Lesotho – Systematic Country Diagnostics published

The World Bank has recently published the Lesotho Systematic Country Diagnostic. A Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) informs each new country partnership. The diagnostic identifies the most important challenges and opportunities in a country, and serves as the basis for the World Bank’s engagement with a country.

Abstract from the World Bank Systematic Country Diagnostic for Lesotho:

Lesotho is one of the poorest and most unequal countries in the world. It is a small, mostly mountainous, and largely rural country of about 2 million people, completely surrounded by South Africa. The persistence of poverty and rising inequality are striking for an economy that grew at annual rates of 4 percent per capita over the past decade. Continue reading

Egypt – Sustainable Rural Sanitation Services Program-for-Results

In two weeks, the World Bank Board of Directors will be discussing the Egypt Sustainable Rural Sanitation Services project. This project, financed under Program-for-Results financing, is expected to be accepted by the Board and involves a total of $1.25 billion, of which $550 million is provided by the World Bank, $170 million is provided by the Government of Egypt, and $530 million is provided by other donors.

The objective of the Sustainable Rural Sanitation Services project is to strengthen institutions and policies for increasing access and improving rural sanitation services in the Governorates of Beheira, Dakahliya, and Sharkiya in Egypt.

There are three results areas under this objective: Continue reading

Tunisia Road Transport Corridors Project

The World Bank’s Board of Directors will soon be discussing the proposed Tunisia Road Transport Corridors Project. This project involves a total of $231 million, of which $200 million is provided by the World Bank.

The Project Development Objectives are (i) to reduce transportation cost and time and improve road safety on select road corridors between lagging regions in Tunisia and more developed areas and (ii) strengthen the Ministry of Equipment’s capacity in road asset management.

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Heineken & IFC collaborate to expand Rwanda’s Bralirwa Brewery

On April 22, the World Bank Board of Directors approved a $25 million IFC investment in Brasserie et Limonaderies du Rwanda Ltd. (“Bralirwa”). Bralirwa is the leading beer brewer in Rwanda with more than six beer brands and seven Coca-Cola brands, and is owned for 75% by Heineken N.V., one of the largest brewers in the world.

The IFC’s senior loan is part of a larger Bralirwainvestment of $50 million that supports the company’s capacity expansion program over the next few years.

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eConsultant2: 2030 Water Resources Group: Knowledge Exchange – South Africa

In addition to knowledge-sharing through analytical work and case studies, 2030 WRG leverages its growing network of country partners to foster in-person exchange of knowledge and ideas. In the past, this has been achieved through dedicated 2030 WRG partner days at major events such as World Water Week. Later this year, we plan to expand this via an exchange to South Africa. The intention of this event is to enhance the sharing of knowledge and building of capacity around specific thematic topics. The purpose of selecting South Africa is to learn from the countrys efforts to address municipal water losses and mine-water management, topics which come up across a number of 2030 WRG country partnerships.

See full tender here: #1100305 2030 Water Resources Group – Knowledge Exchange – South Africa

Specific objectives of the exchange are to:
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Sahel Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases

On June 11, the Board of Directors of the World Bank approved the Sahel Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases, involving a total of $121 million. These funds are split between Burkina Faso ($37 million), Mali ($37 million), Niger ($37 million), and ECOWAS ($10 million).

The goal of the project is to increase access to and use of harmonized community-level services for the prevention and treatment of malaria and selected neglected tropical diseases in targeted cross-borders areas in participating countries in the Sahel region.

These goals are to be achieved through the following three components:

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eConsultant2: Rwanda maize supply chain development (local consultant)

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World bank Group intends to implement an advisory services project in Rwanda to support Bralirwa (subsidiary of Heineken) reduce its dependence on imported raw materials by increasing the supply of maize procured from local smallholder farmers.

IFC (in cooperation with European Cooperative for Rural Development (EUCORD) who are engaged by Heineken and the NL Government at a global level under the CREATE PPP) plans to provide the following advisory services: (1) Improving the professionalism of farmer organisations; and (2) Improving the productivity of over 5,000 smallholder farmers in Eastern Rwanda. As part of the project at least ten on-farm pilots and demonstrations of low-cost water management and irrigation technology will be established.

See full tender here: # 1188809 Rwanda maize supply chain development, agricultural water and irrigation specialist

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Renewed support for infrastructure in developing countries

The Netherlands has renewed its system of financial support for major infrastructure projects in developing countries. “The building and construction of, for example, ports, irrigation systems and coastal protection are crucial to economic development and improve the lives of the population. The new DRIVE program plays an important and innovative way in this,” says Minister Ploumen for Foreign Trade and Development.

It is expected that over the coming years investments in infrastructure will increase enormously in Africa. Reports speak of a ‘boom’ more than $ 100 billion in investments annually over a long period. DRIVE stands for Development and Related Infrastructure Investment Vehicle, and is the successor of the Program for Development-related Infrastructure in Developing Countries (ORIO).

Continue reading the press release (in Dutch).

More information in English at the RVO Website.

Senegal – Urban Water and Sanitation Project

The World Bank Board of Directors has approved the Senegal Urban Water and Sanitation Project, worth a total of $70 million and benefiting 590,000 people.

The proposed Project Development Objective (PDO)Senegal-Woman-at-Well-800 is to improve access to water and sanitation services in selected urban areas in a financially sustainable manner. This goal is to be achieved through the following three components:

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Interview with Paul Polman

Inspirational speaker, great CEO and a Dutch citizen who received the second annual Holland on the Hill Heineken Award on May 15, 2015, for his entrepreneurial endeavors in both the Netherlands and the United States.

Below he answers questions about the upcoming World Paul PolmanEconomic Forum on Africa, taking place in Cape Town on 4th and 5th June.

Click here

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