The IDB has offices in all 26 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean where it finances programs and projects. That is the big difference with the World Bank, which is active in almost every country in the world. But the fact that the IDB focu
ses on a smaller market could be beneficial for your company. Projects that work in one country, most likely will work in the other as well. This means that when you are succesful you are likely to be known in the market. The IDB is open to new innovative ideas but like the World Bank, experience in the countries you want to be active in is very important when trying to win tenders. We would also suggest your company contacts the local offices to find out more about the pipeline of projects before wanting to meet with IDB representatives. When you are in town send us an email and we can discuss visiting the IDB. Below a short description of the IDB and examples of tenders within the Energy and Water sector.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
World Bank Apps
The frequent rea
ders of our blog know that we try to help you as much as possible in doing business with the World Bank. The Bank has developed multiple apps to help you as well. In this blog we will provide you with a quick overview of World Bank apps which we think are beneficial to doing business with the World Bank.
World Bank Annual Report 2014
Want to learn more about the World Bank, their operations and outcomes? We recommend you read this report.
The Annual Report 2014 focuses on two of the World Bank Group’s institutions: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).
Visit the World Bank annual report page for more information.
The World Bank & Public Private Partnerships
As you may have read, the concept of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) has become a Cross-Cutting Solution Area (CCSA) for the World Bank. This means that since this summer, there is a specific department within the bank that deals with PPPs.
Although the concept of PPPs as such is not new at all, it is often a virtually 
unknown instrument for many governments in developing countries and emerging markets. After all, something is either built by the government, or by the private sector. And if it is built by the government but used by the private sector, the population may think foul play is at hand!
In certain situations, and in certain locations, a PPP may very well be a good solution to bring much-needed services to the people, to kickstart economic activity, or to achieve something either party could not otherwise afford to do by itself, for example building a road or collecting trash. At the same time, a PPP is not always the right approach – it is not a panacea that can simply be the answer to every challenge posed. For many governments and private sector parties alike, it is hard to make the right call when it comes to PPPs: is it the appropriate tool in this situation, in this context, in this location, and with these actors? To help answer that all-important question, the World Bank has created a resource center on Public Private Partnerships: http://ppp.worldbank.org. Although it focuses primarily on infrastructure projects, it can be used by a much broader audience.
The resource center has examples of regulatory frameworks, policies and laws, examplesof agreements, leases, joint ventures and management contract. It has sector information for sectors such as clean technology , solid waste, transportation and water. Financing, also an important issue, is another topic it has information on, such as financing mechanisms, risk allocation, various sources of financing, and government risk management.
In sum, if you are thinking of entering into a PPP, if your governmental counterpart is proposing setting up a PPP, or if you would simply like to find whether PPPs would work in your sector and for your company, visit the World Bank’s PPP resource center.
Myanmar Integrated River Basin Management (AIRBM) Project
Update: Project Appraisal Document now available!
Procurement Seminar Multilateral Development Banks
On Wednesday January 21, RVO.nl will organize a procurement seminar focused on the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs). The World Bank and various regional MDBs – the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) – will present the elements of successful tenders.
Royal HaskoningDHV wins major contract coastal protection Bangladesh
Source: Press release by Royal HaskoningDHV.
International engineering and project management consultancy Royal HaskoningDHV has signed a €10.5 million contract with the Bangladesh Water Development Board for engineering consultancy services to protect Bangladesh’s vulnerable coastal zone, home to millions of people.
The IFC
The World Bank Group, other than providing IDA & IBRD financing to bor
rowing governments, also has three other pillars. These are the IFC, MIGA and the ICSID. The activities by the MIGA were explained in an earlier post, in this article we are focusing on the International Finance Corporation ( IFC ), the private sector pillar of the WBG. For the first time in the history of the World Bank Group the IFC was the pillar with the biggest budget, financing for more than $22 billion in fiscal year 2014.
