Kenya | World Bank

Time to shift gears : accelerating growth and poverty reduction in the new Kenya

2013-06-19T04:00:00.000Z

The report has three main messages. First, the economy is expected to achieve higher growth targets in 2013 (5.7 percent) and 2014 (6 percent) over what it achieved in 2012 (4.6 percent), as a result of the smooth election process. However, the government will need to make a concerted effort, if it wishes to approach the 10 percent annual growth rate foreseen in Vision 2030. The report's second message emphasizes on the steps that the government needs to take to create an enabling framework for significant private sector-led growth. The Government needs to continue to invest in infrastructure, to increase domestic energy production, to address the other bottlenecks that affect the cost of doing business, and to continue following sound monetary and fiscal policies. Finally, the report's third message focuses on the poverty situation in Kenya, noting progress made since 2005, when an estimated 47 percent of the population lived below the poverty line, to the present, where poverty estimates range between 34 and 42 percent, the imprecision resulting from the lack of any recent survey data. The report notes the spatial dimension of poverty, and the poor tend to live in the arid and semi-arid regions in the north and north east. It concludes with thoughts about a poverty reduction strategy, which would emphasize on job creation, enhanced productivity of smallholder farms, strengthening and expanding cash transfer programs, targeted public spending programs to provide quality education to the rural poor, and improved poverty monitoring, so that the government can rapidly see which activities have the greatest impacts on improving the lives of the poor.

Official Documents- Amendment to Financing Agreement, Credit 4336-KE and Credit 4841-KE

2013-06-18T04:00:00.000Z

Official Documents- Amendment to Financing Agreement, Credit 4743-KE

2013-06-18T04:00:00.000Z

Official Documents- First Revised Disbursement Letter, TF093520

2013-06-18T04:00:00.000Z

Official Documents- Second Revised Disbursement Letter, Credit 3930-KE

2013-06-18T04:00:00.000Z

Official Documents- Second Revised Disbursement Letter, Credit 4571-KE

2013-06-18T04:00:00.000Z

The project BioCF Kenya Greenbelt Movement has changed to Closed

2013-06-14T04:00:00.000Z

The project BioCF Kenya Greenbelt Movement has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

Kenya - National Safety Net Program for Results Project : environmental assessment

2013-06-13T04:00:00.000Z

The Kenya Government plans to establish a National Safety Net Program (NSNP) to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of safety net support to poor and vulnerable populations in Kenya. The NSNP will target poor households that are particularly vulnerable because of where they live or because of their circumstances. Negative impacts include: (1) some groups are still marginalized. The current cash transfer programs target most of the groups identified in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 as being marginalized, including orphans and vulnerable children, older people, the poor and marginalized communities. However, there are some marginalized groups that may not be captured in these programs not due to deliberate effort to exclude them but as a result of the limited coverage; and (2) social conflict: the conflict mentioned in this assessment is mainly related to the fact that only a limited number of eligible households can benefit from these programs. Such conflict usually arises with regard to the targeting process, a process that is considered by some people to be unfair because of factors such as corruption and underhand deals. This conflict has led to tension between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries, between local administrators and community members, and between program GoK personnel and local administrators. Mitigations measures to improve the programs are scheduled: (a) the program scale-up should be based on an analysis of the poverty levels and be informed by clear objectives and an expansion strategy; (b) a communications strategy should be developed to ensure that there is continuous collation, documentation, and dissemination of program information, especially information about targeting; c) a robust M&E framework that includes indicators for capturing and responding to the Programs social impacts should be developed; d) the program should build on the lessons learnt from the cash transfer programs to ensure well-functioning complaint and grievance mechanisms for all programs. Grievance handling mechanisms that enables marginalized and minority groups to provide feedback must be a key feature; e) efforts should be intensified to ensure that the NSNP limits both inclusion and exclusion errors. Measures should be put in place to ensure that people who are erroneously enrolled in the program are removed in a timely manner; f) special attention should be paid to marginalized groups that could inadvertently be left out of the program. This could be achieved using affirmative action, for instance, by ensuring that they are represented on local committees, including the rights and beneficiary committees; and g) establish mechanisms for regular consultations that will ensure adherence to set rules and principles of implementing the program.

PPIAF assistance in Kenya

2013-06-12T04:00:00.000Z

Since 2000 Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) has funded 23 activities in Kenya worth $5.8 million. Five of these activities were funded under the Sub-National Technical Assistance (SNTA) window. Two overarching multi-sector activities have being instrumental in guiding or supporting other sector-specific work. A high-level conference on private participation in infrastructure held in May 2003 provided an opportunity to familiarize target groups and the general public with the concept of private participation in infrastructure.

Project Information Document (Appraisal Stage) - Kenya Water Security and Climate Resilience Project - P117635

2013-06-11T04:00:00.000Z

Kenya - Development of the National Statistical System Project

2013-06-07T04:00:00.000Z

Ratings for the Development of the National Statistical System Project for Kenya were as follows: outcomes were moderately unsatisfactory, risk to development outcome was substantial, Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and Borrower performance was moderately unsatisfactory. Some lessons learned included: the Bank project team should have taken a harder line and tried to overhaul the project at some point. This can have included downgrading the project when product disbursement was below projections, restructuring the project to have a narrower focus, and refusing to provide a no objection to extending the contracts of non-performing Transition Support Unit (TSU) staff. The eight Project Development Objective (PDO) indicators should have been overhauled at the time of the first restructuring to more properly reflect the PDOs. In future statistics projects, a close connection between indicators and objectives should be insured at the time of project design. Closer attention should be given to measuring relevant results. This applies to both information used to inform the PDO indicators and to information that will enable the project team to better understand project performance. Data that is collected with public funds should be freely available to the public. A set of activities can be identified in the project design phase, and the project can focus on ensuring that those particular activities take place. This less ambitious approach will have a greater chance of achieving its objectives, and the Bank can be confident that its funds are well-spent. Focusing the lending instrument on results will closely tie the money to what it is intended to the objectives, presumably increasing the likelihood of success, and also reducing the burden of supervision for the project team.

Rural struc program second phase

2013-05-27T04:00:00.000Z

The evolution of economic policies in Kenya dates back to the colonial era (period preceding 1954) that was characterized by settler targeted government assistance and exclusion of indigenous populations from commercial agriculture. The post liberalization era began in 2003 under which the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERS-WEC), Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture (SRA) are being implemented. Trade liberalization was initiated through the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) of the transition period. These consisted of a set of policies designed to make production and resource allocation more efficient. The broad aim was to shift the economy from the inward oriented import substitution policy to a more open outward orientated policy which will encourage exports and imports of goods and services. Another aim of the SAPs was to encourage privatization, public sector reforms and the support of the private sector. The beginning of SAPs in the country was marked by the signing of the Structural Adjustment Loan (SAL) in 1980. The emphasis of SAPs was on the promotion of the non- traditional exports and market liberalization. The same time government embarked on vigorous export promotion strategy so as to increase returns from exports. This entailed reduction and restructuring of tariff, abolition of export duties, introduction of export retention schemes and export credit guarantee corporation. Incentives such as the Manufacture under Bond (MUB), green channel and export compensation were also introduced.

Kenya - Kenya Agricultural Productivity and Sustainable Land management Project (KAPSLMP) : P088600 - Implementation Status Results Report : Sequence 04

2013-05-24T04:00:00.000Z

Kenya - Nairobi Sanitation Project

2013-05-23T04:00:00.000Z

Official Documents- Agreement for IDF Grant TF012609

2013-05-23T04:00:00.000Z

Official Documents- Disbursement Letter for IDF Grant TF012609

2013-05-23T04:00:00.000Z

Kenya - Kenya IDF Strengthening the Use of Country Safeguards Systems : P130890 - Implementation Status Results Report : Sequence 01

2013-05-18T04:00:00.000Z

Kenya - Building Capacity of Diaspora Affairs Directorate in MOFA : P121227 - Implementation Status Results Report : Sequence 03

2013-05-16T04:00:00.000Z

Kenya - Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project (KISIP) : P113542 - Implementation Status Results Report : Sequence 04

2013-05-16T04:00:00.000Z

Kenya - Kenya Infrastructure Finance/PPP project : P121019 - Implementation Status Results Report : Sequence 01

2013-05-16T04:00:00.000Z

Kenya - Kenya Transport Sector Support Project : P124109 - Implementation Status Results Report : Sequence 04

2013-05-16T04:00:00.000Z

Full Steam Ahead: World Bank Seeks “Global Push” for Geothermal Energy Revolution

2013-03-06T05:12:41.000Z

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Nearly 40 countries have enough geothermal potential to meet a significant proportion of their electricity needs.

• World Bank calls for a Global Geothermal Development Plan to bring geothermal power to millions in developing countries.

• Geothermal lending in 2012 was $336 million, almost 10% of the World Bank’s total renewable energy lending.

March 6, 2013

Over a thousand years ago, the Norse settler Ingólfur Arnarson named the capital of Iceland Reykjavik, or “smoky bay” in English, for what he thought was smoke rising from the ground. In fact, it was steam rising from hot springs. A millennium later, Iceland is still tapping this resource. Over 25% of Iceland's electricity comes from geothermal energy. Nine out of ten buildings are heated by waste heat from geothermal power plants.

Iceland is one of about 40 countries with enough geothermal potential to meet a significant proportion of their energy needs. But global potential remains largely undeveloped. To date, geothermal electricity capacity has reached only 11 gigawatts worldwide – only 0.3% of total global power generation.

The main obstacle for geothermal projects has been the initial test drilling phase, which is expensive and risky. Proving the viability of a single steam field can cost US$15-25 million, and if a site has no potential, this investment is lost.

To change this picture, the World Bank is launching a Global Geothermal Development Plan to bring together donors and multilateral lenders around an investment plan to scale up geothermal power in the developing world. The Plan focuses on exploratory test drilling, with the goal of developing a pipeline of commercially-viable projects that are ready for private investment.

Geothermal energy could be a triple-win for developing countries: clean, reliable, locally-produced power. And once it is up and running, it is cheap and virtually endless. || Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Managing Director, The World Bank

Speaking at the Iceland Geothermal Conference in Reykjavik on March 6, World Bank Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati called on donors, multilateral banks, governments and the private sector to join the Plan and bring what is now a marginal renewable energy source into the mainstream to deliver power to millions.

“Geothermal energy could be a triple-win for developing countries: clean, reliable, locally-produced power. And once it is up and running, it is cheap and virtually endless,” said Sri Mulyani Indrawati. “The World Bank Group, and many of our partners, support the goals of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative, led by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and our President Jim Yong Kim. Two of those goals are universal access to modern energy services, and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. Geothermal energy will be a major step towards both.”

Many developing world regions are rich in geothermal resources, including East Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America, and the Andean region. Already, the World Bank and Iceland are working together under a “Geothermal Compact” to support surface exploration studies and technical assistance for countries in Africa’s Rift Valley—Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia are participating with Zambia expected to join soon.

The Global Geothermal Development Plan expands on previous efforts by its global scope, and its focus on test drilling. It will identify promising sites and leverage financing for exploratory drilling, to develop commercially viable projects. The Plan’s initial target is to mobilize US$500 million. Donors can participate by identifying viable projects, and through bilateral assistance, as well as by contributing to existing channels such as the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) or the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The GGDP will be managed by the World Bank’s longstanding Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP).

The World Bank will convene donors later this year to discuss financing of specific geothermal projects under the plan. The Bank Group’s financing for geothermal development began in the 1970s and has increased from $73 million in 2007 to $336 million in 2012. It now represents almost 10 percent of the Bank’s total renewable energy lending.

Geothermal is also the energy source with the smallest land footprint per kilowatt hour, making it especially attractive in developing countries where population densities are high and land is at a premium.

“Until now, our work has been at the country and regional levels,” Sri Mulyani said. “These efforts are important, and should continue. But a global push is what is needed now. Only a global effort will put geothermal energy in its rightful place – as a primary energy source for many developing countries. Only a global effort will pool resources to spread the risk effectively. It will let us learn from each other, from our failures and successes, and apply that learning.”

Resources

The project Enhancing Agricultural Productivity Project has changed to Closed

2013-03-01T05:00:00.000Z

The project Enhancing Agricultural Productivity Project has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The objective of the Enhancing Agricultural Productivity Project for Kenya is to assist the recipient to increase access to agricultural inputs and technologies among targeted smallholder farmers in selected districts. There are four components to the project, the first component being up-scaling the existing agricultural credit program (Kilimo Biashara) at a cost of Euro 5.07 million. The project will build on the partnerships already established between the Government, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and Equity Bank to leverage additional credit and scale up loans to farmers. The overall strategy is to leverage Equity Bank's enormous resources through a 10 percent guarantee fund on the basis of which Equity Bank will provide credit facilities of up to US$50 million to smallholder farmers, agro-input dealers and other value chain players in the agricultural sector. The second component is the up scaling the existing input voucher scheme (Kilimo Plus) in selected districts through the Government's National Accelerated Agricultural Inputs Access Program (NAAIAP) at a cost of Euro 9.47 million. The third component is the up-scaling of the orphan crop program at a cost of Euro 3.08 million. This component will focus on supplying planting materials of orphan crops to smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas. This will involve promoting farmer involvement in seed bulking and multiplication of orphan and other crops, including sorghum, cassava and millet. These crops are drought tolerant and more suitable for such areas and could be important substitutes to maize both for human consumption and in providing alternative ingredients to maize in animal feed production. Finally, the fourth component is the support to project administration costs.

The project tobedroppedKENYA: Lake Turkana Wind Project has changed to Dropped

2013-02-28T05:00:00.000Z

The project tobedroppedKENYA: Lake Turkana Wind Project has changed to Dropped. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Kenya Development Policy Loan has changed to Dropped

2013-02-27T05:00:00.000Z

The project Kenya Development Policy Loan has changed to Dropped. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

Plugged in to progress with geothermal energy in Kenya

2013-01-10T23:04:39.000Z

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Geothermal delivers carbon-free power in Kenya

• Small businesses benefit and communities are safer

• Rift valley resource could power 150 million households in Africa

January 11, 2013

Jackson Kiloku, a 26-year-old Masai who herds animals and raises vegetables, stood at the far end of Inkoiriento village, a panoply of wooden and rusted tin-roofed buildings in Kenya's Nakuru County, and pointed to cables in the sky. "I hope electricity will flow through them soon," he said. “Electricity will be good for our local school and good for our businesses.” Daniel Parsitau, a fellow villager added that electricity would make life at home easier as well.

Both look to Kenya's Olkaria geothermal plant, on the boundaries of Hell’s Gate National Park, to deliver this new electricity. Olkaria, which has received long-term support from the World Bank and other agencies, is part of Kenya’s plan to substantially increase the contribution of geothermal to the country’s energy mix.

Only 16% of Kenyans have access to electricity, but with evidence of abundant geothermal resources beneath the country’s share of East Africa’s Rift Valley, the government plans to double geothermal generation to bring electricity to villages like Inkoiriento. Already, geothermal—developed with $300 million in support from the World Bank since 1978 —delivers about 13% of Kenya’s electricity; the goal is to raise that proportion to close to 30% by 2020.

Hairdresser Elizabeth Kyalo and her assistant now use electric appliances to straighten, dye, and style their customers’ hair. Electric lighting allows them to stay open after dusk: “I have more business now and am able to pay for schooling of my kids,” said Elizabeth.

