Invigorating Africa’s climate resilient ocean economies

­_bo_5646_0.jpgWe are all too aware that difficult times lie ahead for coastal communities

Coastal erosion, especially in West Africa, has already displaced communities, with economic losses costing about 2.3% of GDP in Togo alone. In the past 60 years, sea temperatures in the Western Indian Ocean increased 0.6 C, triggering mass coral bleaching and deadly climate-related disasters across the region. The economic cost of the 1998 coral bleaching event to Zanzibar and Mombasa was in the tens of millions of dollars. The natural cost is still unknown.

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How can we help smallholder farmers seize opportunities in Africa?

World Bank Blog coffeeuganda

Agriculture is at the heart of addressing poverty in Africa. I was reminded of that during my recent trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where different stakeholders had gathered to explore how to transform smallholder agriculture for growth. The recent End Poverty Day activities in Africa, which focused largely on agriculture, was also a reminder of how central the sector is to ending poverty and boosting prosperity. Indeed, the different stakeholders I work with on a daily basis—which includes African governments, development partners, civil societies, the private sector and farmers—all agree: Agriculture is important to the future of Africa.

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eC2: Impact Evaluation WASH and Cash Transfer in Niger

Deadline: 04-Jan-2017 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

The World Bank is seeking a firm to prepare and undertake baseline data collection for awater long-term impact evaluation survey in Niger. The survey is a large-scale and complex survey. The sample will include approximately 3,500 households. The instruments will include a household survey that will be provided by the World Bank team and will include anthropometrics measurement of children under 5 years of age and water quality testing.
Baseline data is expected to be collected in approximately 150 villages in Dosso, Maradi, Zinder, Tillaberi and Tahoua. The data collection is expected to take place in late February/ early March 2017.

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eC2: Study on Payment Infrastructure in East Africa

Deadline: 09-Dec-2016 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

Cross-border payments in East Africa comprise a significant and growing part of regional banknotes_640GDP. Agriculture related cross-border transactions alone surpass 60 million transactions and USD 900 million in the region annually. USAID estimates that 95% these transactions are made through the physical exchange of cash. The total size of the informal payments sector in the region remains unknown. However, the types of solutions available for cross-border transactions are becoming more varied. Person to Person (P2P) remittances through digital financial services already account for USD 1.3 billion per year within East Africa.

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Enhancing the Climate Resilience of Africa’s Infrastructure: The Roads and Bridges Sector

Africa’s future depends on its roads:Image

  • An adequate and reliable road network will be key to Africa’s economic and social development. Good-quality road connections can greatly expand access to jobs, markets, schools, and hospitals. For rural communities, in particular, a road is often an essential lifeline that links isolated villages to economic opportunities and services.
  • The low density and poor condition of the existing road infrastructure are a serious impediment to the region’s growth. Currently, only 1/3 of rural inhabitants live within two kilometers of an all-season road–the lowest accessibility in the developing world. Moreover, insufficient funding of routine maintenance accelerates the deterioration of the network, leaving many roads in poor condition.
  • As part of a broader effort to expand and upgrade its transport network, Africa will see substantial investment in road infrastructure over the next decades. When combining both regional initiatives and country-level masterplans, capital investment in the road sector will average about $4.6 billion a year, for a total of $78 billion through 2030.

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Africa Climate Business Plan: Delivering on Climate Plan Promises

STORY HIGHLIGHTSoriginal

  • A new progress report shows Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria and several other African countries are successfully implementing climate resilience and low-carbon development recommendations outlined in the World Bank’s Africa Climate Business Plan
  • The plan, unveiled during the COP21 climate change conference in Paris, provides concrete actions to help African countries adapt to climate change and build up resilience to climate shocks
  • As of Nov 7, 2016, 19 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have ratified the Paris Agreement for carbon offsetting, and $3.6 billion from the International Development Association has been mobilized to help further the plan’s implementation

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eC2: Scaling Solar – Technical, Environmental and Social Consultant

Deadline: 30-Oct-2016 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

IFC has been retained as lead transaction advisor by Ethiopian Electric Power to procure scaling+solar+main+bannerthe development, construction and operation and maintenance of up to 500MW of utility scale solar PV projects on a PPP basis under the Scaling Solar Program (the Project).

As such, IFC is procuring a technical, environmental and social consulting firm to advise on the Project. The assignment will be split in to several phases and is expected to include:

Evaluation of a shortlist of potential sites; review of grid code and development of the PPA technical limits schedule; detailed site studies for selected sites, including ground investigations, grid integration studies and E&S scoping; and support to the tender process (e.g. tailoring of the technical and E&S content in the template transaction documents, prequalification evaluation, responding to bidders clarifications, bid evaluation, negotiation support).

Use of a local partner for ground investigations and local E&S expertise is recommended.

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Partners Launch Framework to Accelerate Universal Health Coverage in Africa; World Bank and Global Fund Commit $24 Billion

Press Release; 26 August, 2016

African Heads of State and Partners Mobilize around Plans for Universal Health Coverage to medical-appointment-doctor-healthcare-clinic-health-hospital-medicine[7]Achieve 2030 Sustainable Development Goals

NAIROBI, Kenya, August 26, 2016—Today at the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-VI), African heads of state and partners vowed to accelerate progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) in Africa. To help countries implement their health reforms, the World Bank and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (Global Fund) committed to invest $24 billion in Africa over the next three to five years.

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eC2: Options Analysis for WASH PPP in Tanzania

Deadline: 28-Aug-2016 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

The objective of the assignment and anticipated outputs is to support the MoW in public-Private-Partnershipexamining Public Private Partnership (PPP) options for improving provision of water supply and sanitation services for the larger urban areas, as well as looking at the potential projects that have already been the subject of studies in Tanzania, both as set out below:

Priority Urban Areas
1. Regional Towns -Arusha, Singida and Dar es Salaam
2. District Towns -Kisarawe, Mkuranga and Namtumbo
3. National Project for PPP- HTM, Wangingombe, Makonde and Mugango Kiabakari

Potential Projects
1. Handeni Trank Main (HTM) Development of Business Case Options and Analysis of Involvement of Private Sector Xs-Axis Consulting GmBH
2. Detailed design and Tender documents for Kisarawe, Mkuranga, Namtumbo, Mugango Kiabakari and Wangingombe National Project.
3. Feasibility Studies Report for Makonde and HTM National Project

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