The World Bank Report No: ISR9740 Implementation Status & Results Africa Central African Backbone - APL1A (P108368) Public Disclosure Copy Operation Name: Central African Backbone - APL1A (P108368) Project Stage: Implementation Seq.No: 7 Status: ARCHIVED Archive Date: 23-Mar-2013 Country: Africa Approval FY: 2010 Product Line: IBRD/IDA Region: AFRICA Lending Instrument: Adaptable Program Loan Implementing Agency(ies): Key Dates Board Approval Date 24-Sep-2009 Original Closing Date 15-Mar-2016 Planned Mid Term Review Date 07-Mar-2013 Last Archived ISR Date 31-Jan-2013 Effectiveness Date 12-Feb-2010 Revised Closing Date 15-Mar-2016 Actual Mid Term Review Date 30-Apr-2013 Project Development Objectives Project Development Objective (from Project Appraisal Document) The development objective of the Central African Backbone Program is to contribute to increase the geographical reach and usage of regional broadband network services and reduce their prices. Has the Project Development Objective been changed since Board Approval of the Project? Yes No Component(s) Component Name Component Cost Chad - Component 1 # Enabling environment 7.40 Chad - Component 2 # Project management capability 1.60 CAR - Component 1 # Enabling environment 5.70 CAR - Component 2 # Project management capability 1.60 Cameroon - Component 1 # Enabling environment 6.90 Cameroon - Component 2 # eGovernment and flagship ICT applications 1.20 Public Disclosure Copy Cameroon - Component 3 # Project management 1.80 Overall Ratings Previous Rating Current Rating Progress towards achievement of PDO Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory Overall Risk Rating Implementation Status Overview Page 1 of 6 The World Bank Report No: ISR9740 This ISR is being filed to update the performance ratings of the project, based on a reassessment of progress in the three participating countries (Cameroon, CAR and Chad). Cameroon: The disbursement rate is 30% as of February 26, 2013. The expected disbursement rate by the end of June 2013 is 35%. The disbursement rate is expected to accelerate within the coming months with the delivery of large contracts ($1.3 m. or 17.6% of the total project amount) including the purchase of frequency management equipment Public Disclosure Copy (final comments on the bidding documents were sent by the Bank on September 9, 2012). The procurement process of this item has been stalled since December 2012, due to major institutional change in public procurement in Cameroon: creation of the Ministry of Public Procurement. This new arrangement was assessed by the Bank, which recommended that all projects approved prior to the creation of this new Ministry should retain their original procurement arrangements. This agreement took time to materialize and delayed ongoing procurement processes. Regarding CAMTEL, the Government has still not made any final decision on the option to be selected for the restructuring of the incumbent operator: one option proposes the structural separation of the incumbent, the other one proposes a functional separation within CAMTEL. On February 12, 2013, the Government, supported by CAB APL1A, organized a workshop to discuss and validate the conclusions and recommendations of the PPIAF funded study on Digital Switch Over (DSO) in Cameroon. At the end of this seminar, it was agreed that CAB APL1A will finance a pilot project to implement one of the recommendations of the study. This issue will be discussed during the Mid Term Review and may be part of the restructuring of the project. Central African Republic (CAR): the disbursement rate is 55% as of February 26, 2013. Disbursement will soon increase with the delivery of the frequency management equipment ($1.1 m.). Project management has improved with the constant involvement of the implementing agency and the regular use of the Africa Procurement Cycle Tracking System (PROCYS). In terms of results, the Government of CAR launched in early February the recruitment of the consultant for the strategic repositioning of SOCATEL, which will be funded under the CAB Project. This was made possible through high-quality, constant policy dialogue with GoCAR and SOCATEL’s new management team. In addition, a new ICT law (developed with support from CAB APL1A) should be submitted promptly to Parliament. This has been delayed the recent political crisis (December 2012/January 2013). Chad: The disbursement rate is 26% as of February 26, 2013. The expected disbursement rate for end of July 2013 is 50%. An individual international consultant has been recruited to support the PIU. However, project restructuring options probably will need to be considered at the upcoming mid-term review to simplify the project, make implementation arrangements more effective, and adopt initiatives to fill institutional and technical capacity gaps. A Presidential Decree dated January 21, 2013 (#059/PR/PM/MPNTI/2013) restored exclusivity on the management of international gateways (incoming and outgoing traffic) to SOTELCHAD, the incumbent operator. This is inconsistent with one of the basic overarching goals of the CAB APL program, namely to "remove monopoly regimes through policy and regulatory support to ensure that once in place, the infrastructure is accessible to all operators on open, transparent and nondiscriminatory terms". The impact of this on the viability of the CAB1A project in Chad will be a major issue for the mid-term review. Upcoming Mid Term Review: MTRs will be conducted in the three CAB countries in the first half of May 2013. During MTR, the Bank will discuss Project scope and re-alignment of PDO with new country priorities. Locations No Location data has been entered Results