PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) CONCEPT STAGE Public Disclosure Copy Report No.: PIDC1017 Project Name UG-North-Eastern Corridor Road Asset Management Project (P125590) Region AFRICA Country Uganda Sector(s) Rural and Inter-Urban Roads and Highways (80%), Public administration- Transportation (10%), General transportation sector (10%) Theme(s) Infrastructure services for private sector development (50%), Regional integration (20%), Rural services and infrastructure (20%), A dministrative and civil service reform (10%) Lending Instrument Investment Project Financing Project ID P125590 Borrower(s) REPUBLIC OF UGANDA Implementing Agency Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) Environmental B-Partial Assessment Category Date PID Prepared/ 16-May-2013 Updated Date PID Approved/ 13-Feb-2014 Disclosed Estimated Date of Public Disclosure Copy 10-Mar-2014 Appraisal Completion Estimated Date of 29-Apr-2014 Board Approval Concept Review Track II - The review did authorize the preparation to continue Decision I. Introduction and Context Country Context Uganda, located in East Africa, is a landlocked country with an area of 241,038 km2. Its population is about 32 million and is growing at the rate of about 3.2percent per annum. Over the past two decades, it has registered prudent macroeconomic management andstructural reform. It was one of the first Sub-Saharan African countries to embark on liberalization and pro-market policies in the late 1980s. A stable macroeconomic environment and sustained private sector-oriented reforms led to Uganda’s graduation into a mature reformer in 2006. Annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates averaged 7 percent in the 1990s and accelerated to more than 8 percent over the seven years period up to 2007/08. Growth remained well above the Sub-Saharan Africa average in the face of consecutive exogenous shocks, including the secondary effects of the global economic crisis, bad weather and surges in international commodity prices. This strong economic growth enabled the Page 1 of 5 nation to substantially reduce poverty with the proportion of people living in poverty to fall from 57 percent in 1993 to 24.5 percent in 2009/10. Hence, Uganda has surpassed the 2015 Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty rate, even though per capita GDP growth averaged only Public Disclosure Copy around 4 percent over the last two decades due to rapid population growth. Since FY2009/10, a combination of the exogenous shocks and domestic factors reduced economic activity. Subdued export performance, high inflation and subsequent tightening of monetary policy to restore macroeconomic stability, reduced GDP growth to 3.4 percent in FY 2011/12. The high expectations for a strong recovery GDP growth as the economy stabilized in FY 12/13 have been thwarted by the lower than anticipated fiscal outlays, slow private sector credit pickup, and the governance related aid disruptions which increased economic uncertainty. Despite the recent drop in growth, forecasters see a modest recovery averaging about 5 percent. The National Development Plan of Uganda (NDP) (2010/11 - 2014/15) stipulates the country’s medium term strategic direction, development priorities and implementation strategy. As infrastructure remains one of the key constraints to growth the NDP has prioritized spending in this area. Among the sectors that were given priority was the transport sector, especially roads, because of the strong bearing on rural production and hence poverty reduction. However, challenges remain in prioritization of key areas of investment, project selection and actual implementation of infrastructure projects. Sectoral and Institutional Context Uganda’s transport system comprises road, rail, water and air transport. Road transport caters for more than 90 percent of the volume of passenger and freight traffic. The overall road network is about 70,000 km. The national roads that amount to 20,500 km, of which 3,200 km are paved, serve to: (i) connect districts with one another, and (ii) as transit corridors linking the land- lockedneighboring countries of Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and parts of north eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to the sea ports in Kenya and Tanzania. The national road network that consists of 30 percent of the total road network carries about 80 percent of the total road traffic mainly on the international corridors. Thus the upkeep of these corridors is crucial for the Public Disclosure Copy socioeconomic activities of the region. In 1996, the Government of Uganda (GoU) formulated the first 10 year (1996/97-2005/06) Road Sector Development Program (RSDP-1), which was updated, in April 2002, and rolled over to the second 10 year RSDP-2 (2001/02 to 2010/11). The program cost was increased from the original US $ 1.5 million to US $ 2.3 billion. Based on the lessons learned from the implementation of the two phases an ambitious RSDP 3 has been developed with a planned investment requirement of US $ 10.36 billion over the period 2011/12-2020/21. Under the transport policy, the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT) is to focus on policy formulation, strategic planning, sector oversight and monitoring and its executive functions are to be carried out by specialized entities. Accordingly, the UNRA was established by an Act of Parliament in June 2006 to manage the national road network and commenced its operations on July 1, 2008. The Uganda Road Fund which was established by an Act of Parliament in June 2008 is responsible for maintenance financing and it became operational since July 1, 2010. The processes for establishing a National Road Safety Authority and a Multi-Sector