The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report RCIP4 - Regional Communications Infrastructure Program - APL 4 (RI) (P118213) RCIP4 - Regional Communications Infrastructure Program - APL 4 (RI) (P118213) AFRICA | Africa | Digital Development Global Practice | IBRD/IDA | Investment Project Financing | FY 2014 | Seq No: 13 | ARCHIVED on 09-May-2019 | ISR36620 | Implementing Agencies: Cellule de réformes économiques et financières (CREF) - Ministère des Finances et du Budget, Bureau RCIP-4 (4th Phase of the Regional Communications Infrastructure Program) Key Dates Key Project Dates Bank Approval Date: 10-Sep-2013 Effectiveness Date: 19-Nov-2013 Planned Mid Term Review Date: 14-Sep-2015 Actual Mid-Term Review Date: 14-Sep-2015 Original Closing Date: 30-Jun-2018 Revised Closing Date: 30-Jun-2021 pdoTable Project Development Objectives Project Development Objective (from Project Appraisal Document) The development objectives of this project, in line with the overall RCIP program, are to support the Recipient’s efforts to lower prices for international capacity and extend the geographic reach of broadband networks. Has the Project Development Objective been changed since Board Approval of the Project Objective? No Components Table Name Enabling Environment: promote further regional market integration, sector liberalization (through the award of a second license), an d legal and regulatory reforms.:(Cost $4.00 M) Connectivity: finance Comoros’s membership and participation in the FLY cable and provide demand stimulation through advance purchas e of capacity, promotion of ISPs and establishing an IXP.:(Cost $25.00 M) Project management: support to finance project management costs including project coordination, procurement, financial management, m onitoring & evaluation, etc.:(Cost $3.00 M) Overall Ratings Name Previous Rating Current Rating Progress towards achievement of PDO Satisfactory Satisfactory Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Satisfactory Satisfactory Overall Risk Rating Substantial Substantial Implementation Status and Key Decisions The project is on track to meeting the PDO. The original financing envelope has been fully disbursed. On September 28 2018, US$10m in additional financing (AF) was approved by the Board and a new financing agreement was signed by the Ministry of Finance on November 19 2018. The project team is now supporting a new round of procurement, which will speed up disbursement of AF and launch a new set of activities. The project 5/9/2019 Page 1 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report RCIP4 - Regional Communications Infrastructure Program - APL 4 (RI) (P118213) currently complies with all legal covenants, and the disbursement condition for the additional financing has been met with the authorization of an additional ISP. ADDITONAL FINANCING has (i) replenished the budget for regulatory activities and project management under Components 1 and 3 as well as (ii) enabled a scale-up of the successful demand stimulation program, by launching a second phase that targets central government ministries, department and agencies (MDAs) and introduces new foundational e-government activities under sub-components 2.2 and 2.3. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:  The progressive liberalization of the telecoms sector (under Component 1), notably through: (i) the passage of the 2014 Communications Act, creating a platform for competition (ii) the licensing and launch of a second operator (Telma) (in Dec 2016), which has since gained over a third of the market and doubled mobile subscription baseline figures; and (iii) the launch of a new authorization regime for ISPs (in 2018) that has resulted in the authorization of at least four new ISPs (thus meeting the disbursement condition for additional financing for Component 1). A further four ISP licenses have also been issued as of May 2019.  The construction of the new FLY-LION 3 landing station and regional undersea cable from Moroni to Mayotte (under sub- component 2.1), laid by Nokia Submarine Systems: (i) funds were transferred to the central billing party (in 2017), following the achievement of all disbursement conditions, including the creation of a new SPV (Comores Cables); (ii) all required environmental impact / social safeguards studies have been completed prior to the start of construction; (iii) the landing station construction is underway, and the rooms to house the landing station equipment and electricity supply (batteries and back-up generator) are completed; (iv) the cable arrived in Moroni in Feb 2019 and is expected to be operations by June 2019; (v) the terrestrial segment linking the beach to the landing station is complete and a second link between the two existing landing stations is underway.  