Getting access to electricity also improves safety for women in remote areas. Before Kola Division village got electricity, for example, resident Jossylyn Mutua was attacked by machete-wielding thieves who sliced her forehead and smashed her arms. She has since relocated to Nairobi but would consider moving back to her village now that it has electricity.

“Lighting has secured the area,” said Norman Mulei, a grocer, a few shops away. He and his sister run their grocery from 6 a.m. to 8 or 9 p.m. They feel that having electricity has made it safer for them to stay open at night.

Concerted global action key to providing access

It is relatively clean and non-polluting, and can provide constant power. || Pierre Audinet, Clean Energy Program Team Leader at the World Bank's Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)

Geothermal is also delivering carbon-free access to electricity. “It is relatively clean and non-polluting, and can provide constant power,” says Pierre Audinet, Clean Energy Program Team Leader at the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). “For many developing countries, this is a potentially transformative resource.”

Getting to that transformation, however, will take concerted international action.

Many other countries share Kenya’s prospects. Geothermal resources are concentrated in regions of tectonic activity, from Africa’s Rift Valley, to Central America, to Southeast Asia. About 40 countries worldwide have geothermal resources that could meet a very significant portion of the national electricity demand.

The World Bank and ESMAP are preparing a Global Geothermal Development Plan to mobilize funding for geothermal development. This partnership with bilateral funding agencies and other multilateral banks will target regions of high potential and finance the test drilling phase, to trigger further private investment along other stages of the geothermal value chain. The goal is to boost geothermal electricity production capacity in low- and middle-income countries, and thereby deliver power to some of the 1.3 billion worldwide who remain without it.

World Bank support for scaling up geothermal

Supporting the scale-up of geothermal power in developing countries is among the Bank Group’s key commitments as part of the global Sustainable Energy for All initiative, which aims to achieve universal energy access, double the proportion of renewable energy in the global energy mix, and double the rate of improvement of energy efficiency, all by 2030. Bank Group President Dr. Jim Yong Kim recently joined with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to co-chair the advisory board that will provide strategic guidance to the Sustainable Energy for All initiative.

Because geothermal power projects require often extensive preliminary test drilling, they are more capital intensive than many other renewable energy projects. Significant investment is required before it becomes clear whether a site has the potential to recover the costs. Geothermal projects also have relatively long lead times from the start of exploration to power plant commissioning and the first revenues. But geothermal offers great promise, especially in East Africa, where the Rift Valley's geothermal potential could power up to 150 million households. This is why the Bank Group is working with Kenya to support geothermal development with concessional funding in the early stages.

World Bank Group support for geothermal development is growing, rising from $73 million in 2007 to $336 million in 2012. Geothermal now represents almost 10 percent of the Bank’s total renewable energy lending. The Global Geothermal Development Plan is expected to boost that support even further.

Resources

The project Northern Corridor Additional Financing has changed to Closed

2013-01-04T05:00:00.000Z

The project Northern Corridor Additional Financing has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The additional financing to the Republic of Kenya for the Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project will help finance the costs associated with: (i) completion of the original project activities whose scope and costs have increased unexpectedly (78 percent); (ii) implementing expanded project activities that scale up the development effectiveness of the project to address institutional capacity constraints and strengthen governance in the construction industry and carrying out feasibility and design studies for the Sudan Link Road and Urban Public Transport (12 percent); and (iii) emergency rehabilitation and replacement of infrastructure and public assets damaged as a result of the political crisis that followed the general elections in December 2007 (10 percent). The project paper also includes a for restructuring of the project consisting of: (i) dropping activities pertaining to construction of the North Airport Road and Rehabilitation of the Old Embakasi Airport; (ii) introducing a new activity of constructing a new Passenger Terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi; (iii) reallocating funds among the disbursement categories; and (iv) extending the closing date of the Credit from December 31, 2009 to June 30, 2012 to allow sufficient time to implement the expanded and new activities.

The project Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project has changed to Closed

2013-01-04T05:00:00.000Z

The project Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The objectives of the Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project (NCTIP) for Kenya are to: (a) increase efficiency of road transport along the Northern Corridor to facilitate trade and regional integration; (b) enhance aviation safety and security to meet international standards; and (c) promote private sector participation in the management, financing and maintenance of road assets; and (d) restore vital infrastructure and public assets damaged as a result of the 2007 post-election crisis. This restructuring, is mainly to extend the closing date to December 31, 2015, and includes other restructuring actions such as: (i) increase the financing percentage for road works; and (ii) reallocation of funds among various categories of the NCTIP to allow the completion of the remaining ongoing activities under the project. The 36 month extension of the project's closing date is equal to delays that were external to the operation and outside the control of the Borrower and implementing agencies.

The project Extending Mobile Applications in Africa through Social Networking - Kenya (Akirchix) has changed to Closed

2012-11-21T05:00:00.000Z

The project Extending Mobile Applications in Africa through Social Networking - Kenya (Akirchix) has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Kenya Infrastructure Finance/PPP project has changed to Active

2012-11-20T05:00:00.000Z

The project Kenya Infrastructure Finance/PPP project has changed to Active. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The overall objective of Adaptable Program Lending for Infrastructure Finance and Public-Private Partnership Project for Kenya is to increase private investment in the Kenya infrastructure market across sectors and to sustain this participation over an extended period of time. There are four components to the project. The first component of the project is institutional support and regulatory reform. This component was established based on an assessment of needs and lessons learned from prior technical assistance projects in Kenya, particularly the Financial and Legal Technical Assistance Program (FLSTAP). The second component of the project is Public-Private Partnership (PPP) pipeline preparation. This component for US$20 million will assist the government of Kenya (GoK) in ensuring that the first projects to come before the PPP Steering Committee (PPPSC) and PPP Secretariat (PPPS) are well-prepared, 'bankable,' and take into account lessons learned from previous PPP projects, the privatization program in Kenya, and regional and international experience. The third component of the project is improvements to Fiscal Commitment and Contingent Liability (FCCL) risk management framework. This component for US$5 million will provide support and guidance to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and other relevant agencies on the fiscal commitment and risk framework associated with infrastructure, with an emphasis on contingent liabilities from PPPs. The fourth component of the project is support for program management. This component for US$3.5 million may include equipment, operating costs, organizational and systems development, training, capacity building and technical assistance.

The project Judicial Performance Improvement has changed to Active

2012-11-20T05:00:00.000Z

The project Judicial Performance Improvement has changed to Active. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The development objective of the Judicial Performance Improvement Project for Kenya is to improve the performance of the Judiciary to provide its services in the project areas in a more effective and accountable manner. There are four components to the project. The first component is court administration and case management. this component aim at implementing a program of activities for strengthening the Judiciary's court administration and case management systems and processes, with a view to improving performance, accountability, access to justice and the expeditious delivery of judicial services. the second component is judiciary training and staff development. This component aims at strengthening the capacity of the Judiciary Training Institute, through the provision of technical and advisory services, training, goods and selected operating costs, and supporting the capacity building activities of the office of Attorney-General for its legal personnel. The third component is court infrastructure. This component consist constructing approximately eight high court buildings and two magistrate courts in priority areas, rehabilitating approximately thirty magistrate courts, supplying approximately twenty temporary or demountable courts, and establishing a unit for the supervision, maintenance and management of Judiciary's buildings. The fourth component is project management. This component includes establishing and strengthening the capacity of the project management unit, providing technical advisory services for procurement and financial management under the project, implementing environmental and social safeguard requirements, and carrying out monitoring and evaluation and related studies.

Citizen Feedback Drives Performance Improvements in Kenya’s Water and Sanitation Services

2012-11-01T15:08:56.000Z

Synopsis
With support from the World Bank and the Water and Sanitation Program, the government of Kenya is working to address water shortages. The Kenya Water and Sanitation Services Improvement Project (WASSIP) is targeting major infrastructure investment, as well as strengthening governance reforms. As part of its project appraisal document (PAD) it committed to partner with the Water and Sanitation Program in strengthening social accountability. The strategy adopted by the Water and Sanitation Program is to assist the Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) to put in place community Water Action Groups, introducing citizen scorecards, and using information and communication technologies (ICT) to create a feedback platform that enhances the accountability of local utilities.

Challenge
Access to sustainable water supply and sanitation services remains a challenge in water-scarce Kenya. Substantial investments in water production, treatment, and distribution have been constrained, but reforms are focusing on addressing lack of transparency, poor delineation of responsibilities, and inconsistent enforcement of regulatory standards among water service providers. Unfortunately, when services fail, the poorest are those who suffer the most by paying higher prices and receiving less reliable service.

Although the Kenyan government has embarked on a series of water and sanitation sector reforms the lack of a strong presence at the community level has created substantial hurdles for the Ministry of Water and Irrigation’s Regulatory Board WASREB in protecting consumer interests and ensuring service delivery standards.

“You can have infrastructure investment in pipes and sewer treatment, however ensuring proper service delivery requires project mechanisms that listen and respond to consumer preferences,” says Rosemary Rop, World Bank Water and Sanitation Specialist.

Approach
The social accountability component complementing the WASSIP is implementing a three-pronged approach that includes establishing Water Action Groups, use of water and sanitation report cards, and launching a real-time feedback mechanism using ICT tools.

In order to better engage citizens, the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program is helping the Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) to reach out to communities and establish Water Action Groups- local committees made of community representatives that act as intermediaries between consumers and service providers. The committees facilitate feedback by holding quarterly focus groups and biannual public hearings. The Water Action Groups provide citizens with a grievance redress mechanism by ensuring that unresolved complaints can be effectively taken up the chain-of-command from water service providers to Water Services Boards and then to the national regulatory agency.

In addition, the project has introduced water and sanitation report cards. Project team members distribute surveys to individual citizens and allow them to rate the quality of the water services they are receiving. The report cards are then collected, analyzed, and used to identify service gaps.

However, as Rop notes, “it was very time consuming to work with these manual feedback mechanisms and Water Service Boards often contested the accuracy of the feedback received from citizens.” As a result, Rop and her team (the core members are Rosemary Rop as TTL, Daniel Kamiri, Dickson Marira, Anthony Nyaga, Halima Murunga, Michael Kane, Sheryl Silverman, Maximillian Hirn, Toni Sittoni and Jecinter Hezron) launched an ICT tool for feedback collection--“MajiVoice” (“Water Voice”). This new tool enables beneficiaries to submit real-time feedback on service delivery using SMS, an online website, or unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) – a service popular in Kenya that facilitates two-way data exchange.
Through these channels, citizens can report corruption, submit a complaint, request explanations for their bill, or provide suggestions. As Rop explains, “the automated system is complemented by a ticketing system. As soon as the consumer sends a complaint they get a reference number and can track the progress of the response to the complaint.” The ICT system was developed through country wide user consultations, having been built on a prototype demonstrated during the water hackathon in Nairobi). Prior to its launch it is being tested with the support of the World Bank’s Web Program Office and Office of Information Security.

Beneficiary Results
The Water Action Groups have met with overwhelming success. In the first two years of the pilot, the community groups solicited a total of over 400 complaints and successfully resolved 97% of them, some which had been outstanding for over 3 years. Overall, the project has broken new ground when it comes to community engagement.

“The Water Utilities and Boards involved in the project have experienced unprecedented citizen attendance at public hearings and an unprecedented level of engagement from the community,” said Rop.

However, the true secret to success has been the ability of Water Action Groups to guide unresolved complaints up the chain-of-command. Rather than allowing complaints to languish at the local level, water utility official are now incentivized to fully respond to consumer concerns and investigate complaints. As a result, the community's concerns are taken significantly more seriously.

“The water utility has accepted what we report to them is a genuine situation and now they have become very responsive,” said Morris Mae, Mombasa Water Action Group member.

The introduction of MajiVoice allowed to further scale up the project and engage in it larger numbers of beneficiaries. Instead of requiring Water Action Groups to manually collect feedback from local communities, beneficiaries can now directly send it to the Maji Voice system, and Water Action Groups review the complaints and follow up first with the Water Companies and then if unresolved with the Water Services Boards and the regulator, WASREB with regard to their resolution.

World Bank Contribution
The Kenya Water and Sanitation Services Improvement Project was funded by an initial US$150 million loan from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's Fund for the Poorest. The World Bank provides funding and technical assistance to support development of essential infrastructure, legislative and regulatory institutions, and water sector management capacity. As part of the project strategy, a partnership was forged with a trust fund, the Water and Sanitation Program. The feedback mechanism began in the 3 board areas of the project, namely Coast, Athi and Lake Victoria North Water Services Boards. Based on the lessons learnt, the feedback mechanism is being scaled up in 2012 in all 8 Water Service Boards in the country.

The World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program was able to leverage its global networks to promote South-South knowledge exchange. In 2008, they sponsored Kenyan officials to visit Zambia to learn about the use of citizen monitors.

Partners
There are four partners essential to the beneficiary feedback project:
• the Water Services Regulatory Board (WSRB) sets water service standards for the country and protects consumer interests.
• the Water Services Boards (WSBs) are the asset holding institutions responsible for water locally. The project is currently working with three WSBs in Athi, Coast, and Lake Victoria North.
• commercial water companies provide water and sanitation services directly to citizens. The project is currently being piloted with four of these water companies.
• Water Action Groups are committees made up of citizens and seek to provide civic education on water sector reforms, promote citizen participation, and facilitate group discussions and meetings to solicit feedback.

As part of the MajiVoice pilot, the project also is partnering with Safaricom, the largest mobile provider in Kenya, to widely advertise the tool and take advantage of Safaricom’s reach and customer network.

Moving Forward
While the project has been successful in winning support, if the current work is going to be successfully scaled up it will require additional support. Some utilities still view the Water Action Group committees with distrust, which means the project will need to begin looking at creating organizational incentives to overcome this distrust. In spite of this in September 2012 WASREB has scaled and completed up the appointment of Water Action Group committees in the largest utilities of every Board area in the Country.

With support from the Water and Sanitation Program and GIZ, the sector now has a regulatory guideline for citizen engagement that outlines how citizens will access information, participate in service delivery and seek redress on unresolved complaints through WAGs and MajiVoice. The more immediate priority is to fully integrate MajiVoice in the operations of the feedback component of the project. This will allow the project to mechanize it monitoring system and not only save time, but also allow for rapid assessment of how operations are unfolding on the ground.

“The telecommunications platform will make the project far less cumbersome,” said Rop. “Collecting feedback data manually would require hundreds and thousands of water group members which would not be sustainable.”

The project Development of The National Statistical System Project has changed to Closed

2012-10-02T04:00:00.000Z

The project Development of The National Statistical System Project has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

This credit is a follow on Adaptable Program Lending under the global STATCAP APL program. The objective of the Project is to establish a sustainable national statistical system to provide reliable, timely and accurate data in accordance with international standards through: (a) strengthening the capacity of the relevant statistical agencies through training and adoption of new information and communication technology; (b) carrying out legal and institutional reforms that promote statistical data development; (c) establishing linkages among statistical data producers; (d) promoting statistical information sharing among data producers and users to strengthen the quality of decision making; and (e) developing a data access and dissemination strategy in conformity with relevant legislation and international good practice. The project consists of six components: 1. Organizational Development. This component will ensure that institutional capacity supports the formulation, coordination, and implementation of appropriate statistical policies and programs geared to the needs of the Kenyan economy. 2. Human Resource Development. This component will support training and education to strengthen professional skills of producers, suppliers and users of data. 3. Development of Statistical Infrastructure. This component will provide the necessary infrastructure including computer processing equipment (hardware) and software for strengthening data collection, processing and analysis. 4. Data Development. This component will finance the adaptation by the main statistical agencies of internationally accepted standards and methodologies in data collection, compilation and validation. 5. Physical Infrastructure and Equipment. This component will provide computers and networking equipment, transport equipment, survey equipment and accessories, and office furniture and supplies for CBS and line ministries. 6. Project Management. This component will finance project management and monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the project.

