expected long-term benefits of the project are to: (i) reduce the negative externalities of large infrastructure projects, and (ii) develop a transparent, stable and fair framework for managing environmental and social risks that should improve the enabling environment for large infrastructure investments, and (iii) institutionalizes information flows between the populations affected by large infrastructure projects and other stakeholders, and political decision-makers.

This operation also aims to accelerate capacity building for the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) involved in the management of the environment. This assistance to CSOs is an innovation because it inaugurates a new partnership between civil society, the Government (borrower) and the World Bank in Cameroon.

For the coming years, investments in the energy and mining sectors in Cameroon would bring huge economic and social benefits, but also entail considerable environmental and social risks that should be addressed in compliance with international best practices and standards for the management of environmental and social issues.

As Emmanuel Noubissie Ngankam, the co-Task Team Leader of this project recognized, “The scale of the issues that will arise from investments currently under consideration in the energy and mining sectors is at least an order of magnitude greater than the risks associated with the Lom Pangar Hydropower Project, or even the Chad Cameroon Pipeline”.

The Environmental and Social Capacity Building project for the Energy sector in Cameroon includes the following three components:

· Component 1: Strengthening the Ministry in charge of the Environment (US$8 million) to fulfill its mandate to define, monitor and control environmental and social obligations of large infrastructure project, in compliance with the environmental law of 1996 and its implementation decrees.

· Component 2: Establishing frameworks (US$9.5 million) to manage social externalities associated with large infrastructure projects, in compliance with international best practices.

· Component 3: Supporting the Environment Unit in the Ministry of Energy and Water (US$2.5 million) to ensure that the environmental and social issues arising from large energy sector infrastructure projects are addressed in compliance with international best practices

For more information on the World Bank’s work in Africa visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/afr/

For more information on the World Bank’s work in Cameroon visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/afr/cameroon

For more information about this project visit:

http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=343813&menuPK=343847&Projectid=P109588

Cameroon’s Energy Supply Gap to Narrow with New US$65 Million Project

2008-06-24T18:20:15.000Z

Contacts

In Washington: Aby Toure +1 202 473 8302

akonate@worldbank.org

In Yaoundé: Henri Laurent Bateg (237) 22 20 38 15

hbateg@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$65 million equivalent project that will bring electricity to 40,000 people in Cameroon’s rural areas over five years, while also laying the ground work for a more stable energy supply in urban areas.

According to the World Bank’s Investment Climate assessment, limited access to reliable electricity is among the top five obstacles to doing business in Cameroon. It is estimated that the lack of reliable energy services is costing Cameroon close to two percent of the gross domestic product growth.

“Only 46 percent of people in Cameroon have access to electricity, while most of these live in urban areas, “ said World Bank Energy specialist and the project Task Team Leader Astrid Manroth, “About 80% of the rural population uses fuel or charcoal to meet their energy needs and only about 14% of the 15,000 villages of Cameroon have electricity”.

Meanwhile, rural electrification has proven challenging in Cameroon.

The Energy Sector Development project aims to increase access to modern energy in targeted rural areas and help improve the reliability of Cameroon existing electricity supply, which is a key factor in Cameroon’s growth and poverty reduction strategy. The project’s three major components include:

Developing a Rural Energy Fund (US$40 million equivalent) to act as a financing and planning mechanism to improve access to modern energy for people living in rural areas;
Improving the legal and regulatory framework and strengthening the capacity of sector institutions to better execute their mandates (US$15.6 million equivalent), and
Improving the preparation of energy projects, including the Lom Pangar Hydropower Project (LPHP) and rural energy projects (US$9.4 million equivalent).

The project will also support the Government of Cameroon’s development of a least-cost energy expansion plan, which will act as a roadmap that considers economic, environmental, financial and social costs in the identification of power generation options.

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For more information on the World Bank’s work in Africa visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/afr/

For more information on the World Bank’s work in Cameroon visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/cameroon

For more information about this project visit:

http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=343813&menuPK=343847&Projectid=P104456

For more information on Energy in Africa, visit:

www.worldbank.org/afr/energy

A Health Sector Support Investment Project for Cameroon

2008-06-24T18:14:21.000Z

Contacts
In Washington: Aby Toure +1 202 473 8302
akonate@worldbank.org;
In Yaoundé: Henri Laurent Bateg (237) 22 20 38 15

hbateg@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$25 million equivalent operation to finance a Health Sector Support Investment project for Cameroon.