Transport Regulatory Authority are underway. Relationship to CAS The current country assistance strategy (CAS) covering the period 2011/12- 2015/16 has a strategic Page 2 of 5 objective of enhancing public infrastructure and promoting inclusive and sustainable growth. Transport is one of the priorities of the CAS, and is considered to be one of the determining factors for growth, interconnectivity, trade and Regional Integration. Improved access to and quality of the Public Disclosure Copy roads are being monitored as key outcome indicators of the CAS. The CAS strives for the development of a dependable economic infrastructure that supports the economic and social development needs of the country consistent with the objectives of the NDP. In 2008, the World Bank (WB) conducted a client survey to provide information on perceptions of the Bank’s work in Uganda which revealed that most stakeholders surveyed would like the WB to focus on infrastructure and to play a leading role in fighting corruption. II. Proposed Development Objective(s) Proposed Development Objective(s) (From PCN) The proposed PDO is to reduce transport cost by improving and preserving the road asset on a selected corridor through the introduction of an OPRC. This is expected to be realized through: (i) the piloting of output and performance based road contracts (OPRC) for a 10 year period on a transport corridor linking South Sudan, parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, northern and eastern Uganda to the port of Mombasa; (ii) improvement of the management of road safety and axle load control over the entire corridor; and (iii) Institutional support to the UNRA, including enhancement of its road asset management system. Key Results (From PCN) The achievement of the PDO will be measured based on the following key result indicators: (a) Improved road pavement conditions; (b) Reduced vehicle operating costs; (c) Reduced fatal accidents on the road corridor; (d) Reduced travel time; (e) Performance based specifications and service levels defined Public Disclosure Copy III. Preliminary Description Concept Description The following project components are proposed for the Uganda Road Asset Management Project (URAMP). Component 1:- Piloting of OPRC on a key Transport Corridor: This component is envisaged to finance a 10 year OPRC on the Tororo – Mbale –Soroti-Lira-Kamidini – Gulu road (400 km). The works and/ services will include: (a) the rehabilitation and/ upgrading of sections of the road corridor, (b) routine and periodic maintenance of the whole corridor, (c) road safety measures and traffic management, and (d) axle overload control. This component will also finance Consultants’ Services for: (a) Technical and Financial Audits of the Pilot Project Implementation, and (b) the Project Manager who will be responsible for the overall administration of the Contract and the overall supervision services to be performed on behalf of the Employer. Component 2:- Institutional Support to UNRA and MoWT: This component is envisaged to finance: (i) monitoring and evaluation of the pilot OPRC including recommendations to adopting the use of fewer and larger transformative corridor based long term contracts , (b) the development of output specifications for the long term contracts, (c) support to commercialization of axle load operations Page 3 of 5 on the national road network, (d) Technical Assistance (TA) for mainstreaming the use of the installed road asset management system as a basis of investment decision making and prioritization of interventions on national roads, (e) TA for developing standards for alternative road construction Public Disclosure Copy materials and low cost seals including a trial project, (f) preparation of follow up road asset management projects, and (g) TA support to UNRA for data collection including standardization of data collection principles, methods, specifications, contracting modalities, upgrade of associated software, etc. Based on the preliminary specifications for the technical options, the total cost of the project is estimated at US$380 Million, and the proposed Bank contribution will be determined through further consultation between the Bank and the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED). IV. Safeguard Policies that might apply Safeguard Policies Triggered by the Project Yes No TBD Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01 ✖ Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 ✖ Forests OP/BP 4.36 ✖ Pest Management OP 4.09 ✖ Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 ✖ Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 ✖ Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 ✖ Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 ✖ Projects on International Waterways OP/BP 7.50 ✖ Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 ✖ Public Disclosure Copy V. Financing (in USD Million) Total Project Cost: 257.00 Total Bank Financing: 257.00 Financing Gap: 0.00 Financing Source Amount BORROWER/RECIPIENT 0.00 International Development Association (IDA) 257.00 Total 257.00 VI. Contact point World Bank Contact: Negede Lewi Title: Sr Highway Engineer Tel: 5355+3273 Email: nlewi@worldbank.org Borrower/Client/Recipient Page 4 of 5 Name: REPUBLIC OF UGANDA Contact: Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Title: Public Disclosure Copy Tel: 2564144707000 Email: finance@finance.go.ug Implementing Agencies Name: Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) Contact: B. Ssebbugga-Kimeze Title: Ag. Executive Director Tel: 256-312-233-100 Email: executive@unra.go.ug VII. For more information contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-4500 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/infoshop Public Disclosure Copy Page 5 of 5