Crossing Boundaries

2012-09-06T23:45:00.000Z

As prepared for delivery

Friday, September 7, 2012

World Conservation Congress

Jeju, Korea

Rachel Kyte, Vice President, Sustainable Development

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen - I am honored to have been asked to make the keynote address at this vital gathering of conservation thinking, leadership and action. I am particularly delighted to be here as I had the privilege and honor to work at IUCN a number of years ago. It feels good to be back again!

This Congress brings together some of the world’s smartest thinkers on the policy and practice of conservation and environmental protection. If anyone is going to guide the world in new ways of thinking and acting, it is this group of 7,000 or more which traverses all spheres - private, public, civil society, multilateral, large, small, left, right.

You, as a group, are not at the fringes of decision-making - you are at the very heart of it. Your scientific research, dedication, pursuit of better policies and connections to community all go towards much better, more informed decision-making.

Over the last few years I have had the opportunity to cross some of the boundaries that very often define our perceptions and determine the work in our institutions. My perspectives changed as I moved from IUCN to working with private companies during my time at the World Bank’s private sector arm - the IFC - and they’re changing again now as Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank.

Today, I am convinced that we will have to make a bigger effort to cross boundaries – between our organizations, across public and private sectors and within civil society - so that we reach a better future for our planet.

Let’s take a look at just some of the evidence of environmental decline before us. Evidence is one of the many things that the World Bank and IUCN share.

· The number and size of populations of the world’s species have decreased by almost a third over the last 100 years and this is projected to continue decreasing

· Over 60 percent of ecosystems are in worse shape now than 50 years ago

· 85 percent of ocean fisheries are fully exploited or over-exploited or depleted

· The condition of coral reefs has deteriorated by 38 percent since 1980

· 80 percent of people live in areas where the quality of rivers is threatened

· Climate change is worsening everything. Flood disasters increased by 230 percent and drought disasters by 38 per cent in the 20 years to the early 2000s.

At the same time that this assault on nature has been occurring, we have enjoyed an unrivalled period of economic growth which has seen 660 million people lifted out of poverty in the past 20 years. Don’t get me wrong - we are not saying we need to stop growth to protect nature. Rather, we are calling for a different kind of growth - a greener and more inclusive growth.

An indispensable part of this will be realizing the potential of ecosystems within our economies and to put nature at the foundation of economic strategies. Nature needs to be firmly on the agendas of finance ministers and discussed in board rooms with the focus on building the public-private partnerships to invest in our natural wealth.

Are we ready to do this? Increasingly the World Bank Group is. Now let me share with you three reasons for my cautious optimism that others are ready too.

Firstly, governments are increasingly stepping up - whether by increasing the number and extent of areas under protection or by better recognizing the value of nature and ecosystem services.

Governments, however, are facing daily trade-offs - for example - building a road through a park so that farmers can have better access to markets and/or conserving a road-less national park. Or, they’re weighing up a marina in a mangrove area to boost tourism versus protecting it for its fish breeding, storm protection and carbon storage values.

Effective conservation cannot and will not be driven just by conservation for conservation’s sake. Fortunately, governments increasingly recognize that maintaining and, eventually, accounting for their natural capital comes down to a question of social and economic development. There may not be simple win-wins all the time; but there may be approaches that can come close enough.

We are seeing more and more good examples. In the State of Acre in the northwestern corner of Brazil, the State Government has been making a concerted effort to bring services to its dispersed rural population and to move away from a growth model based on extraction of forest products and expansive agriculture. Where previously 90 percent of Acre’s timber extraction was illegal, now the majority comes from approved forest management plans. Real GDP has increased by over 44 percent and deforestation rates have declined by 70 percent. Acre is showing that safeguarding a state’s natural wealth will also help lift its people out of poverty.

In Liberia, the government has installed a chain of custody system for exporting logs that is helping reduce illegal logging and bringing in much-needed funding for conservation. The Government is also enforcing fishing regulations and arresting vessels found to be fishing illegally.

To manage trade-offs, governments need better information on the economic and social effects of their decisions. More and more governments are embracing the need to use natural capital accounts alongside GDP. At the World Bank Group, we are working with countries from Botswana to the Philippines to put the value of natural capital into the center of their economic decision making. After the 50:50 Campaign at Rio, 62 countries have signed on to support natural capital accounting along with the heads of close to 90 companies. These companies are doing this for competitive reasons - they need to be able to value their assets over the long term.

That brings me to the second reason for my optimism -- the growing leadership coming from parts of the private sector, be they small businesses and local entrepreneurs or Fortune 500 companies.

I see real traction emerging from the advent of rigorous performance standards and principles for corporate behavior. For example, we are beginning to see evidence that the revised IFC Performance Standard on Biodiversity is driving major change both at corporate headquarters and, more importantly, on the ground.

Companies working in developing countries are increasingly investing in biodiversity expertise, in community development, environmental restoration and long-term conservation capacity building. The big shift is that companies are beginning to see this as more than reputational risk management and rather as a way to improve their operations and manage business risk, a key part of creating value. Mainstreaming nature conservation across their operations makes good business sense. Why? Because many companies depend on freshwater, genetic resources, climate regulation, and natural hazard protection to run their businesses successfully and to see their profits grow.

As well as making good business sense, conserving nature and maintaining the resilience of ecosystems upon which people and business depend, allows companies to build trust in the communities in which they operate and among stakeholders abroad. This creates something many call a “social license to operate”.

We are beginning to see more and more companies engage with conservation organizations and external experts to better understand the environment in which they are working. This has inspired some companies to go beyond the minimization of project impacts but also to consider how they might contribute to conservation more broadly.

One example is Rio Tinto which launched its biodiversity strategy at this Congress in 2004. That strategy committed the company to making a Net Positive Impact on biodiversity through its operations. For the past seven years, the company has been piloting the strategy - working alongside government, conservation groups and civil society in Madagascar to build public sector capacity, develop livelihood alternatives, and establish offsets to conserve high biodiversity value areas.

Other examples include Shell in Gabon and Peru LNG which have been working together with the Smithsonian Institution to develop science-based assessment and monitoring of project impacts.

I also see the first few encouraging examples from the finance sector in integrating nature and ecosystem services protection into their investments.

That takes me to my third reason for optimism - that the need for action is overcoming global political sclerosis.

Rio+20 confirmed for me that while at the global level we lack political leadership today to gain consensus, global inaction is being overwhelmed by the ideas, the innovation and the real commitment to action from smart policymakers, city mayors, community leaders and CEOs.

Like-minded coalitions across sectors emerged on almost all issues. People gravitated to ideas and approaches that promised action - whether that was about ocean health, natural capital accounting, access to sustainable energy or reducing short-term climate pollutants.

For the more than 1000 business executives who attended Rio, the message was that action on sustainability is all about future markets, future products, future employees, future investors, and competitiveness linked to sustainability as shared value.

There was an almost overwhelming sense that while we need global governance for ultimate speed and scale, we cannot afford to wait for international agreements to do what everyone knows needs to be done. For every square bracket negotiated, a species is lost and that window of opportunity gets smaller and smaller.

…………………

So, while I have these reasons for cautious optimism --- I am also speaking from a place of urgency. To address the challenges ahead, each and every one of us will have to cross boundaries and we in the conservation community will need to move collectively outside our comfort zones. To this end, I have three appeals.

First to governments: Governments have responsibilities to their citizens that are measured in units of finance – jobs, tax receipts, GDP. We are not naïve: There can be and will be tensions between conservation and development; that’s why public servants need to be armed with the tools and information they need to make fully informed decisions. And that’s why those of you here who work in government should unpack the economic benefits of conservation and translate them into real numbers through natural capital accounting to transform conservation from a discrete sector to an engine of inclusive green growth.

Second to the Private Sector: To be part of the solution, companies need to raise the profile of nature conservation in their boardrooms and recognize the value of nature to their bottom lines. On the ground, companies need to commit to best management practices which will sometimes mean working beyond their immediate project areas to offset impacts and to secure supply chains. This raises technical, political and governance challenges which is why companies need to reach out and offer a hand in partnership to governments, to conservation organizations and even to each other. We hear from the private sector the need for a level playing field when it comes to best practice in biodiversity management. A coordinated and loud voice from industry groups towards government regulators might be part of the solution.

We also need to find ways to bring to scale financial instruments like green bonds, conservation banking, subsidy reform, license to operate agreements for generating new potential sources of support so that good practice can be rewarded with access to capital.

Third to Civil Society: Very often, civil society, conservation organizations and academic institutions are the backbone of any commitment to conserving nature.

But it is important to remember that it’s governments that have the main responsibility for the stewardship of natural assets. These are their citizen’s natural assets; governments must manage them. The rest of us – civil society, donors and philanthropists – must work together, provide them support while demanding transparency and holding them to account, so that they can do more and do it better.

We in the conservation community need to see the private sector as full partners for solutions and not just a threat or a fundraising opportunity. For example, in public private partnerships - if we were able to develop aggregated offsets, is the conservation community collectively ready to provide the means for verification?

Across all these areas of engagement, the World Bank Group stands ready to do its part and to do more:

We entered the debate on green growth in May 2012 through our report ‘Inclusive Green Growth: The Pathway to Sustainable Development’. We want to contribute, in particular by focusing on the inclusiveness of green growth, on the importance of sound fiscal policies - like the removal of inefficient fuel subsidies - and on ensuring that nature considerations are taken into account in economic decision-making. Our work on green growth is, importantly, supported by the Korean Government.

With new energy and emphasis around Natural Capital Accounting stemming from Rio, it is crucial to keep up the political support and momentum, attract key new country partners, and visibly demonstrate action - including through our global partnership called WAVES.

We also want to do more to streamline nature considerations into our own operations by coordinating the implementation of the IFC’s Performance Standards and the World Bank’s operational policies. And I expect that the Bank Group will work more on aggregated offsets as a means of bringing public and private interests together to conserve at scale within a transparent framework.

We are also working on enhancing environmental law enforcement to ensure that the benefits of nature accrue to national economies and local communities - not thugs and organized crime.

Conclusion

Ladies and Gentlemen, as we begin this Congress:

· Let’s agree that we need to do more, better and with more far-reaching consequences

· Let’s together move away from our ardent attachment to old ideologies, old attitudes that stop us from finding solutions together. What we need today is innovation, communication and partnerships between governments, communities, financial institutions, companies and conservation organizations.

· The type and range of solutions will be as diverse as species and ecosystems. Just as nature is not just a set of charismatic species, we will need more than a set of boutique projects and anecdotes to show large-scale impact. We will need to prioritize without devaluing any one community’s chance of life. We will need brave thinkers at the table, all types of partnerships, people with the humility and patience to make them work. Who better than those of us already humbled by the glory of nature and the complexity of its life support?

· Let’s cross our boundaries together.

· I look forward to being with you every step of the way.

The project National Safety Net Program for Results is now in the pipeline.

2012-08-19T04:00:00.000Z

The project National Safety Net Program for Results is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

Connecting the Americas: Filling in the ICT Gaps

2012-07-30T12:43:00.000Z

July 30, 2012

The next digital divide for Latin America & the Caribbean concerns Internet access and the many rural areas in the region that are still without it.

In the 1980s, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean spearheaded reforms in the telecommunications sector, and many countries around the world followed suit.

They started by privatizing state-owned incumbents and then opened up the sector to new entrants which led to a competitive market, particularly for mobile operators. The gap in access to voice telephony has largely been met now, due to the rapid rollout of mobile networks. However, the next digital divide concerns Internet access and the many rural areas in the region that are still without it.

The Connect Americas Summit 2012, hosted by the International Telecommunication Union in Panama City, brought together leaders from the public and private sectors, as well as international and regional development agencies, to identify resources required to close information and communication technology (ICT) gaps in the region.

Doyle Gallegos, the World Bank's lead ICT policy specialist who attended the summit, says, "We are now at the base of the next wave of reforms which will position the region to fully benefit from all the infrastructure that has been put in place. In this next stage, we will need to focus on connecting the rural areas and on the uptake of ICT applications to boost productivity, improve access to information and to innovation platforms."

Many of the country representatives voiced concerns that the private operators were not reaching the remote and rural areas. These areas are often seen as unprofitable or are in rough terrain which makes infrastructure rollout difficult. Improving access in these areas will require examining how the private sector can be incentivized to reach them and to look at public-private partnership arrangements where necessary. Target beneficiaries will need to include key institutions such as hospitals, schools, and community centers.

As Internet service at faster speeds becomes more available, the benefits and impact should increase as well. Yet, to fully leverage this new capacity does require some help. How people use ICTs becomes a key factor. Hence there is a role for governments to play in facilitating and triggering ICT use – such as through using ICTs themselves to provide basic services, and by ensuring a secure online environment where e-commerce, e-government, and e-entrepreneurship can flourish.

The World Bank is supporting the connectivity agenda in the region through the Nicaragua Rural Telecommunications Project and the Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Programme (CARCIP).

RELATED RESOURCES

Transform, Innovate, and Connect: A New Strategy for Information and Communication Technology

2012-07-25T12:15:00.000Z

July 25, 2012

The World Bank Group aims to help developing countries use ICT for greater development impact.

A dramatic increase in use of mobile phones and the Internet; plunging prices of computing and mobile internet devices; the increasing prevalence of social media: these are some of the rapid changes seen in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector over the last decade.

The World Bank Group’s new strategy for the ICT sector for the period 2012-2015 reflects this new context. It aims to help developing countries use ICT to transform delivery of basic services, drive innovations and productivity gains, and improve competitiveness.

“Information and communication technologies can help reduce poverty, boost economic growth, and improve accountability and governance,” explains World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development Rachel Kyte.

Three Priority Areas

The new strategy emphasizes the transformative potential of ICT – in areas such as accountability, energy, and health – while maintaining a steady focus on ICT-enabled innovation and ICT infrastructure. Bank Group support will be directed to three priority areas:

Transformation: Making development more open and accountable, for instance, by facilitating citizen feedback to governments and service providers; and improving delivery of services, such as education, health, and financial services.

Innovation: Developing competitive IT-based service industries and fostering ICT innovation across the economy – with a focus on job creation, especially for women and youth.

Connectivity: Leveraging private investments to help scale up affordable access to broadband – including for women, disabled citizens, disadvantaged communities, and people living in remote and rural areas.

“The World Bank Group’s new strategy will help our client countries take advantage of the opportunities that ICT offers across all sectors of the economy, drawing on our unique expertise in public-private partnerships in the ICT sector.”