The financing package which is an International Development Association (IDA) credit is designed to be financed through a US$25 million sector investment loan (SIL), to be implemented over a 5-year period (2009-2013), in support of the government’s Health Sector Development Program which is under preparation.

The operation will provide flexible financing in support of the Ministry of Health’s program which promotes a Sector Wide Approach. IDA financing will be coordinated with financial support from the French Development Agency, the German development assistance, and will complement contributions from other development partners, including the ADB, UNICEF, and the WHO.

The project will assist Cameroon to achieve better health and nutrition outcomes towards accelerated and sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. The goal is to work with other partners to get Cameroon back on track towards reaching the health and nutrition Millennium Development Goals. The Ministry of Health has led an important process of revamping the Health Sector Strategy which sets the strategic framework for the Bank support. The bottom up process of district planning led by the Ministry of Health has been instrumental in identifying needs and ensuring ownership.

The project will support the implementation of the updated Health Sector Strategy in order to accelerate progress toward the Millennium Development Goals. The project development objective is to increase utilization and improve the quality of health services with a particular focus on child and maternal health and communicable diseases.

The proposed project has two components. The first component will provide support to Annual District Action Plans through the financing of performance-based contracts with District Health Authorities, NGOs, and Health Facilities and procurement of goods, including drugs and medical equipment. The second component will strengthen the Ministry of Health at the national, provincial and district levels to put in place performance contracting, and a unified information system to generate up to date, reliable, financial and programmatic data to measure performance, through the provision of technical assistance, training, goods and equipment.

The project will contribute to three of the main Poverty Reduction Strategy pillars: (i) strengthening human resources and bolstering social services; (ii) using the private sector as a partner in social services delivery; and (iii) improving governance.

The proposed operation will assist the Ministry of Health to refine its Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and ensure that priority is given to high-impact services, underserved areas, and vulnerable groups, and that the health sector program is in line with the macroeconomic framework and global budget.

As Miriam Schneidman, the Task Team Leader of this project said,“Health outcomes are out of synch with the country’s potential and lag behind other countries in the region, making Cameroon seriously off track for reaching the health and nutrition MDGs. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Health, and working in partnership with others the Bank hopes to make a difference in the lives of Cameroonians by enhancing access to quality health services”.

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For more information on the World Bank’s work in Africa visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/afr/

For more information on the World Bank’s work in Cameroon visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/afr/cameroon

For more information about this project visit:

http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=343813&menuPK=343847&Projectid=P104525

The World Bank Supports a Transparency and Accountability Capacity Development Project in Cameroon

2008-06-24T18:08:32.000Z

Contacts
In Washington: Aby Toure +1 202 473 8302
akonate@worldbank.org;

In Yaoundé: Henri Laurent Bateg (237) 22 20 38 15

hbateg@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$ 15 million equivalent operation to finance a Transparency and Accountability Capacity Development project (TACD) in Cameroon.

The financing package which is an International Development Association (IDA) credit is designed to assist the Government of Cameroon (GoC) to lay solid foundations for a transition to increased budgetary assistance, through strengthening Public Financial Management (PFM). Many challenges are still ahead for Cameroon to improve the PFM efficiency and transparency and therefore enhance economic growth prospects and reduce poverty.

As Mary Barton-Dock, the Country Director for Cameroon said, “the growth prospects of the Cameroonian economy and its ability to deliver on the poverty reduction objectives of the PRSP will be substantially enhanced if Cameroon makes progress on its Poverty Reduction Strategy priorities of (i) improving governance, (ii) strengthening human capital, (iii) rebuilding infrastructure, (iv) improving the climate for private sector investment, and (v) promoting regional integration.”

The goals set for Cameroon’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) cannot be achieved without operational efficiency in the Public Financial Management (PFM). The proposed Transparency and Accountability Capacity Development project will contribute, in synergy with other key development partners’ support, to assist the country overcome some of the most compelling PFM shortcomings through the government action plan currently under development.

The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to contribute (i) to enhance transparency and efficiency in PFM, and (ii) to strengthen accountability in the use of public resources. The project will play a key role in Cameroon acceleration of the pace toward a more transparent and orderly PFM and, in addition, more efficient public service delivery.