The IFC provides financial support through loans and equity financing to its clients and additionally provide advice to unlock private sector investment. For a project to be eligible for IFC support a number of criteria must be met. The project must be located in a developing country that is a member of the IFC, active in the private sector, be technically sound, have good prospects of being profitable, benefit the local economy and satisfy environmental and social standards.
The Country Partnership Framework (CPF)
In one of our factsheets posted on this blog we explain the project
cycle, this post will dive deeper into what the Country Assistance Strategy is and what it means for you. The project cycle starts with the formulation of a Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) or Country Partnership Strategy (CPS). This CAS / CPS provides a comprehensive diagnosis of the challenges of project development and identifies the areas the World Bank can have the biggest impact on poverty reduction.
In 2013 a new World Bank Group Corporate Strategy was announced. This lead to the establishment of Global Practices and Cross-Cutting Solution Areas this past July; something we also reported on earlier. After the reorganization the CAS / CPF was replaced by a new strategic country development document, now called the Country Partnership Framework (CPF). From 2015 onwards all strategic country development documents will be created according to the new CPF format.
Like the former CAS / CPS, the CPF provides the reader with borrowing countries development objectives, that it wants to achieve with the help of the World Bank. It also includes a result chain of how these objectives will contribute to the Bank’s twin goals of reducing absolute poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Additionally, the CPF focuses on specific sectors where the Bank plans to identify broader objectives.
The CPF will be based on a Systemic Country Diagnostic (SCD) document, which contains data that provides analysis and grounding for determining the opportunities and constraints in a country. The SCD together with the local government’s national development plan will be used to initiate a discussion about priority areas and where the Bank’s added value could be utilized.
The CPF is drafted by the World Bank country team residing in Washington DC, in cooperation with the regional or country office. Hereafter it must be signed off by the Regional Vice President and the Managing Director and will then be sent to the Bank’s Board of Directors for discussion and approval.
During the process of gathering data for the SCD and drafting the CPF the Bank often consults with the various stakeholders, including the private sector, civil society and possible other institutions like for example the foreign embassies. Although it is not expected that the World Bank actively engages with a lot of companies in the process of drafting a CPF, overall visions of these companies on the potential development of the borrowing countries can be taken in account.
In conclusion, the CPF is a strategic vision document which outlines the Bank’s strategy concerning activities with the borrowing countries. It will identify certain key sectors that are critical for the borrowing country’s development. As the CPF is sometimes subject to stakeholder consultations and external input, it would beneficial for a company to be involved in the process. Either way examining the CPF closely will give the company a good idea of the future direction of the WBG in the country.
Going local: a mission to Senegal and Ghana
By Daan Marks, advisor to the Dutch Executive Director at the World Bank
Traveling always makes me reflect on my life and 
surroundings. When I travel to Belgium (which is not too often), I realize that the Dutch transportation system is actually pretty good. Now that I live in the US, I have come to realize how efficient the Dutch public sector actually is. Last September I traveled to Senegal and Ghana and it made me realize how privileged I am to have a toilet. It is just a different dimension. The face of extreme poverty, and inequality, is obviously confronting. It is also frustrating to see that mismanagement and corruption put a halt on much needed social and economic development.
The economic perspective
Recent GDP figures show that the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa are generally on the rise (or ‘Africa rising’, as some have dubbed it). I think this picture is somewhat misleading. Given the very low starting point and rampant population growth, African countries need these high growth rates to raise living standards above subsistence levels, while absorbing the growing labor force. My guess is that GDP per capita growth is much less impressive, and that figures on GDP per worker do not show significant productivity growth. Simultaneously, the challenges remain immense: poverty figures are still shockingly high in many countries, the outbreak of Ebola shows the lack of capacity in the poorest countries, conflict and fragility continue to hamper economic development in Mali, Central African Republic and South Sudan and uneven growth and therefore rising inequality are leading to increased social instability.
Netherlands for the World Bank 
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