Working with client countries

The new strategy builds on the Bank Group’s experience working with client countries on ICT sector reforms, infrastructure development, and electronic government:

Over the 2000s, Bank support for ICT sector reforms helped attract an estimated $30 billion in private investment for mobile network infrastructure in the least developed countries. The IFC’s $2.3 billion in telecommunications infrastructure investments and MIGA’s $550 million in political risk guarantees also supported private investment in mobile service providers in difficult and high-risk environments.
Bank Group support for ICT applications has grown rapidly over the last decade, and over 70 percent of the 1,700 projects in the Bank’s active portfolio now have ICT components.
Since 2007, the Bank Group has intensified its support for public-private partnerships for broadband and high-speed Internet, helping bring down retail prices and increasing the take-up of services, in some instances by a factor of 10.

Stakeholders from 17 low- and middle-income countries and four OECD countries provided inputs for the new strategy through a series of face-to-face and online consultations. The document also draws on a review by the Bank Group’s Independent Evaluation Group.

For Rashad-Rudolf Kaldany, IFC Vice President for Global Industries, “The Strategy recognizes the vital role of the private sector in improving access to information infrastructure and services in developing countries.” He explains that “IFC works with the private sector as an advisor, financier, and standard setter to help unlock the potential of ICT for development.”

Jose Luis Irigoyen, the World Bank’s Director for Transport, Water, and Information and Communication Technologies, underlines how “ICT offers new tools to directly address poverty by providing access to information, contributing to pro-poor market developments such as microfinance and mobile money, and equalizing opportunities in rural areas.”

Collaborating across the Bank Group

Under the new strategy, the World Bank, IFC, and MIGA will work together to assist countries in unlocking the opportunities offered by ICT.

For instance, the World Bank will provide support for appropriate policy, legal, and regulatory frameworks, as well as catalytic investment in ICT backbone infrastructure; IFC will provide financing and advisory services to mobile operators; and MIGA will provide guarantees to support the roll-out of telecommunications networks and services.

“MIGA has contributed to the rapid growth of access to ICT services in emerging countries by mitigating the political risk of investments,” says Michel Wormser, MIGA’s Vice President and COO.

He adds that, “Under the new WBG strategy, MIGA will make available its insurance capacity to further accelerate ICT investments in higher-risk countries, notably fragile and post-conflict countries, where ICT will be key to growth, job creation, sharing of knowledge, and governance.”

The ICT strategy will adopt a new approach to implementation, including country diagnostics to help prioritize Bank Group interventions at the country level and leverage more partnerships with external sources of expertise. A results-based framework will be used to track progress.

In this video, Rachel Kyte, Vice President for Sustainable Development, speaks about how
the World Bank will leverage ICTs in its work.

RELATED RESOURCES

‘Maximizing Mobile’ Report Highlights Development Potential of Mobile Communications

2012-07-17T15:00:00.000Z

July 17, 2012

The new World Bank study says that about three-quarters of planet’s population now has access to a mobile phone.

Around three-quarters of the world’s inhabitants now have access to a mobile phone and the mobile communications story is moving to a new level, which is not so much about the phone but how it is used, says a new report by the World Bank and infoDev, its technology entrepreneurship and innovation program.

The number of mobile subscriptions in use worldwide, both pre-paid and post-paid, has grown from fewer than 1 billion in 2000 to over 6 billion now, of which nearly 5 billion are in developing countries. Ownership of multiple subscriptions is becoming increasingly common, suggesting that their number will soon exceed that of the human population.

Innovation in Action

In India, the state of Kerala’s mGovernment program has deployed over 20 applications and facilitated more than 3 million interactions between the government and citizens since its launch in December 2010.

Kenya has emerged as a leading player in mobile for development, largely due to the success of the M-PESA mobile payment ecosystem. Nairobi-based AkiraChix, for example, provides networking and training for women technologists.

In the West Bank & Gaza, SoukTel’s JobMatch service is helping young people find jobs. College graduates using the service reported a reduction in the time spent looking for employment from an average of twelve weeks to one week or less, and an increase in wages of up to 50 percent.

The report,Information and Communications for Development 2012: Maximizing Mobile, says more than 30 billion mobile applications, or “apps,” were downloaded in 2011 – software that extends the capabilities of phones, for instance to become mobile wallets, navigational aids or price comparison tools.

This trend is also benefiting developing countries where people are increasingly using mobile phones to create new livelihoods and enhance their lifestyles, while governments are using them to improve service delivery and citizen feedback mechanisms.

"Mobile communications offer major opportunities to advance human and economic development – from providing basic access to health information to making cash payments, spurring job creation, and stimulating citizen involvement in democratic processes,” says World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development Rachel Kyte.

She adds that the challenge now is “to enable people, businesses, and governments in developing countries to develop their own locally-relevant mobile applications so they can take full advantage of these opportunities.”

A mobile revolution

This new report, the third in the World Bank’s series on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Development, analyzes the growth and evolution of mobile telephony, and the rise of data-based services, including apps, delivered to handheld devices.

The report explores the consequences for development of the emerging “app economy,” especially in agriculture, health, financial services and government, and how it is changing approaches to entrepreneurship and employment.

For Tim Kelly, lead ICT policy specialist at the World Bank and one of the authors of the report, “The mobile revolution is right at the start of its growth curve: mobile devices are becoming cheaper and more powerful while networks are doubling in bandwidth roughly every 18 months and expanding into rural areas.”

“We have included the latest available data and indicators for the mobile sector for more than 150 economies in the report,” explains Shaida Badiee, director of the World Bank’s Development Data Group, adding that, “the spread of mobile phones means we now have data that can be used for cross-country comparisons.”

Developing mobile applications

The report emphasizes the role of governments in enabling mobile application development. In the agriculture sector, for instance, many of the mobile services that are being developed – such as information services for Senegalese farmers or a traceability scheme for coffee-growers in Colombia – are reliant on public funding and are still in pilot stages.

“Government support is needed to develop sound business models, foster ICT skills, and ensure that the infrastructure is in place and affordable,” explains Kelly.

The study also highlights how mobile innovation labs – shared spaces for training developers and incubating start-ups – can help bring new apps to market. For instance, infoDev, in collaboration with the Government of Finland and Nokia, has established five regional mobile innovation labs (mLabs) in Armenia, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa, and Vietnam.

Click to Read
IC4D 2012:
Maximizing Mobile

“Most businesses based around mobile app technology are at an early stage of development, but may hold enormous employment and economic potential, similar to that of the software industry in the 1980s and 1990s. Supporting the networking and incubation of entrepreneurs is essential to ensure that such potential is tapped,” says Valerie D’Costa, program manager of infoDev.

The study benefits from research funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Government of Finland, the Korea Trust Fund for ICT4D, and UKaid.

Infographic: Maximizing Mobile

The developing world is now more mobile that the developed world, and the near ubiquity brings new opportunities. Click to view the full infographic.

Report highlights

Tim Kelly, one of the authors of the report, presents highlights from the report in the following video:

RELATED RESOURCES

The project Accelerating Rural Women's Access to Markets and Trade is now in the pipeline.

2012-07-13T04:00:00.000Z

The project Accelerating Rural Women's Access to Markets and Trade is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project GPOBA W3: Kenya Electricity is now in the pipeline.

2012-06-30T04:00:00.000Z

The project GPOBA W3: Kenya Electricity is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

World Bank provides US$15 million grant to build business and commercial laws in the OHADA Zone

2012-06-27T18:03:30.000Z

WASHINGTON, June 26, 2012 — The World Bank today approved an International Development Association (IDA)* US$15 million technical assistance grant to strengthen Organisation pour l'Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa) OHADA's institutional capacity to support, in its sixteen member countries, selected aspects of investment climate reforms, including improved corporate financial reporting.

The Improved Investment Climate within OHADA project grant will also include a reform of the OHADA laws and institutions that aim to provide businesses with a more secure and cost-effective business legal framework, thus facilitating business formation and growth. Reform aims to facilitate regional integration by providing businesses with a common legal framework to foster economies of scale and increased competition across the region.

“Many of the investment climate hindrances that constrain investment are embedded in the

OHADA Uniform Act,” says Elizabeth Lule, Acting Director, Africa Regional Integration (AFCRI) Unit. “One example is the high level of minimum capital requirements currently set at US$2,000 which is beyond the means of most entrepreneurs in the region. In contrast, most countries in the world have set no or a low capital requirement minimum because they recognized that a high minimum capital requirement hindered business formation and did not effectively protect creditors,” concludes Lule.

The key outcomes expected from the project are increased numbers of (a) commercial disputes referred to alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms; (b) newly registered companies within OHADA member countries; and (c) professional accountancy organizations admitted as members of IFAC. Regarding this last aspect, the admission of accountancy organizations as members of IFAC will be achieved by: (a) improving accounting standards, (b) strengthening professional standards and practices, and (c) developing a regional professional qualification curriculum.

Gilberto de Barros, the co Team Leader, noted that “Improving the investment climate through a regional project is also going to be more effective since the country by country approach already started has failed to substantially improve the investment climate.” The OHADA Project will thus complement the actions that are being implemented by OHADA member countries at the country level and improve help the investment climate since doing so requires the combination of reforms at both the regional and national levels in a context where the legal framework comprises both national and regional laws.

OHADA - Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa – was established in 1993 through a Treaty to improve the legal security and predictability of doing business in West and Central Africa. The 16 current member states are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is due to become the 17th member in 2012. Throughout, this project appraisal document refers to 16 member countries.

The estimated population of the OHADA member countries is about 200 million-25percent of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with a median GDP per capita of US$363 (US$754 for SSA).

* The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing loans (called “credits”) and grants for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 81 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change for 2.5 billion people living on less than $2 a day. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 108 countries. Annual commitments have increased steadily and averaged about $15 billion over the last three years, with about 50 percent of commitments going to Africa.

Contacts:

In Washington: Aby K. Toure, (202) 473-8302, akonate@worldbank.org;

Stevan Jackson, (202) 458-5054, sjackson@worldbank.org

For more information on World Bank’s activities in Africa, visit: www.worldbank.org/afr

For more information on IDA, please visit: www.worldbank.org/ida

Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldbankafrica

Be updated via Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/worldbankafrica

For our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/worldbank

For more information, please visit the Projects website.

Zoellick to Join Harvard’s Belfer Center, Peterson Institute

2012-06-27T13:00:00.000Z

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2012—Robert B. Zoellick today said he would join the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University and the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC after he steps down as World Bank Group President on June 30.

Zoellick will become the Peterson Institute’s first Distinguished Visiting Fellow as well as also becoming a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

“I appreciate the opportunity to engage with the scholars and practitioners at Harvard’s Belfer Center and the Peterson Institute for International Economics,” said Zoellick. “I hope to work on the intersection of economics and security, applying history to policy questions of today. Both institutions have been at the cutting edge of research and policy development, and I have benefited greatly from both in the past.”

As the 11th president of the World Bank, Mr. Zoellick turned around an institution in trouble in 2007, recapitalized the Bank, and expanded financing for the poorest countries following the food, fuel and financial crises of recent years. He modernized the Bank by making it more accountable, flexible, fast-moving, transparent, and focused on good governance and anti-corruption. He has increased representation of developing countries in governance and staffing and encouraged developing countries to set their own priorities rather than have them dictated from the Bank. His record has also been marked by an increased role for the private sector through the bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), which under his leadership has recruited sovereign wealth funds and pension funds to invest in poor countries, especially in Africa.

Before his term at the Bank, Mr. Zoellick served as Vice Chairman, International, of the Goldman Sachs Group as well as Managing Director and Chairman of Goldman Sachs’ Board of International Advisors from 2006-2007. Previously, he was Deputy Secretary of State in 2005-2006 and a member of the Cabinet as U.S. Trade Representative from 2001 to 2005.

From 1985 to 1993, he served at the Treasury and State Departments in various posts, as well as White House Deputy Chief of Staff. He was the lead U.S. official in the "Two-plus-Four" process of German unification in 1989-90 and served as "sherpa" for the preparation of the G-7/8 Economic Summits in 1991-92.

Mr. Zoellick graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College in 1975 and earned a J.D. magna cum laude from the Harvard Law School and a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the Kennedy School of Government in 1981.

Contacts:

In Washington: Frederick Jones, (202) 473-9336, fjones@worldbank.org

For Broadcast Requests: Mehreen Sheikh, (202) 458-7336, msheikh1@worldbank.org

Innovative Fund to Boost Food Security and Farmer Livelihoods is Launched

2012-06-18T19:04:43.000Z

New Approach to Financing Innovations in Food Security and Agricultural Development Unveiled at G20 Summit in Mexico

AgResults: Innovation in Research and Delivery

LOS CABOS, Mexico (June 18, 2012) – An innovative initiative that will enhance global food security and improve the livelihoods of developing country farmers through prizes and other market-based incentives was announced today by G20 Leaders. With a results-driven funding model that rewards innovators for tackling some of the biggest problems in food security and agricultural development, AgResults addresses global challenges in food security and agriculture by generating market-oriented solutions. The initiative aims to achieve significant improvements in the wellbeing of the poor and vulnerable in developing countries with a fund of up to $100 million, to be administered by the World Bank. The governments of Australia, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, are supporting this effort.

AgResults uses pull mechanisms to encourage innovation through results-based payments such as prizes that are typically paid out when certain objectives or milestones have been met. Such financing mechanisms have seen success in generating innovation and market-oriented solutions in other domains such as healthcare, and AgResults aims to deliver similar gains in global food security and agricultural development.

AgResults was born out of the realization that there is a great need for increased investment in global food security and agriculture, in particular from the private sector. The FAO estimates that world food production must double by 2050 to feed a growing world population, while nearly a billion people suffer from a lack of crucial micronutrients in their diet—a hidden hunger that inhibits the development of children and reduces adult productivity. Recognizing these gaps, leaders at the June 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto committed to exploring innovative, results-focused ways of harnessing private sector innovations in food security and agricultural development in developing countries. This commitment involved a two-year effort by committed partners to develop AgResults, culminating in today’s launch of the initiative in support of the Summit priority of enhancing global food security. AgResults addresses this priority directly through new funding and a focus on bringing new, innovative approaches to bear on global food security issues.

In the coming years, AgResults will launch a series of pilots that address some of the biggest problems in global food security and agricultural development. The initiative’s portfolio of pilots will represent a diverse mix of agriculture and food security issues, testing different types of pull mechanisms in different regions globally. The initial set of pilots, focusing on maize production in Sub-Saharan Africa, include:

· Incentivizing the adoption of on-farm storage technology for smallholder farmers;

· Encouraging innovative distribution of a breakthrough technology to reduce aflatoxin contamination; and

· Building a market for new vitamin A-enhanced varieties of maize.

Additional pilots will be explored in the coming years, potentially including livestock vaccines and fertilizer innovation as well as new ideas related to increasing crop yields, decreasing post-harvest losses, increasing livestock productivity and improving nutrition.