To that end, the proposed project will be implemented through the following four components which reflect government priorities: (i) Improving Budget Management including Procurement (US$4.1M); (ii) Integration and Development of the Financial Management Information System including the Human Resources Management and Payroll Management systems (US$5.9M); (iii) Strengthening External Oversight and Monitoring & Evaluation (US$1.9M); and (iv) Support to the Project Focal Point for PFM reforms coordination (US$1.5M).

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For more information on the World Bank’s work in Africa visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/afr/

For more information on the World Bank’s work in Cameroon visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/afr/cameroon

For more information about this project, visit:

http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=343813&menuPK=343847&Projectid=P084160

The project CAMEROON WATER AFFERMAGE - OBA for Coverage Expansion is now in the pipeline.

2008-05-23T04:00:00.000Z

The project CAMEROON WATER AFFERMAGE - OBA for Coverage Expansion is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The objective of the Water Lease - Output-Based Aid (OBA) for Coverage Expansion Project is to expand access to urban water supply in Cameroon through a subsidized household connections program, to be implemented by the international private operator, Office National de l'Eau Potable (ONEP) of Morocco, competitively selected to run the national water utility under a 10-year lease contract in August 2007. The project shall allow for the installation of 55,000 household connections in urban areas countrywide over 4 years, equivalent to a 25 percent increase in the total number of water connections in the country. An estimated population of 330,000 people shall gain access to safe piped water. For a typical household connection, the connection cost amounts to US$ 198, plus US$ 53 as an initial guarantee deposit, giving a total of US$ 251 to be paid upfront by a new customer. This clearly is not affordable to most urban households, where average monthly income is US$ 31 for the first income quintile increasing to US$ 68 for the third quintile. As a consequence, the households currently connected to the piped water network mostly belong to the fourth and fifth income quintiles. This connection subsidy project will be implemented as part of an urban and water development support International Development Association (IDA) loan, whose component three includes an amount of US$ 33 million from IDA to support the implementation of the public-private partnership between Cam water and the international private operator. The proposed connection subsidy program was explicitly included and analyzed as part of component three of the IDA operation, as it is an integral part of the lease contract. Financial management, procurement and safeguards policies issues were analyzed during the IDA loan preparation, and mitigation measures carried out under the implementation of the Bank loan.

The project Environmental and Social Capacity Building for the Energy Sector is now in the pipeline.

2008-03-03T05:00:00.000Z

The project Environmental and Social Capacity Building for the Energy Sector is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Cameroon Petroleum Environment Capacity Enhancement (CAPECE) has changed to Closed

2007-12-03T05:00:00.000Z

The project Cameroon Petroleum Environment Capacity Enhancement (CAPECE) has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The objective of the Petroleum Environment Capacity enhancement Project in Cameroon, is to ensure a national capacity, in regards to environmental, and monitoring practices for the implementation of the Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project, which involves construction, and operation of an oil export pipeline, in the border with Chad. The components will: 1) enable the establishment of a regulatory framework, in compliance with the National Environment Management Plan, to support the enforcement of the Environmental Law. The component will develop a long-term vision for the environmental management of the petroleum sector. Studies will assess institutional capacity, and provide adequate alternatives for the sector; 2) strengthen the technical coordination of field interventions : health, biophysical, and socioeconomic impact management. Liaison with sponsors will be ensured, and, training will be provided to institutional staff, in coordination with counterparts in Chad, to maximize synergies; 3) support implementation of the environmental management plan, and, the improvement of skills, responsiveness to oil spills, and, capacity building within the decentralized services of the Cameroon Authority; and 4) monitor, and evaluate project management, through an International Advisory Panel, who will compile information on performance indicators, and evaluate activities under sound environmental management.

The project AVIAN AND HUMAN INFLUENZA PREVENTION AND CONTROL IN CAMEROON is now in the pipeline.

2007-12-01T05:00:00.000Z

The project AVIAN AND HUMAN INFLUENZA PREVENTION AND CONTROL IN CAMEROON is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Cameroon Health Sector Support Investment (SWAP) is now in the pipeline.

2007-11-28T05:00:00.000Z

The project Cameroon Health Sector Support Investment (SWAP) is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Cameroon: Extractive Industries Tansparency Initiative Implementation is now in the pipeline.

2007-10-27T04:00:00.000Z

The project Cameroon: Extractive Industries Tansparency Initiative Implementation is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database