Infrastructure is viewed as a crucial ingredient to foster growth and productivity. Amid the post -- global financial crisis slowdown, Sub-Saharan Africa is in dire need to continue the growth momentum it experienced during the period of the Africa Rising narrative.
... See More + An emerging consensus in the empirical literature is that, under the right circumstances, an adequate supply of infrastructure can help foster growth in the region. This paper provides a scorecard on infrastructure development in Sub-Saharan Africa over the past decades along four sectors (telecommunications, electric power, transportation, and water and sanitation) and three dimensions (quantity, quality, and access). First, it documents the existence of a large gap in infrastructure in the region—although the magnitude of the gap depends on the sector, dimension, and country/group. Second, the potential growth benefits from closing the infrastructure gap are large. Third, the infrastructure financing needs are very large, and the public sector so far is unable to meet these needs. Other options that involve the private sector may be available for the region. Finally, there is room for improving the efficiency of public infrastructure spending (that is, the quality of public investment management systems and procurement methods), which, in turn, may increase the output multiplier of investment spending.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8425 MAY 02, 2018
In a resilient city, the energy system offers a secure supply of power that ensures the continuity of services in the event of disruptions (robust).
... See More + It has spare capacity to provide power to the city under any circumstances, especially to ensure continuity to the functioning of critical infrastructure like hospitals and government buildings (redundant). The planning for and design of energy infrastructure is informed by an integrated risk assessment taking major shocks and stresses into consideration (reflectiveness). A resilient energy system provides access to electricity to all societal groups, and embraces both centralized and decentralized approaches as appropriate (inclusive and redundant). Management of the energy system, including decisions regarding distribution and pricing, is inclusive of local departments and stakeholders (coordinated and inclusive).
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This paper presents evidence on how the provision of unreliable electricity constrains expansion in the productive sectors of the economy, consequently leading to a reduction in the number of employment opportunities in Africa.
... See More + Using geodata on electricity transmission networks on the continent, the paper computes an index that explores spatial and time variations in technical losses in the electricity network as an instrument for electricity shortages. The instrument is combined with geo-referenced data from the Afrobarometer and Enterprise Surveys from more than 20 African countries to estimate the causal impact of electricity shortages on employment, and the mechanisms driving the impact. Results from the paper reveal that electricity shortages exert a substantial negative impact on employment rates in Africa. The evidence also shows three channels by which electricity shortages affect labor market participation. First, on the extensive margin, electricity shortages constrain the creation of new businesses through their negative effect on entrepreneurship. Second, in the intensive margin, electricity shortages reduce the output and productivity of existing firms, thereby causing them to reduce labor demand. Third, electricity shortages act as a distortion in the business climate, thereby reducing the trade and export competitiveness of African firms.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8415 APR 19, 2018
The development objective of the Emergency Electricity Access Project is to improve access to electricity in rural and peri-urban areas within the Republic of Yemen.
... See More + The project has three components. 1) First component, Financing for off-grid solar. This component has two sub-component, (i) Providing basic electricity supply to households, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) will engage eligible regulated, supervised Microfinance Institution (MFI) , help them set up financing windows for high-quality, small-scale solar solutions for rural and peri-urban households, and provide grants to beneficiaries to make the systems affordable. Access to grants will be limited to residents of rural and peri-urban districts and small solar products that the non-poor are less likely to use. The grant component will be explicit and transparent, and will be gradually phased out to build to a commercial market segment for small-scale, high-quality household solar products. A key goal in collaborating with MFIs is to establish solar microfinance structures in rural and peri-urban areas to make the solar market more inclusive, sustainable, and scalable in the long-term (for example, through the eventual expansion of product offerings).The specific choice of supported products will be finalized by UNOPS after conducting a rapid market assessment and a series of focus groups. (ii) Restoring electricity supply to critical services facilities,UNOPS will engage solar suppliers and installers to provide grant financed solar energy systems to critical service facilities in rural and peri-urban areas.To ensure readiness for implementation, a short list of predefined solutions and beneficiaries will be developed by UNOPS before effectiveness, including specification of standardized technical specifications and standards. 2) Second component, Implementation support and market development. It has three sub-component, (i) Project implementation and management support will finance (a) general management support (indirect) costs for UNOPS; (b) direct management and supervision costs required to support the implementation of the project (including the use of remote monitoring technology); (c) independent audits of project activities, if required; and (d) the establishment of a Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) in the UNOPS Sana’a Office to document complaints and ensure follow-up; (ii) Third-party monitoring UNOPS will engage a third-party monitoring (TPM) agent to undertake independent performance verification and field monitoring of activities funded under the project; (iii) Market development will finance technical assistance, capacity building, and other market strengthening measures to make the solar market in Yemen more inclusive and sustainable. 3) Third component, Contingent emergency response is to improve the country’s response capacity in the event of an emergency, following the procedures governed by paragraph 12 of the World Bank Policy on Investment Policy Financing (Rapid Response to Crises and Emergencies).
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Ratings for the Electricity System Enhancement Project for Liberia were as follows: outcome was satisfactory, Bank performance was highly satisfactory, and monitoring and evaluation (M and E) quality was high.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: Cooperation and coordination amongst development partners are critical particularly in the fragile country context.Long Term Strategic Engagement is important for impact.Grid and Off-grid Solutions in one project enhances impacts. Better knowledge of consumption patterns helps improve design of access projects.Arranging for pre-financing is critical for success of Global Partnership on Output Based Aid (GPOBA) Program in Fragile Countries.The minimum amount of credit allowed for customers to purchase per transaction is critical for the success of the GPOBA program.The definition of poor-customer for the purpose of targeting for connection subsidies need to be flexible and country-context specific. Strengthening capacity of Planning or Engineering Departments of utilities are critical for project success.Project Supervision is essential in the context of weak implementing agency.Private sector participation should not be launched prematurely.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR3784 MAR 30, 2018