For further information, please visit www.worldbank.org/cfp/agpm

Contacts:

In Washington: Amy Stilwell, (202) 458-4906, astilwell@worldbank.org

In Mexico: Fernanda Zavaleta, 52-55-5480-4252, fzavaleta@worldbank.org

For Broadcast Requests: Natalia Cieslik, (202) 458-9369, ncieslik@worldbank.org

Mauritius is hosting a high-level forum on harnessing diaspora resources for Africa’s development

2012-06-14T21:53:36.000Z

Port-Louis, June 14, 2012 – A two-days High Level Forum (HLF) titled Harnessing Diaspora Resources for Development in Africa opened today in Bagatelle, Mauritius (June 14th and 15th, 2012). This event gathers more than fifty representatives of African government officials, development partners, private sector stakeholders and experts from several continents, who will have an opportunity to capitalize on many practical actions taken to harness Diaspora resources. Officially, recorded remittance flows to Sub Saharan Africa exceeded US$22 billion in 2011.

This event is co-organized by the World Bank’s Africa Region through its African Diaspora Program (ADP) and the Government of Mauritius, with a financial contribution of the European Commission (EC) through the African Institute for Remittances (AIR) project. “This high-level forum will give us a chance to work with global stakeholders to identify strategies for Diaspora mobilization and engagement that are best suited to Africa and Africans in the Diaspora. We hope that by working together, we will be able to generate some innovative approaches to leveraging the African Diaspora’s energy and talents,” says Dr. Kofi Anani, the World Bank’s Task Team Leader for the HLF.

The HLF is one of three mutually reinforcing preparatory events towards the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) summit that will take place in Port-Louis in November 2012. The overarching theme for this summit is “Enhancing the human development of migrants and their contributions to the development of communities and states”.

Since January 2012, Mauritius is the Chair of the GFMD, and is the first African country to assume this responsibility. The Mauritian government has been using its chairmanship of this organization to further promote inter-African dialogue on migration and development, including the important role the Diaspora can play in Africa. According to Ali Mansoor, Financial Secretary of the Republic of Mauritius and current GFMD Chair, “When we are talking about Diaspora, we have to think practically why people left, and what can make them return. It is more about working on systems and procedures than about working on individuals”.

“Members of the African diaspora are playing a role in helping their homelands develop, and African countries have begun efforts to tap the skills and resources of emigrants and their offsprings. These contributions include remittances, trade and investment, and transfer of skills and technology” explains Otaviano Canuto, Vice President and Head of Network Poverty Reduction and Economic Management at The World Bank.

Contacts:

In Port Louis: Erick Rabemananoro, Erabemananoro@worldbank.org

In Washington: Beldina Auma +1 (202) 458-7307, bauma@worldbank.org

Global Mobility Unaffected by Financial Crisis, as Remittances Remained Resilient

2012-06-13T13:00:00.000Z

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2012 – The global financial crisis of 2008/09 has not sent migrant workers streaming back home, despite worsening employment prospects and anti-immigration rhetoric in some destination countries, says a new book on migration and remittances, published by the World Bank.

In fact, migrants may have mitigated some of the pain of the crisis as they tend to work for lower wages, receive fewer benefits and rely relatively little on the state, says the ‘Migration and Remittances during the Global Financial Crisis and Beyond’ book.

“During the crisis, remittances continued to provide a steady source of foreign currency to developing country economies at a time when foreign aid remained flat and foreign direct investment declined sharply,” said Otaviano Canuto, Vice President, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, at the World Bank.

Removing restrictions on human mobility may help enhance financial flows among nations and alleviate some of the adverse effect of the crisis, says the book. With migrant workers projected to remit about $399 billion to their home countries during 2012, compared to $372 billion in 2011, remittances are the most tangible link between migration and development.

Although many of the 215 million international migrants are facing worsening employment prospects in some destination countries, particularly high-income Europe, their cash support to families in their home countries has remained resilient, posting, in 2009, the only decline in recent memory. Even then, remittances decreased by a modest 5.2 percent, in sharp contrast with the precipitous declines seen in global private capital flows.

“The resilience of remittances is good news for developing countries as they remain one of the less volatile sources of foreign exchange earnings, particularly for the less developed countries. At the household level, these cash transfers are, in many cases, the only lifeline for families in the home countries,” said Hans Timmer, Director of Development Prospects at the World Bank.

However, despite many years of recording ever-increasing volumes of remittances, leveraging this rather large and growing source of funds for socio-economic development remains a key challenge, with the vast majority of remittances used for maintaining families and for the purchase of consumer goods.

The book, which is the first comprehensive study of remittances during the global financial crisis, is a compilation of 45 separate studies that identify and discuss remittance practices across the world and possibilities for the future. Each study is authored by a different expert who analyzes certain countries and certain aspects of remittances, ranging from patterns of remittance flows to usage of remittances received by communities and households.

The book is co-edited by Dilip Ratha, Manager of the Bank’s Migration and Remittances Unit; Ibrahim Sirkeci, Professor of Transnational Studies and Marketing at Regent’s College, London; and Jeffrey Cohen, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the Ohio State University, USA, who also co-author the book’s first chapter on remittance flows and practices during the crisis.

“Contrary to expectations, we found no evidence of return of migrants, even as the financial crisis reduced employment opportunities in the United States and Europe, with many countries, such as Spain, offering financial incentives to encourage migrants to return,” said Sirkeci.

Migration, in fact, was a strategic response to the financial crisis. Like any political or environmental catastrophe, the financial crisis caused human insecurity and people in developing countries responded by crossing borders or moving domestically to survive the impact of the crisis.

“Remittances have remained resilient and, barring the decline in 2009, have maintained a healthy growth momentum. However, since the book went to press, the global economy continues to experience serious bouts of volatility, which could affect migrant earnings and, hence, remittances,” said Ratha.

For receiving countries, a key factor behind the resilience in remittances is the diversification of migrant destinations.

Countries in South Asia and East Asia with many migrants in the United States, Europe and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries continued to register increased remittance inflows. One study in the book concludes that only a prolonged global slowdown would cause a decline in remittance flows to India, the largest recipient of remittances in 2011, with $64 billion.

In contrast, Latin America and the Caribbean region, whose migrants are concentrated in the United States, suffered a dramatic decline in remittances throughout the financial crisis. Mexico, the world’s third largest recipient of remittances ($24 billion in 2011), saw a significant decline in remittance inflows from the United States during the crisis. A similar strong impact was found in El Salvador. Both cases underline the fact that many Latin American countries were vulnerable to the effects of crisis, with a special impact on the urban youth in these countries, who face more difficult labor market prospects and declining opportunities to migrate.

Studies related to the effect of the crisis in the European Union on remittance-receiving countries found that Spain has been the fastest-growing immigration destination for the past decade and is now the fifth largest remittance-sending country, after the United States, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Switzerland.

In the East Asia and Pacific region, remittances account for as much as 12 percent of GDP, as in the case of New Zealand and Pacific island economies, while remittances have been keeping the national economy afloat in the Philippines for the past three decades.

Also, due to the depreciation of local currencies of many remittance-recipient countries, such as India, Mexico, and the Philippines, migrants from those countries turned to investment-oriented remittances in South Asia and East Asia where goods, services, and assets suddenly became significantly inexpensive and affordable.

The book recommends that countries develop policies that reduce restrictions on human mobility and develop programs to facilitate the use of remittances for long-term investments and promoting entrepreneurship. Such changes, tailored to both host and recipient country needs, can strengthen the contribution of remittances to development.

Eliminating the complexity of transactions and reducing transaction costs would also help increase the volume of remittances utilizing official channels, to enable many small nations, in particular, to reap the socio-economic benefits of migrant earnings.

The book is available for purchase at http://publications.worldbank.org/18826

The latest migration and remittances data are available at www.worldbank.org/migration

Interact with migration experts at http://blogs.worldbank.org/peoplemove/

Contacts:

In Washington: Indira Chand +1 (202) 458-0434, +1 (703) 376-7491, ichand@worldbank.org

For TV/Broadcast: Natalia Cieslik +1 (202) 458-9369, ncieslik@worldbank.org

WB Urges Developing Countries to Strengthen Domestic Fundamentals, to Weather Global Economic Turmoil

2012-06-12T17:00:00.000Z

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2012 – Developing countries should prepare for a long period of volatility in the global economy by re-emphasizing medium-term development strategies, while preparing for tougher times, says the World Bank in the newly-released Global Economic Prospects (GEP), June 2012.

A resurgence of tensions in high-income Europe has eroded the gains made during the first four months of this year, which saw a rebound in economic activity in both developing and advanced countries and an easing of risk aversion among investors. Since May 1^st, increased market jitters have spread. Developing and high-income country stock markets have lost some 7 percent, giving up two-thirds of the gains generated over the preceding four months. Most industrial commodity prices are down, with crude and copper prices down by 19 and 14 percent, respectively, while developing country currencies have lost value against the US dollar, as international capital fled to safe-haven assets, such as German and U.S. government bonds.

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So far, conditions in most developing countries have not deteriorated as much as in the fourth quarter of 2011. Outside of Europe and Central Asia and the Middle-East and North Africa, developing country credit default swap (CDS) rates, a key indicator of market sentiment, remain well below their maximums from the fall of 2011.

“Global capital market and investor sentiment are likely to remain volatile over the medium term – making economic policy setting difficult. In this environment, developing countries should focus on productivity-enhancing reforms and infrastructure investment instead of reacting to day-to-day changes in the international environment,” said Hans Timmer, Director of Development Prospects at the World Bank.

Increased uncertainty will add to pre-existing headwinds from budget cutting, banking-sector deleveraging and developing country capacity constraints. As a result, the World Bank projects that developing country growth will slow to a relatively weak 5.3 percent in 2012, before strengthening somewhat to 5.9 percent in 2013 and 6.0 percent in 2014. Growth in high-income countries will also be weak, 1.4, 1.9 and 2.3 percent for 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively – with GDP in the Euro Area declining 0.3 percent in 2012. Overall, global GDP is projected to rise 2.5, 3.0 and 3.3 ⁽¹⁾ percent for the same period.

This baseline scenario remains the most likely outcome. However, should the situation in Europe deteriorate sharply no developing region would be spared. Developing Europe and Central Asia is especially vulnerable because of its close trade and financial ties with high-income Europe, but the world's poorest countries will also feel the fall out – especially countries that are heavily reliant on remittances, tourism or commodity exports or that have high-levels of short-term debt.

“Where possible, developing countries need to move to reduce vulnerabilities by lowering short-term debt levels, cutting budget deficits and returning to a more neutral monetary policy stance. Doing so will provide them with more leeway to loosen policy, should global conditions take a sharp turn for the worse,” said Andrew Burns, Manager of Global Macroeconomics and lead author of the report.

The full report and accompanying datasets are available at www.worldbank.org/globaloutlook

Regional Highlights

Growth outlooks for each country are available in the full report at:

www.worldbank.org/globaloutlook

Growth for the East Asia and Pacific region is on a moderately easing trend, with GDP gains for the region dropping to 8.3 percent in 2011 from 9.7 percent in 2010. The recent deterioration in global financial conditions is expected to add to pre-existing headwinds, including relatively weak demand from the high-income world, and a slowing phase in China to moderate regional growth to 7.6 percent in 2012, before broader global recovery lifts exports and growth for the region in 2013 to 8.1 percent, easing to 7.9 percent in 2014. China’s GDP is expected to accelerate from 8.2 percent in 2012 to 8.4 percent by 2014.

Notwithstanding the economic downturn in the Euro Area in the fourth quarter of 2011, developing Europe and Central Asia posted strong (5.6 percent) growth in 2011, driven by robust domestic demand and good harvests in countries such as Russia, Romania and Turkey. However, severe weather conditions in early 2012, capacity constraints in some countries, deleveraging by European banks, and the renewed turmoil in high-income Europe are projected to slow regional GDP growth to 3.3 percent this year, before a modest recovery begins with growth firming to 4.1 and 4.4 percent in each of 2013 and 2014.

Growth in the Latin America and the Caribbean region eased to 4.3 percent in 2011, from 6.1 percent in 2010, due to the pronounced slowdown in the region’s larger economies. In Brazil, GDP slowed sharply to 2.7 percent in 2011 (7.5 percent in 2010), as investment growth and private consumption eased. The region’s short-term outlook is clouded by a weak external environment, and capacity constraints in select economies. Regional GDP is expected to decelerate to 3.5 percent in 2012, firming to 4.1 percent and 4 percent in 2013 and 2014, respectively, while growth in Brazil is projected to remain below potential at 2.9 percent in 2012, before accelerating to 4.2 percent in 2013 and 3.9 percent in 2014.

Uncertainty, volatility, and political change continue to characterize conditions in the Middle East and North Africa region. Aggregate GDP grew by 1 percent in 2011, down from 3.8 percent in 2010. Regional growth is projected to remain weak at 0.6 percent for 2012, mainly reflecting the influence of sanctions on growth in Iran, and continued GDP declines in Syria and Yemen. As these elements fade in importance, growth for the region should step up to 2.2 percent in 2013 and 3.4 percent in 2014. Egypt’s economy is projected to move out of negative territory to 1.4 percent growth in 2012, rising to 4.6 percent in 2014. Growth is also expected to pick up strongly in Jordan and Lebanon, while oil prices, which are projected to average near $107/bbl in 2012, will benefit the region’s oil exporters.

Growth in South Asia slowed to 7.1 percent in 2011, from 8.6 percent in 2010, as headwinds from the Euro Area crisis caused a steep deceleration in exports and a reversal of portfolio inflows. Growth in India was particularly weak due to monetary policy, stalled reforms, and electricity shortages, which, along with fiscal and inflation concerns, cut into investment activity. Policy uncertainties, fiscal deficits, entrenched inflation, and infrastructure gaps will continue to weigh negatively on investment activity and are expected to limit regional growth to a relatively modest 6.4 percent in 2012, 6.5 percent in 2013, and 6.7 percent in 2014. India will see growth (measured at factor cost) increasing to 6.9, 7.2 and 7.4 percent in fiscal years 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15, respectively.

Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa remained robust in 2011 at 4.7 percent. Excluding South Africa, growth in the rest of the region was stronger, at 5.6 percent, making it one of the fastest growing developing regions. Higher commodity prices and improved macroeconomic and political stability in recent years has supported increased private investment flows to the region, with promising prospects in the medium term. As global demand firms and domestic demand remains robust, regional growth is expected to strengthen to 5 percent in 2012, 5.3 percent in 2013 and 5.2 percent in 2014.

Contacts

In Washington: Merrell Tuck-Primdahl +1 (202) 473-9516, +1 (202) 476-9897, mtuckprimdahl@worldbank.org;

Indira Chand +1 (202) 458-0434, +1 (703) 376-7491, ichand@worldbank.org

In London: Derek Warren + 44 (20) 7592-8402 , dwarren1@worldbank.org

For TV/Broadcast: Natalia Cieslik +1 (202) 458-9369, ncieslik@worldbank.org

(1) Using purchasing power parity weights, global growth would be 3.3, 3.9 and 4.2 percent for 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively.

Globalization: Made in the Americas

2012-06-08T00:30:00.000Z

AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY

Inter-American Dialogue 30^th Anniversary Dinner

Remarks of Robert B. Zoellick, President, World Bank Group

June 7, 2012

Introduction

Thank you for the honor of your invitation to commemorate the 30^th Anniversary of the Inter-American Dialogue.

The origins of this Dialogue stretch back to a discussion between Peter Bell and Abe Lowenthal on a park bench.

Peter and Abe were disturbed by the breakdown in inter-American exchanges during the Falklands/Malvinas war, and by the lack of ties with the rising democrats of Latin America. So they discussed bringing together leaders from across the hemisphere to set a new inter-American agenda. The Dialogue held its first ad hoc conference in late 1982.