A successful first phase of the demand stimulation program (under sub-component 2.2 & 2.3), through the provision of: (i) basic IT equipment; (ii) advanced purchase of connectivity; and (iii) basics IT skills and maintenance training to beneficiaries initially targeted (i.e. school, universities, community associations and local authorities). The second phase target also federal government ministries, departments and agencies..  An increase in private sector investment: (i) nationally, through Telma’s US$45m investment in a domestic 4G mobile network and fiber backbone (plus recent IFC commitment to invest US$16m in Telma ); (ii) regionally, through US$12m in co-invest by Orange and SRR in the FLY-LION3 cable; and (iii) additional investments in ISPs and two new mobile money services.  The disbursement of all original project funds, in full.  US$10m in additional financing (AF) (signed in Nov 2018) RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:  A new round of procurement that will speed up disbursement of the AF, primarily pertaining to feasibility studies that will support the digitization of government services.  The launch of a new co-working space, aimed at tech-start ups.  A budget, work- and training plan has been approved for 2019 by the new steering committee, which now includes representatives from the SGG's office. . Risks Systematic Operations Risk-rating Tool Risk Category Rating at Approval Previous Rating Current Rating Political and Governance -- High High Macroeconomic -- Substantial Substantial Sector Strategies and Policies -- Substantial Substantial Technical Design of Project or Program -- Moderate Moderate Institutional Capacity for Implementation and Sustainability -- Moderate Moderate Fiduciary -- Moderate Moderate Environment and Social -- Substantial Substantial Stakeholders -- Substantial Substantial Other -- Substantial Substantial 5/9/2019 Page 2 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report RCIP4 - Regional Communications Infrastructure Program - APL 4 (RI) (P118213) Overall -- Substantial Substantial Results PDO Indicators by Objectives / Outcomes Support the recipient's effort to lower prices for international connectivity IN00689863 ►International Internet Bandwidth (Text, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 175 Mbit/s -- 10885 Mbit/s 3611 Mbit/s Date 31-Dec-2011 28-Dec-2017 28-Dec-2017 30-Jun-2021 Comments: Measured in Mbit/s simplex IN00689865 International Internet Bandwidth per inhabitant (Text, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 232 bit/s -- 13.7 kbit/s 4.13 kbit/s IN00689982 ►Average price of wholesale internet capacity (Amount(USD), Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 5,500.00 18.70 18.70 1,000.00 Date 29-Jun-2012 28-Dec-2017 28-Dec-2017 30-Jun-2021 Comments: Average monthly price of wholesale internet capacity (E1 or 2 Mbit/s link) from the capital city to Europe Support the recipient'e efforts to extend the reach of broadband networks IN00689864 ►Access to Internet Services (number of subscribers per 100 people) (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.70 81.39 81.39 37.70 Date 31-Dec-2011 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 30-Jun-2021 Based on total internet subscription figure, divided by latest population figure. However, given that the population in likely to be larger than current figures suggests (in the absence of Comments: an updated census), and many people hold more than one sim-card, due to the absence of interoperability, this figure is likely to be somewhat inflated. IN00689981 Total number of Internet subscriptions (Number, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target 5/9/2019 Page 3 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report RCIP4 - Regional Communications Infrastructure Program - APL 4 (RI) (P118213) Value 5,416.00 360,980.00 360,980.00 300,000.00 IN00689983 Mobile internet subscriptions (Number, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 359,336.00 359,336.00 295,000.00 IN00689984 Population (Number, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 735,375.00 813,912.00 813,912.00 800,000.00 IN00689985 ►Total number of mobile subscriptions (per 100 inhabitants) (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 27.39 81.00 81.00 72.75 Date 31-Dec-2011 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 30-Jun-2021 The indicators reflects quarterly subscriptions figures divided by latest population data. Comments: IN00689986 Mobile subscriptions (Number, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 216,438.00 659,336.00 659,336.00 582,000.00 IN00689987 ►Direct project beneficiaries (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 442,898.00 442,898.00 365,562.00 Date 31-Dec-2012 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 30-Jun-2021 Direct beneficiaries are people or groups who directly derive benefits from an intervention. New mobile subscribers, since the project's inception, is used as a proxy for direct beneficiaries. This assumes that