Public Disclosure Copy Project Development Objective Indicators Indicator Name Core Unit of Measure Baseline Current End Target Chad International Internet/Communications Number Value 18.58 9.06 50.00 Bandwidth (bits per person) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Chad Internet users per 100 inhabitants Percentage Value 0.60 7.07 1.40 Date 31-Dec-2007 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Page 2 of 6 The World Bank Report No: ISR9740 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Chad Average monthly price of wholesale Number Value 7000.00 3600.00 2000.00 Public Disclosure Copy international capacity link from N'Djamena to Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 European Hub (E1) in $ Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 CAR International Internet/Communications Number Value 0.37 2.38 3.00 bandwidth (bits per person) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 CAR Internet users per 100 inhabitants Percentage Value 0.30 5.50 1.60 Date 31-Dec-2006 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 CAR Average monthly price of whol;esale Number Value 7000.00 15000.00 2500.00 international capacity link from Bangui to Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 European hub (E1) in $ Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Cameroon International Internet/ Number Value 10.95 30.00 80.00 communications bandwidth (bits per person) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Cameroon Internet users per 100 inhabitants Percentage Value 2.00 5.00 4.50 Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Cameroon Average monthly price of wholesale Amount(USD) Value 6000.00 6000.00 1200.00 international capacity link from Yaounde to Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Public Disclosure Copy European Hub (E1) Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Intermediate Results Indicators Page 3 of 6 The World Bank Report No: ISR9740 Indicator Name Core Unit of Measure Baseline Current End Target Chad Average cost of mobile call in $ (per 3 Number Value 1.05 0.20 0.85 min local peak) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Public Disclosure Copy Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Chad Average monthly price of 256 kbps Number Value 530.00 450.00 80.00 broadband connection ($) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Chad Coverage of mobile networks (percent of Percentage Value 24.00 38.03 50.00 population) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 CAR Average cost of mobile call (3 minutes Number Value 0.57 0.45 0.49 local peak) ($) Date 31-Dec-2006 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 CAR Average monthly price of 256 kbps Number Value 425.00 250.00 100.00 broadband connection ($) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 CAR Coverage of mobile networks (percent of Percentage Value 19.30 55.00 47.50 population) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Cameroon Average monthly price of 256 kbps Number Value 165.00 107.00 50.00 broadband connection ($) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the Public Disclosure Copy client on January 16th, 2013 Cameroon Coverage of mobile networks Percentage Value 35.00 35.00 70.00 (percent of population) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Page 4 of 6 The World Bank Report No: ISR9740 Cameroon Number of Internet servers Number Value 1100.00 14000.00 200000.00 registered under the Country Top-Level Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Domain (ccTLD) Comments Information received from the Public Disclosure Copy client on January 16th, 2013 Cameroon Average cost of mobile call (1 Number Value 306.00 100.00 102.00 minute local peak) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Data on Financial Performance (as of 07-Mar-2013) Financial Agreement(s) Key Dates Project Ln/Cr/Tf Status Approval Date Signing Date Effectiveness Date Original Closing Date Revised Closing Date P108368 IDA-46470 Effective 24-Sep-2009 29-Jan-2010 20-Apr-2010 15-Mar-2016 15-Mar-2016 P108368 IDA-H5150 Effective 24-Sep-2009 11-Dec-2009 12-Feb-2010 15-Mar-2016 15-Mar-2016 P108368 IDA-H5160 Effective 24-Sep-2009 22-Jan-2010 27-Jul-2010 15-Mar-2016 15-Mar-2016 Disbursements (in Millions) Project Ln/Cr/Tf Status Currency Original Revised Cancelled Disbursed Undisbursed % Disbursed P108368 IDA-46470 Effective XDR 6.40 6.40 0.00 1.98 4.42 31.00 P108368 IDA-H5150 Effective XDR 4.80 4.80 0.00 2.66 2.14 55.00 P108368 IDA-H5160 Effective XDR 5.80 5.80 0.00 1.67 4.13 29.00 Disbursement Graph Public Disclosure Copy Page 5 of 6 The World Bank Report No: ISR9740 Public Disclosure Copy Key Decisions Regarding Implementation Cameroon: The Government will send an official request to include the Digital Switch Over activity in the CAB APL1A project. The team will take the opportunity of the upcoming MTR (April/May 2013) to restructure the project accordingly. CAR: The Consultant for the strategic repositioning of SOCATEL should be recruited by the end of March 2013. Chad: Chad will finalize the recruitment of the international consultants to (i) provide operational support to PCU; and (ii) provide policy and regulatory advice to the Government. Moreover the replacement of the fiduciary team within the PCU should be finalized by May 2013. The Mid Term Review will be an opportunity to review the overall implementation of the project, and potentially recommend a restructuring of this operation. The dates for the MTR will be finalized by end of March 2013. Restructuring History There has been no restructuring to date. Related Projects Public Disclosure Copy There are no related projects. Page 6 of 6