Today, 30 years later, Latin America’s very success offers the opportunity to remake that Hemispheric partnership around new pillars:

· A revived free trade policy that will aid structural reforms for growth in all our countries;

· An energy transformation, ending the Hemisphere’s energy dependency;

· A new diplomacy infused with private sector pragmatism to solve public problems;

· Shared security; and

· The first Democratic Hemisphere.

For the United States, this new agenda could enable us to rely on a great, home-grown asset – Hispanic-Americans – as the vanguard of U.S. connectivity in a new Western Hemispheric economy.

This Dialogue can – and I believe will – help drive this change: to create a “Globalization: Made in the Americas.”

Under Peter Hakim’s and now Michael Shifter’s energetic leadership, the Inter-American Dialogue has become the leading U.S. center for policy analysis, exchange, and communication in the Western Hemisphere.

The idea at the heart of the Dialogue remains very much the same as that which emerged from the conversation on the park bench: that through dialogue and shared vision, interested citizens across the hemisphere together can plant the seeds of new policy ideas and practical proposals for progress in the Americas.

So tonight, let’s put that idea to work.

A Different Vantage Point

Just two months ago, the leaders of the Western Hemisphere met in Cartagena for the Summit of the Americas. Colombia was an excellent host, and the Summit showcased the country’s many hard-won achievements.

But the news reports were, frankly, disappointing. Aside from the behavior of some Secret Service agents, the coverage focused on disagreements about Cuba and drugs. Some even suggested this would be the last Summit of the Americas. The agenda seemed stuck in a time warp.

So when Carla Hills asked if I could join you this evening, I thought the best way to celebrate the Dialogue’s Anniversary was to offer new possibilities for the Americas in a fast-changing global economy.

My vantage point on our hemisphere is different from many U.S. contributors to the Dialogue. I am not a specialist in Latin America.

Like many of my U.S. foreign and security policy colleagues, much of my energy has been concentrated on the issues of Europe and the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Southwest Asia.

Yet because of my economic background, Latin America and Canada have loomed larger on my global map.

In the 1980s and early 90s, working with Secretary of Treasury and State James Baker, we were immersed in issues of Latin American debt and reforms for growth, the Canadian and North American FTAs, and Central American security and democracy.

In 2001, as U.S. Trade Representative, we were fortunate to build on that experience, negotiating FTAs with Chile, Colombia, Peru, Panama, the five countries of Central America and the Dominican Republic. Together with NAFTA, these FTAs cover 54 percent of the economy of our hemisphere, not including the United States, offering an underutilized web of free traders that could support deeper integration in the Americas – even hemispheric free trade and democracy.

Five years as President of the World Bank Group has added to this perspective.

Why am I stressing this global outlook on Latin America? Because, while working on the issues of our region, I have urged my Latin counterparts to look globally, too.

Instead, for too many years, the dialogue within our hemisphere seemed constrained by a North-South framework. The United States loomed large – whether as a hegemon, source of support, market, model, danger, or even frustrating land of inattention.

On development, debt, investment, competition, and trade, Latin Americans need to see the wider horizon – especially to benchmark with East Asia. And beyond East Asia, Latin America has a new role to play in building multiple engines of growth with other emerging markets. It is time to break out of that North-South construct.

Consider Canada’s experience in combining regional integration with global reach: of course, Canada’s FTA with the United States in 1988 deepened the two countries’ economic integration – but in addition, the competitive adjustment driven by that accord made Canadian business more competitive globally.

A new hemispheric partnership requires leaving old habits, old mindsets, and old models of dependency behind.

That partnership will necessitate a new mix of partners, public and private.

That partnership should be the next challenge for the Summit of the Americas and this Dialogue.

Latin America’s Record of Gains

Latin America’s recent record of gains now puts it in a position to remake the Hemispheric partnership.

The numbers tell the story.

Between 2003 and 2010, the income of the average Latin American increased by more than 30 percent. A silent revolution in macro-financial policy has strengthened the economic immune system of many countries. We saw the payoff after the fall of Lehman Brothers: Sound policies in Latin America enabled expansions to offset the downturn without the aftershocks that now threaten Europe.

About 73 million Latin Americans have been lifted out of poverty since 2003. Today, almost a third of the region’s population is considered middle class.

Latin America is breaking a pattern of persistent inequality, including through an increase in women’s involvement in the economy, particularly from poor families. Colombia and Peru have buttressed this trend by boosting opportunities for people of African and indigenous origin, seeking to overcome divisions that populists have exploited.

Mexico and Brazil have led in developing well-targeted conditional cash transfer programs that have revolutionized public assistance. These programs couple income grants for poor families with incentives for health check-ups and keeping children in school. Mexico’s Oportunidades program has probably done more for women’s health than anything in the country’s history.

These are safety net programs that appeal to a fiscal conservative: They cost only about half a percent of GDP. The World Bank has helped export this model to 40 other countries, ranging from Pakistan to the Philippines.

Latin America is “going global.” As the global trade negotiations have stalled, leading Latin American free traders have tried to keep up the momentum. Mexico has FTAs with 59 countries; Chile with 43.

Colombia offers a leading example of how a democracy can combine security, development, and good governance to overcome narco-traffickers, kidnappers, and terrorists. Peru demonstrates how sound economic policy and political commitment across administrations can reverse years of stagnation.

Brazil’s influence is expanding – through its companies, agricultural and mining experience, development work, peacekeeping in Haiti, and interest in Africa. Brazil’s leaders of the left have also turned a page in history by sticking with democracy. Rising leaders of the left in other Latin American countries have seen the benefits for the poor of Brazil’s example, compared to authoritarians who tear down institutions to consolidate personal or party power.

Looking Ahead

So what’s ahead for Latin America?

Latin America’s per capita income is still only at 30 percent of the U.S. level.

To climb higher, Latin American economies will need to leap beyond the so-called middle income trap. Many developing economies make early rapid gains. But then productivity and growth tend to slow.

This is a global challenge. In 1960, the World Bank ranked 101 economies as middle income; by 2008, almost half a century later, only 13 had made it to high income levels – and one was Greece.

Many Latin American countries will need to translate the commodity boom into broader, more diversified economies. This region has lived through roller-coaster booms and busts before.

Higher productivity is the antidote to the middle income trap.

Since the 1980s, Latin America has underinvested in infrastructure – electricity, roads, bridges, ports, transport – and maintaining and operating these services. Currently, Latin America spends 2 to 3 percent of GDP on infrastructure, less than half the rate of investment in East Asia.

Public-private infrastructure partnerships not only offer a source of financing, but also better design, maintenance, and operations to deliver high-quality services on time.

Colombia has experimented with PPPs in urban water supply and sanitation. Mexico’s new Highway Concession Program has mobilized PPP projects of around $11 billion, expanding the country’s major toll roads network by some 25 percent.

Latin America has to anticipate its human capital needs. The region is aging rapidly: today, about 11 percent of Brazil’s working age-population are seniors; by 2050, it will be nearly half.

Latin America also needs to improve the results of its investments in education. By age 15, the learning achievement of the average Latin American student lags two years behind his or her developed country counterparts.

Latin America is recognizing that gender equality is smart economics. Today, women in Latin America outnumber men in schools and universities. Working age women represent roughly 40 percent of the entire labor force in the region.

To continue to grow, the region will need more competition and innovation in the service sector. Competitive services increase productivity. They supply the ‘software’ of integration: transport, where delays and losses can impose significant costs; information technology, because accurate data and effective communication is vital; financial services, to create a supportive business environment; and logistics systems, which are a driver of business competitiveness.

A New Agenda

What do these challenges mean for a new hemispheric partnership? What should have been the news coming out of Cartagena?

Let me offer five ideas.

First, the Western Hemisphere needs to revive an activist free trade and economic reform policy, globally and regionally. We need fresh approaches.

The United States will be cutting agricultural subsidies, especially given high prices, and eliminating protection for ethanol. Why not deploy these to prod others?

Service sector liberalization can boost productivity, open new businesses, create new jobs, and cut the “Latin cost” that many countries impose on their own businesses. Why not deploy this economic need to revive a mutual interest in negotiation?

A strong self-interest can drive this renewed call for liberalization. Latin American economies still need much investment and more robust capital markets – especially in local currencies – that can help Latin American entrepreneurs and family-owned businesses to expand.

Infrastructure investments require capital goods and services, as Panama’s 21st Century Canal project is demonstrating. Why not dismantle barriers to lower the cost of infrastructure expansion?

Better logistics make economies more competitive. The World Bank’s 2012 Logistics Performance Index estimated that Latin American logistics costs are between 16 and 26 percent of GDP – that’s two to four times the average in Europe or East Asia.

The World Bank has helped Colombia and Peru to implement a “single window” approach to customs clearance and border management. In Brazil and Peru, the Bank has worked with international freight forwarders to connect rural, remote villages and small businesses to export through national postal services; in the first six months, more than 300 small firms in Peru became exporters, most for the first time.

Even as the WTO works toward a Trade Facilitation agreement, the Americas could develop an accord that points the way.

Brazilian officials are focused on exchange rates. Yet to really boost growth the target should be productivity. Better infrastructure can help, and so can more efficient and effective public services. The World Bank Group has launched a deeper partnership with the Governors of the Northeastern states of Brazil to overcome these impediments. Over time, however, the United States and its free trade partners should be working with Brazil to rebuild the case for a hemispheric initiative to realize the benefits of trade liberalization and economic reforms.

It takes two to tango, and this agenda requires changes on the part of the United States, too. The United States is no longer leading the open trade agenda, as it relies increasingly on defensive measures. The United States has its own high costs of trade – antiquated ports and laws to protect special interests.

The United States should work with its current free trade partners in the Americas to deepen ties of development, reform, and investment.

The current architecture of US FTAs in the hemisphere offers a solid legal framework, but it needs to evolve into a home for an ongoing dialogue – across countries and with business, academic, civil society, and environmental communities – to see what else can be done to lower costs and barriers and create opportunities.

The United States and its partners could explore progressive integration across the FTAs, for example by expanding provisions to cumulate inputs among partners while qualifying for free trade.

The United States needs to make its hemispheric FTA network dynamic, linked to business and investment policies, and improved governance.

A new concept of an FTA network in the Americas could also support inclusive and sustainable development as the foundation for open societies and borders.

Second, innovation in the energy sector, led by the United States, could transform energy security for North America, the Hemisphere, and the world.

In 2008, imports supplied 70 percent of US oil demand. By 2020, PFC Energy estimates that imports could be down to 40 percent of US oil demand – or even 20 percent if Canadian oil is counted as part of the home market. If natural gas for Canada and the United States is added, U.S. net energy imports from the rest of the world could drop to five percent of U.S. demand. That’s an amazing game-changer in energy.

If Mexico opens PEMEX to real outside investment, the outlook is even brighter. With the discovery of the giant deep offshore PRESAL oil and gas fields, Brazil can play a major role in supplying oil and gas in the region.

Yet there is a need to connect these energy supplies – through infrastructure – with countries in Central America and the Caribbean that have suffered from high prices and limited access. Increased efficiency and alternative sources could help the energy poor, too. It’s long past time for a hemispheric energy policy – blending consideration of inclusive growth, the environment, and indigenous communities’ interests.

Third, this new Hemispheric partnership needs to break old patterns of diplomacy. There are now vibrant private sectors all across the hemisphere. The challenges of overcoming the middle income trap and structural reforms to boost productivity need private sector advice and solutions. All across the developing world, the World Bank is encountering a new pragmatism about involving the private sector in areas that used to be public monopolies: infrastructure; education; healthcare; skills training; delivery of public social services. Advanced economies such as the United States should be taking note, too.

Yet government-business dialogues can be stilted showcases. The Summit of the Americas – and perhaps the Dialogue – should review which approaches work better and why. With some guidance, businesses can better connect possibilities with policies. Governments can commit to responses, commitments, openness, and results.

Fourth, the new Hemispheric agenda should help all 35 countries overcome security threats to growth and opportunity.

The fragile governments of Central America are at risk of being overwhelmed by crime and violence linked to drug trafficking, organized crime, gangs, and firepower. Spain, which has roughly the same population as Central America, has about 400 murders per year; in 2010, Central America had over 18,000.

The region pays a heavy economic price for this insecurity – as much as 8 percent of GDP. The basic legitimacy of governments and institutions is fraying: About half of Central Americans say a military coup could be justified when crime levels are high.

Experiences from Medellin and Rio de Janeiro have shown that the best way to attack criminal insecurity is through an integrated approach: combining stepped-up policing, prevention, and community investments. Quick turnarounds are possible. Strong regional cooperation is indispensable.

The United States has an unfortunate pattern of ignoring dangers in Central America until they explode. This time U.S. diplomacy should work with Mexico, Colombia, and Panama to develop a coherent strategy – not band-aids. As in Colombia, the Central American private sector must also be part of the solution. And the United States should also take responsibility for the drug habits of its public that fuel demand for narcotics from the south.

Fragility in the Caribbean is another soft spot. But small economies can be competitive in many sectors. Accelerating integration in the Caribbean can share services, add to resilience, and boost economic prospects.

Latin America should also be looking toward a greater role in global security – through practical steps, not the old G-77 policies of the past. My friend and former colleague, Bernie Aronson has proposed, for example, that Brazil could lead by voluntarily ending its uranium enrichment program and then calling on other nations – including Iran – to follow its example. If Brazil wants to help shape the 21^st Century, leadership in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons – with an idea and action – would send a powerful signal.

Fifth, the debate over Cuba at Cartagena sounded like hollow echoes from another era. Look ahead, not back.

Chavez’s days are numbered. If his subsidies to Cuba and Nicaragua are cut, those regimes will be in trouble. The democrats of Latin America – left, center, and right – should be preparing. The calls for democracy – for an end to intimidating thugs, human rights, fair elections, and rule of law – should come from all its capitals.

There will soon be an opportunity to make the Western Hemisphere the first Democratic Hemisphere. Not a place of coups, caudillos, and cocaine -- but of democracy, development, and dignity.

This transformation will not be achieved by the Calvo doctrine. By divisive populists. By corruption. By acquiescence. By silence.

You know well that if Latins leave the work to Washington and Ottawa, the opponents of liberty and human rights will play the cards of gringoism and neo-imperialism. Trump them.

Conclusion

For the United States, a new partnership in the Western Hemisphere offers opportunities for renewal at home, too.

All the debates about macroeconomic issues – fiscal and monetary policies – as important as they are, risk inattention to microeconomic incentives, structural reforms in the United States.

Energy. Infrastructure. Education. Human capital. Competition. Environment. Innovation. The United States also needs to clear away old rigidities on these new fundamentals.

The United States also needs to draw on the energies, intelligence, and drive of all its citizens.

As my friend Luis Alberto Moreno of the Inter-American Development Bank has pointed out, the 50 million strong Hispanic community in the United States is a growing market, source of entrepreneurship, and resource for a Hemispheric economic strategy. At over $1 trillion, the purchasing power of Latinos in the United States is larger than the economies of every Latin American country except Brazil.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are between two and three million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States. Many are small. But they create jobs, earn revenues, and pay taxes.