lower prices and quality improvement, stemming from changes to the regulatory Comments: environment and the introduction of competition that have been facilitated by the project have driven a rise in users. IN00689988 Female beneficiaries (Percentage, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 Overall Comments PDO Indicators will be updated once year-end 2018 statistics are available. Intermediate Results Indicators by Components 5/9/2019 Page 4 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report RCIP4 - Regional Communications Infrastructure Program - APL 4 (RI) (P118213) 1. Enabling environment IN00689989 ►Number of licensed ISPs (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 1.00 3.00 8.00 4.00 Date 31-Dec-2011 31-Oct-2017 03-May-2019 30-Jun-2021 Comments: Number of Internet Service Providers licensed to offer services in Comoros 2. Connectivity and demand stimulation IN00689990 ►Broadband Internet Subscriptions (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 150.00 360,980.00 360,980.00 300,000.00 Date 31-Dec-2011 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 30-Jun-2021 Internet subscriptions in excess of 256 kbit/s Comments: This figures captures current mobile internet, plus fixed-broadband subscribers. IN00689991 Mobile broadband subscribers (Number, Custom Breakdown) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 359,336.00 359,336.00 295,000.00 Date 31-Dec-2011 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 30-Jun-2021 IN00689992 Fixed and mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (Number, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.02 46.12 46.12 37.70 IN00689993 Broadband subscribers as a percentage of total ICT subscriptions (Percentage, Custom Supplement) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.04 55.20 55.20 50.00 IN00689994 ►Number of E-Systems connected to an interoperable Government-administered digital platform (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.00 Date 02-Jul-2018 31-Oct-2018 26-Apr-2019 30-Jun-2021 This is a new indicator, which measures the number of e-Government systems that are connected to a Comments: public and interoperable platform. Candidates include e-Visa, eProcurement, Business registration etc 5/9/2019 Page 5 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report RCIP4 - Regional Communications Infrastructure Program - APL 4 (RI) (P118213) IN00689995 ►Number of female beneficiaries of the co-working space (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 Date 02-Jul-2018 31-Oct-2018 26-Apr-2019 30-Jun-2021 This is a new custom indicator, which is intended to measure the number of users of the proposed co- working space who are female. To calculate the percentage of users who are female, it will also be Comments: necessary to collect the total number of users of the space. IN00689996 ►Number of crowdsourced reports from citizens on quality of service for telecommunication services (Number, Custom) Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) End Target Value 0.00 1.00 1.00 4.00 Date 28-Jun-2018 25-Oct-2018 26-Apr-2019 30-Jun-2021 This is a report on the quality of telecommunication services, which is compiled from crowdsourced reports from citizens. It thus also serves as an indicators of citizen engagement. Comments: It is intended to be reported twice yearly and should show trends over time and between regions. Overall Comments IR An additional four ISPs have been licensed, as of 3 May 2019, in addition to the four already licensed at 31 December 2019. Other subscriber numbers will be updated on the basis of year-end 2018 statistics, as submitted by ANRTIC to ITU. This has been requested. Feasibility studies are underway for a number of eSystems, including, eVisa, Government registry and eProcurement. The co-working space is in the start-up phase. A contract for the quality-of service observatory has been re-tendered. Data on Financial Performance Disbursements (by loan) Project Loan/Credit/TF Status Currency Original Revised Cancelled Disbursed Undisbursed % Disbursed P118213 IDA-D3820 Effective USD 10.00 10.00 0.00 0.80 9.18 8% 5/9/2019 Page 6 of 7 The World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report RCIP4 - Regional Communications Infrastructure Program - APL 4 (RI) (P118213) P118213 IDA-H8780 Effective USD 22.00 22.00 0.00 20.17 0.00 100% Key Dates (by loan) Project Loan/Credit/TF Status Approval Date Signing Date Effectiveness Date Orig. Closing Date Rev. Closing Date P118213 IDA-D3820 Effective 28-Sep-2018 19-Nov-2018 19-Nov-2018 30-Jun-2021 30-Jun-2021 P118213 IDA-H8780 Effective 10-Sep-2013 24-Sep-2013 19-Nov-2013 30-Jun-2018 31-Dec-2019 Cumulative Disbursements Restructuring History Level 2 Approved on 28-Feb-2018 Related Project(s) P166737-Additional Financing for the Comoros program of the 4th Phase of the Regional Communications Infrastructure Program 5/9/2019 Page 7 of 7