As Latin America grows, the Hispanic businesses in the United States offer an incredible asset. Hispanics in the United States could be in the vanguard of a new Western Hemispheric economy.

Small and medium-sized Hispanic-American businesses will need help to expand their entrepreneurialism – information about markets, financing, and risk management services. To be most effective, this assistance should be decentralized – perhaps drawing on local chambers of commerce in cities and states where most Hispanic businesses can be found. The Small Business Administration, OPIC, Ex-Im Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Bank could then deploy their resources to help.

The world economy is still struggling to recover from the worst blows since the 1930s. Europe is a danger zone. U.S. leadership remains vital to get through the storm, to reach a new world economy of multiple poles of growth.

This is why the news coming out of the Cartagena Summit was disappointing.

This is not a time for drift, for old North-South debates, for retreat behind borders, old mindsets, or out-dated dependencies.

This is a time for the New World to again inspire novel thinking – about development, growth, structural reforms, rule of law and human rights, democracy, and security.

This Dialogue should aim high: To have the Western Hemisphere shape this next era of globalization – so that future historians will title the next chapter, not “The Passing of the New World,” but “Globalization: Made in the Americas.”

Cities to Face Sharply Rising Costs for Garbage Treatment

2012-06-06T15:30:00.000Z

New report points to 70% global increase in urban solid waste

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2012 – A new, far-reaching report on the state of municipal solid waste around the world predicts a sharp rise in the amount of garbage generated by urban residents between now and 2025. The report estimates the amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) will rise from the current 1.3 billion tonnes/year to 2.2 billion tonnes/year, with much of the increase coming in rapidly growing cities in developing countries. The annual cost of solid waste management is projected to rise from the current $205 billion to $375 billion, with cost increasing most severely in low income countries.

The report, What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management, for the first time offers consolidated data on MSW generation, collection, composition, and disposal by country and by region. In itself, this is an accomplishment because, as the report states, reliable global MSW information is either not available or incomplete, inconsistent, and incomparable. Nevertheless, the authors of the report point to a looming crisis in MSW treatment as living standards rise and urban populations grow.

“Improving solid waste management, especially in the rapidly growing cities of low income countries, is becoming a more and more urgent issue,” said Rachel Kyte, Vice President, Sustainable Development at the World Bank. “The findings of this report are sobering, but they also offer hope that once the extent of this issue is recognized, local and national leaders, as well as the international community, will mobilize to put in place programs to reduce, reuse, recycle, or recover as much waste as possible before burning it (and recovering the energy) or otherwise disposing of it. Measuring the extent of the problem is a critical first step to resolving it.”

The report notes that municipal solid waste management is the most important service a city provides. In low-income countries, MSW is often the largest single budget item for cities, and one of the largest employers. A city that cannot effectively manage its waste is rarely able to manage more complex services such as health, education, or transportation. Improving MSW is one of the most effective ways of strengthening overall municipal management.

The report shows that the amount of municipal solid waste is growing fastest in China (which surpassed the US as the world’s largest waste generator in 2004), other parts of East Asia, and part of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Growth rates for MSW in these areas are similar to their rates for urbanization and increases in GDP. There is a direct correlation between the per capita level of income in cities and the amount of waste per capita that is generated. In general, as a country urbanizes and populations become wealthier, the consumption of inorganic materials (e.g. plastics, paper, glass, aluminum) increases, while the relative organic fraction decreases.

“What we’re finding in these figures is not that surprising,” said Dan Hoornweg, Lead Urban Specialist in the Finance, Economics, and Urban Development Department of the World Bank and eco-author of the report, “What is surprising, however, is that when you add the figures up we’re looking at a relatively silent problem that is growing daily. The challenges surrounding municipal solid waste are going to be enormous, on a scale of, if not greater than, the challenges we are currently experiencing with climate change. This report should be seen as a giant wake-up call to policy makers everywhere.”

The authors of the report say an integrated solid waste management plan is needed in cities to approach solid waste in a comprehensive manner. Key to such a plan is consultation and input from all stakeholders, including citizen groups and those working on behalf of the poor and the disadvantaged. Public health and environmental protection aspects of any such plan are also critical.

The report also spells out policy recommendations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, many of which emanate from inefficient solid waste management practices. Post-consumer waste is estimated to account for almost 5% of total global GHG, while methane from landfills represents 12% of total global methane emissions. The report says that a number of practical approaches could be applied in most cities, including:

· Public education to inform people about their options to reduce waste generation and increase recycling and composting;

· Pricing mechanisms (such as product charges) to stimulate consumer behaviour to reduce waste generation and increase recycling;

· User charges tied to the quantity of waste disposed of, with (for example) consumers separating recyclables paying a lower fee for waste disposal; and/or

· Preferential procurement policies and pricing to stimulate demand for products made with recycled post-consumer waste.

For a link to the report, click here: http://go.worldbank.org/BCQEP0TMO0

Contacts:

In Washington: Roger Morier, +1 202 473 5675, rmorier@worldbank.org

For Broadcast Requests: Natalia Cieslik, +1 202 458 9369, ncieslik@worldbank.org

World Bank Group Unveils New Focus on ‘Green, Clean, Resilient’ Development

2012-06-05T04:00:00.000Z

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2012 -- The World Bank Group today released its ambitious, new Environment Strategy for 2012-2022 aimed at supporting countries to pursue sustainable development pathways that are green, inclusive, efficient, and affordable. The new Strategy responds to calls from governments and the private sector for new approaches to development in light of unprecedented environmental challenges and lays out a vision for “a green, clean and resilient world for all”.

“We’re seeing that working through the nexus of food crises, water insecurity, and energy needs is being made all the more complicated by environmental degradation and climate change,” said World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development Rachel Kyte. “Countries and communities and the ecosystems they depend on need to build resilience while moving to more efficient growth paths. This Strategy lays out the areas where we will put emphasis as we work to respond to countries’ needs.”

As countries seek to reduce poverty in the face of climate change and other major environmental challenges, the Bank Group is providing knowledge, solutions and financing to foster an environment that is:

· Green where natural resources are sustainably managed and conserved to improve livelihoods and ensure food security;

· Clean in which cleaner air, water and oceans enable people to lead healthy, productive lives and where development strategies emphasize low-emission, climate-smart transport, energy, agriculture and urban development;

· Resilient in which countries are better prepared for shocks and less vulnerable to natural disasters, volatile weather patterns and other impacts of climate change.

World Bank commitments addressing environment and natural resource management have grown from $1.5 billion or 8.4 percent of World Bank lending in FY01 to $6.3 billion or 14.3 percent in FY11.

“The Strategy acknowledges the vital role of the private sector in achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth and development,” said International Finance Corporation (IFC) Vice President for Business Advisory Services Nena Stoiljkovic. “IFC works with the private sector as an advisor, financier, and standard setter to help unlock this potential.”

The IFC invested $1.7 billion in climate-friendly projects in FY11, up 6 percent from $1.6 billion in FY10.

Under the “green” agenda, a key priority is the Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) global partnership which supports countries’ efforts to factor natural capital into national accounting systems and through the Global Partnership for Oceans, the focus is on restoring the world’s oceans to health and optimizing their contribution to economic growth and food security. The “clean” agenda prioritizes pollution management through river clean-up and legacy pollution projects while also encouraging low-emission development strategies and financing for renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, and lower-carbon cities.

The “resilience” agenda, targets support to countries to adapt to climate change, improve disaster risk management, with a focus on vulnerable Small Island Developing States to reduce dependence on oil imports, build sound infrastructure, and restore protective coastal ecosystems such as mangroves.

The Strategy includes action plans for the specific environmental challenges in each developing region of the world.

· In Africa, work will focus on strengthening governance for natural resource management given growing pressure on the region’s agriculture, mining, forests, and water basins. In partnership with other agencies, the private sector, and civil society, the Bank Group is seeking to expand access to clean energy across the region.

· In East Asia and the Pacific the Bank Group is supporting renewable energy and energy efficiency, sustainable urban development and transport, as well as prioritizing the phase-out of numerous industrial pollutants; advising on carbon markets and adaptation in agriculture and coastal infrastructure; scaling up forest management; and strengthening regional partnerships to preserve biodiversity.

· In Europe and Central Asia where many countries are faced with energy shortages and a legacy of industrial pollution, the Bank Group is promoting clean energy and production while supporting programs to dispose of pollutant stockpiles, rehabilitate watersheds and improve disaster preparedness.

· In Latin America and the Caribbean where pressure continues on coastlines, wetlands, and the world’s largest forest cover, the Bank Group is supporting the management of protected areas, the integration of biodiversity conservation into productive landscapes and in some countries, the use of payments for environmental services. It is also providing the world’s most urbanized region with policy advice on cleaner development paths, supporting industrial pollution abatement, and promoting “green cities”.

· In Middle East and North Africa where high population density, water scarcity, and overfishing tend primarily to affect the poor, the Bank Group is supporting programs to strengthen the capacity of countries with shared seas—the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Gulf—to reduce marine pollution and manage fisheries. Other focus areas include desert ecosystems and livelihoods; improved urban and industrial planning; scaled-up solar power generation; and efforts to reduce vulnerability to drought.

· In South Asia where the poorest live in areas of high soil erosion, variable rainfall, and degraded forests, the Bank Group is helping to strengthen the role of natural resource management in the development agenda, strengthen environmental management in industry and reduce the costs to countries of environmental degradation.

Meeting the challenges of a green, clean, and resilient world requires leveraging the comparative advantage of all development partners. The new Strategy recognizes the growing role of the private sector in addressing sustainability concerns, developing sustainability standards, and ensuring that global markets can and do promote sustainable development.

The Strategy also encompasses the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) - the arm of the World Bank Group that promotes responsible foreign direct investment into developing countries by offering political risk insurance to the private sector.

"MIGA is pleased to have contributed to this strategy and to advance the notion that the private sector is absolutely crucial to affect change with respect to environmental issues," said Michel Wormser, MIGA's Vice President and COO.

To measure and monitor progress the Environment Strategy includes a results framework to track progress over time. The new Strategy also advances work to assess greenhouse gas emissions from the Bank Group’s portfolio of development projects with pilots being undertaken in a number of World Bank energy, transport and forestry sector projects.

Contacts:
In Washington: Elisabeth Mealey, +1 202-458-4475, emealey@worldbank.org

Vanessa Bauza, +1 202-458-1603, vbauza@ifc.org
Mallory Saleson +1 202-473-0844 msaleson@worldbank.org

For Broadcast Requests: Natalia Cieslik, +1 202-458-9369, ncieslik@worldbank.org

To read the World Bank Group Environment Strategy 2012-2022, click here.

For more information on Sustainable Development at the World Bank click here.

For more information on the IFC Sustainability: www.ifc.org/sustainability

For more information on MIGA: www.miga.org

The project Kenya Water Security and Climate Resilience Project is now in the pipeline.

2012-06-01T04:00:00.000Z

The project Kenya Water Security and Climate Resilience Project is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The development objectives of the Water Security and Climate Resilience Project for Kenya are to (i) increase availability and productivity of irrigation water for project beneficiaries; and (ii) enhance the institutional framework and strengthen capacity for water security and climate resilience for the country. The project has three components. The first component is water resources development. This component will support climate resilience and water security for economic growth by financing water investments and by progressively building a longer-term investment pipeline. This component has following two sub-components: water sector investments; and water investment pipeline. The second component is effective water sector institutions. It will support the current sector institutions, as well as the preparation, implementation and full functioning of the new; legal and institutional framework resulting from alignments with the Constitution of Kenya 2010. It will also support integrated and participatory basin planning, including developing the requisite knowledge base and building capacity and institutional partnerships for effective water management and planning. The overall objective of this component will be to strengthen the enabling institutional and legal framework to sustainably advance Kenya's vast water sector investment program in order to achieve water security and climate resilience. It has following two sub-components: (i) support for water sector transition and reforms and (ii) strengthening water management and planning. The third component is support for project implementation. This component will support the establishment of the Project Management Unit (PMU) to provide for effective project implementation through the completion of the First Kenya Water Security and Climate Resilience Project (KWSCRP-1) and throughout the reform period. This component will finance the required office space, goods (e.g., vehicles), equipment (e.g., computers), staff, consultant services, travel, training and operating costs that will allow the PMU to carry out its responsibilities for project implementation.

World Bank Increases Transparency through Inaugural Publication of Sanctions Board Decisions

2012-05-30T13:30:00.000Z

Milestone in anti-corruption agenda unmatched by any other IFI

WASHINGTON, May 30, 2012 - Marking another advance in openness and accountability in its anti-corruption work, the World Bank Group today published for the first time a set of decisions issued by the World Bank Group’s Sanctions Board in cases of alleged fraud and corruption.

"The World Bank Group takes a hard line against corruption, and we believe that greater transparency must be part of that effort,” said World Bank Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati. “By publishing Sanctions Board decisions, we are making all parties involved in the sanctions process more accountable. This move should deepen the deterrent effect of debarments and enhance the educational value of the Sanctions Board’s findings."

The first published decisions were announced at a panel discussion hosted by the World Bank Group Sanctions Board Secretariat to take stock of recent developments and consider ongoing challenges for the Bank Group’s sanctions system. At the discussion, the Bank Group also announced the appointment of two new Sanctions Board members: Mr. Yves Fortier, an international arbitrator and former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations, who will serve as Chair of the Sanctions Board; and Ms. Catherine O’Regan, President of the International Monetary Fund Administrative Tribunal and former Judge of the South African Constitutional Court.

The Sanctions Board, an independent administrative tribunal with a majority of external members, serves as final decision-maker in all contested sanctions cases. Decisions are taken based on an adversarial process that includes written arguments and evidence and, where requested, an administrative hearing. More than 530 firms and individuals have been sanctioned by the World Bank Group for fraud, corruption and collusion since the sanctions system was established in 1999. Most of these sanctions have been in the form of debarments, where firms or individuals are rendered ineligible to participate in Bank Group-financed operations.

From December 2011, the Sanctions Board Law Digest has made publicly available summaries of past cases and the legal principles applied over time. The publication of full Sanctions Board decisions goes a step further and creates an unprecedented level of transparency by presenting the Sanctions Board’s detailed review of each new appeal to determine whether misconduct occurred and if so, what sanctions should apply.

"Publication of our decisions furthers the Sanctions Board's goal to fight fraud and corruption through the rule of law," said Fathi Kemicha, the first external Chair of the Sanctions Board. "Parties that come before the Sanctions Board, as well as our partners in the international community, will now have a more robust understanding of our process, case law, and careful examination of each case."

The decisions published today can be accessed on the World Bank’s external website, and explain the rationale for sanctions imposed in eight cases recently considered by the Sanctions Board:

· Sanctions Board Decision No. 46 (Sanctions Case No. 151): Income Electrix Limited debarred for six months for fraud.

· Sanctions Board Decision No. 47 (Sanctions Case No. 121): M/s. Concept Pharmaceuticals Limited debarred for fraud, with conditional release after three years.

· Sanctions Board Decision No. 48 (Sanctions Case No. 118): Zhonghao Overseas Construction Eng. Co., Ltd. debarred for two years for fraud, with conditional early release after one year.

· Sanctions Board Decision No. 49 (Sanctions Case No. 130): De Lorenzo of America, Corp., S.A. de C.V., and its affiliate Marketing Enterprises Latin America, LLC., each debarred for fraud, with conditional release after two years.

· Sanctions Board Decision No. 50 (Sanctions Case No. 117): ASDECON Corporation Company Limited debarred for corrupt practices, with conditional release after five years.

· Sanctions Board Decision No. 51 (Sanctions Case No. 145 and Sanctions Case No. 146):

- Sanctions Case No. 145: General Consulting Training (GCT) and Mr. Ali Safi each debarred for one year for fraud.

- Sanctions Case No. 146: TEAM Engineering & Management Consultants (TEAM) debarred for fraud, with conditional release after two years.

· Sanctions Board Decision No. 52 (Sanctions Case No. 134): Contransimex Nigeria Limited debarred for fraud, with conditional release after two years.

All sanctions are reflected on the World Bank Listing of Ineligible Firms & Individuals (www.worldbank.org/debarr).

For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.org/sanctions

Contacts:

In Washington: David Theis, (202) 458-8626, dtheis@worldbank.org;

For Broadcast Requests: Natalia Cieslik, (202) 458-9369, ncieslik@worldbank.org

New Initiatives Give Hope to a Carbon Market Facing Challenges

2012-05-30T12:30:00.000Z

World Bank releases State and Trends of the Carbon Market report 2012

COLOGNE, GERMANY, May 30, 2012 – The total value of the carbon market grew by 11 percent in 2011, to $176 billion, and transaction volumes reached a new high of 10.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) according to a new report from the World Bank.

According to State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2012 this growth took place in the face of economic turbulence, growing long-term oversupply in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and plummeting carbon prices.

The report, released here at the Carbon Expo in Cologne, describes how even as prices declined, the value of the global carbon market increased in 2011, driven predominantly by a robust growth in financially motivated transactions. By far, the largest segment of the carbon market was that of EU Allowances (EUAs), valued at $148 billion. There was also a substantial increase in the volume of secondary Kyoto offsets (which grew by 43 percent, to 1.8 billion tons of CO₂e, valued at US$23 billion) fueled by increased liquidity in the Certified Emission Reduction (CER) market and in the nascent secondary Emission Reduction Unit (ERU) market. Following the same pattern observed in previous years, the global carbon market in 2011 was primarily driven by the EU ETS.

With the end of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, the value of the pre-2013 primary CER, ERU and AAU markets declined once again in 2011. Not surprisingly, however, the market is starting to look beyond 2012 and consequently the post-2012 primary CDM market increased by a robust 63 percent, to US$2 billion, despite depressed prices and limited long-term-visibility. Although China remained the largest source of contracted CERs, African countries – largely bypassed in the pre-2013 market – emerged stronger in 2011 and accounted for 21 percent of post-2012 CERs contracted during the year.

Against this backdrop, several new domestic and regional carbon market initiatives gained traction in both developed and developing economies in 2011. Five new jurisdictions passed legislation adopting cap-and-trade schemes.

“It is heartening to see that, while leading economies continue to experience difficulties and the carbon market faces major challenges, we see increasing interest in, and support for, new market-based mechanisms to mitigate climate change in the long term,” said Joëlle Chassard, Manager of the Carbon Finance Unit of the World Bank.

The Australian Parliament passed the Clean Energy Act, the California Air Resources Board adopted a cap-and-trade regulation, and Québec adopted its own cap-and-trade program. The province is now working toward linking it with California’s starting in 2013. Last month, both Mexico and the Republic of Korea passed comprehensive climate bills, laying the foundation for future market-based mechanisms.

“Together, these initiatives will drive substantial resources towards low-carbon investments and they have the potential to unleash a truly transformational carbon market, in support of a global solution to the climate challenge,” said Alexandre Kossoy, Senior Financial Specialist, World Bank Carbon Finance Unit.

Contacts:

In Cologne: Isabel Hagbrink, +1 202 458 0422, ihagbrink@worldbank.org

In Washington DC: Elisabeth Mealey, +1 202 458 4475, emealey@worldbank.org

For an electronic version of the report and more information on the Carbon Finance Unit and its carbon funds, please see: www.carbonfinance.org

World Bank Welcomes African Leadership on Natural Capital Accounting

2012-05-25T14:17:29.000Z

Announces $3m in support from Japan to help countries around the world put it into action

GABORONE, BOTSWANA, May 25, 2012 – The World Bank’s Vice President for Sustainable Development, Rachel Kyte, today welcomed the strong endorsement from ten African countries for natural capital accounting - a tool for factoring countries’ natural assets into their systems of national accounting.

Speaking at the conclusion of the African Sustainability Summit in Botswana, Kyte said African leaders had shown the way forward through a joint communiqué on natural capital accounting which recognized GDP’s limitations as a measure of well-being and sustainable growth and underscored the importance of a tool for taking natural capital into account for improved economic decision-making.

“Africa is where sustained and sustainable economic growth and the stewardship of natural wealth become one and the same thing,” Kyte said. “Making progress means more than just a strong GDP - it means giving equal attention to the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainable development. By endorsing natural capital accounting as a tool for delivering on more inclusive green growth, Africa is showing the way for the rest of the world.”

Kyte said that 24 countries around the world were already compiling natural capital accounts. With so much on-the-ground experience to draw upon, she said the World Bank was hoping to see at least 50 countries and 50 private corporations follow Africa’s lead by endorsing natural capital accounting at the upcoming Rio+20 Conference.

The World Bank is supporting countries to factor their natural capital into systems of national accounts through a global partnership called WAVES (Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services). Ms Kyte took the opportunity of the Botswana Summit to announce the Government of Japan’s financial commitment of $US3 million to support the WAVES Partnership.

“Japan’s generous commitment helps us step up to meet the increasing demand from countries to make natural capital accounting a reality,” Kyte said.

Japan’s Deputy Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs and Executive Assistant to the Prime Minister for Global Environmental Finance, Naoko Ishii said “Japan has long been a supporter to enhancing biodiversity and preserving ecosystems, and is excited to strengthen this initiative.”

WAVES is working to build capacity in countries to implement Natural Capital Accounting based on the UN’s recently endorsed System for Environmental and Economic Accounts (SEEA). The SEEA provides an internationally agreed method, on par with the current System of National Accounts, to account for material natural resources like minerals, timber, and fisheries.

WAVES is also working to develop an agreed methodology for accounting for ecosystem services, including for example, the `regulating’ services of forests for pollination and wetlands for reducing the impacts of floods.

The WAVES partnership includes the United Nations Environment Program, the UN Development Program, and the UN Statistical Commission; the countries of Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica, Madagascar, and the Philippines, which are implementing programs; as well as financial or technical support from Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom, and several NGOS.

For a copy of the latest WAVES report “Moving Beyond GDP” go to:

http://www.wavespartnership.org/waves/

Contacts:

In Washington: Robert Bisset, +1 202 458 5191, rbisset@worldbank.org

For Broadcast Requests: Natalia Cieslik, +1 202 458 9369, ncieslik@worldbank.org

For more information about WAVES and the World Bank’s work on sustainable development visit:

http://www.worldbank.org/sustainabledevelopment

For more information about the Summit For Sustainability in Africa, please visit here.

World Bank Database Shows Export Markets Are Dominated by Big Firms

2012-05-24T13:46:46.000Z

Difficult for Newcomers to Survive

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2012 – A few large companies dominate export markets in developing and developed countries, with the top one percent often accounting for more than half – sometimes nearly 80 percent – of total exports, according to a new World Bank database with a wealth of details on exporting firms.

The new Exporter Dynamics Database offers the most comprehensive picture yet of exporter characteristics and dynamics – a firm’s entry, exit and survival in the export market – in 45 developed and developing countries. The database mainly covers 2003-2009, though data from the 1990s are also available for some countries.

A key finding is that the export market is difficult to tackle for newcomers, with 57 percent of companies on average – and two-thirds in Africa – quitting within a year of entering the export market.

“Governments traditionally have focused on helping exporters expand to new products and new markets, but they may need to do more to help firms survive,” says Ana Margarida Fernandes, the task leader of the database, which was developed by the Trade and International Integration team of the World Bank’s Development Research Group.

The global database allows for cross-country comparisons of exporters based on factors such as size, survival, growth, and concentration. More countries will be added as the database expands. Until now, most databases focus not on exporting firms, but on the aggregate flow of goods across borders based on countries or products.

Based on data sets covering the universe of export transactions obtained directly from customs agencies, the data are comparable across countries. Measures cover the size distribution of exporting firms, their diversification in terms of products and markets, the dynamics of exporting firms’ entry, exit and survival, and the average unit prices of the goods traded.

The Exporter Dynamics Database could help policy makers identify opportunities in particular sectors and address challenges faced by their exporters, especially in their entry and survival in export markets. For example, it can be used to analyze the performance of export sectors in a country, comparing them with their counterparts in the region or richer countries. The database can also make it easier to analyze the impact of tariffs and other trade barriers. For example, it can be used to assess the impact of stringent non-tariff measures on the numbers and average size of exporters.

The database reveals several interesting trends. For example, the rate of firms entering the export market is high, with more than half of the exporters in Laos, Malawi, Tanzania, and Yemen being newcomers in any given year. But their survival rate isn’t that good, generally with more than a third of companies on average leaving the export market every year.

“Our database shows how large the degree of churning in export markets is, particularly in less developed and smaller economies,” says Martha Denisse Pierola, an economist at the Development Research Group who started the project with Caroline Freund, now the chief economist at the Middle East and North Africa Region of the World Bank. “We need further research to better assist governments in minimizing the costs associated with these high exit rates.”

Contacts:

In Washington: Jane Zhang, (202) 473-1376, janezhang@worldbank.org

For Broadcast Requests: Mehreen Sheikh, (202) 458-7336, msheikh1@worldbank.org

For more information, please visit: http://econ.worldbank.org/exporter-dynamics-database

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The project tobedroppedKENYA: Lake Turkana Wind Project is now in the pipeline.

2012-03-20T04:00:00.000Z

The project tobedroppedKENYA: Lake Turkana Wind Project is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project WATER AND SANITATION SERVICE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT - Additional Financing is now in the pipeline.

2012-03-08T05:00:00.000Z

The project WATER AND SANITATION SERVICE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT - Additional Financing is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The development objectives of the Additional Financing for the Water and Sanitation Services Improvement Project are to increase access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable water supply and sanitation services; and to improve water and wastewater services in the areas served by Athi Water Services Board (AWSB), Costal Water Services Board (CWSB), and Lake Victoria North Water Services Board (LVNWSB). The additional credit would help finance the costs associated with scaling up the project's activities to enhance the impact of this well-performing project. Specifically, the additional financing will finance additional investments to increase access to water supply and sanitation services in the areas served by AWSB, CWSB, and LVNWSB. The additional financing will result in the restructuring of the project which will include: a) revision of the project development objective to better align with the interventions supported by the project; b) a three year extension of the original closing date from December 31, 2012 to December 31, 2015; c) addition of new activities; d) triggering of three new safeguard policies, and changing the environmental assessment category from B to A to reflect the potentially significant environmental and social impacts of one of the sub-projects, the northern collector tunnel; and e) updating the results targets to reflect the scaling up of interventions, and substituting some of the original indicators with new ones designed to better track the outcomes of the project.

The project Kenya - KTCIP/Additional Financing (RCIP 1) is now in the pipeline.

2012-02-07T05:00:00.000Z

The project Kenya - KTCIP/Additional Financing (RCIP 1) is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The development objectives of the original Additional Financing for Transparency and Communications Infrastructure Project are to: contribute to lower prices for international capacity and extend the geographic reach of broadband networks; and contribute to improved Government efficiency and transparency through e-government applications. The additional loan will help finance the costs associated with the scale-up of existing project components in order to implement expanded activities that scale up the project's impact and development effectiveness namely in the areas of development of an open access framework for infrastructure, of open data activities, of Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) deployment and of development and roll-out of end-to-end government services and cyber security. There was a first restructuring approved in February 2010: the changes related mostly to a realignment of activities and minor adjustment of budget allocations in themes. A second restructuring was approved in May 2011 to: adjust allocations between disbursement categories and components; extend the project closing date by 18 months to allow for completion of the activities.

The project KENYA: NATIONAL URBAN TRANSPORT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT is now in the pipeline.

2012-01-13T05:00:00.000Z

The project KENYA: NATIONAL URBAN TRANSPORT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The objectives of the National Urban Transport Improvement Project for Kenya are to: (a) improve the efficiency of road transport along the Northern corridor; (b) improve the institutional capacity and arrangements in the urban transport sub-sector; and (c) promote the private sector participation in the operation, financing and management of transport systems. There are three components to the project, the first component being support to Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) to upgrade the urban road transport infrastructure. This component will involve: constructing and rehabilitating non-motorized transport facilities, including foot paths, cycle tracks, pedestrian bridges and underpasses; and carrying out feasibility and detailed engineering design studies of roads adjoining major towns and studies for improvement of traffic flows through provision of technical advisory services. The second component is the support to Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) to develop selected mass transit corridors. The activities under this component of the project, which include carrying out feasibility studies and detailed engineering designs and preparation of bidding and contract documents for works and associated facilities as well as selection of private sector operators to provide large capacity buses for a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and rolling stock for a commuter rail system are a precursor for a successor project. Finally, the third component is the institutional strengthening and capacity building. This component will support and deepen the implementation of reforms in the transport sector with a major focus on urban transport.

The project Health Sector Support Additional Financing is now in the pipeline.

2011-12-21T05:00:00.000Z

The project Health Sector Support Additional Financing is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Nairobi Metropolitan Services Improvement Project is now in the pipeline.

2011-12-21T05:00:00.000Z

The project Nairobi Metropolitan Services Improvement Project is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The development objective of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services Improvement Project for Kenya is to strengthen urban services and infrastructure in the Nairobi metropolitan region. There are four components to the project. The first component is institutional reform and planning. This component will assist existing local authorities within the Nairobi metropolitan region, as well as new entities and authorities that will be created once the devolved government aspect of the new constitution takes effect. These new entities possibly include county governments, metropolitan authorities, and agencies, and other units of administration. This component will support the capacity enhancement and planning activities of these entities. The second component is local government infrastructure and services. This component will finance on a grant basis priority urban infrastructure in 13 selected urban areas in the Nairobi metropolitan region. The infrastructure to be financed will be the responsibility of the current local authorities and under the mandate of the future county governments. All subprojects will be selected on the basis of the existing participatory process for prioritizing local investments, called the Local Authority Service Development Action Plan, which provide the basis for local authority strategic plans. These are in line with Nairobi Metro 2030 Strategy. The third component is metropolitan infrastructure and services. This component will assist in providing large-scale metropolitan infrastructure in the areas of solid waste, transport, and sewerage services. In contrast to those financed under second component, these investments will be large-scale which is crucial for the development and integration of the metropolitan region as a whole. Regarding solid waste, the component will support the preparation and implementation of an integrated metropolitan-wide solid waste management (ISWM) strategy. The fourth component is Project management, and monitoring and evaluation. This component will finance the management activities associated with project implementation, including establishing and implementing a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation (M and E) system and training of the implementing agencies in environmental and social management. This component will also provide funds to undertake feasibility studies and prepare designs for implementation under a potential follow-on project in the urban sector in Kenya, and for other studies identified and agreed during implementation.