The World Bank Report No: ISR10813 Implementation Status & Results Africa Central African Backbone - APL1A (P108368) Public Disclosure Copy Operation Name: Central African Backbone - APL1A (P108368) Project Stage: Implementation Seq.No: 8 Status: ARCHIVED Archive Date: 02-Nov-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 23-Mar-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 Unsatisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Moderately Unsatisfactory Moderately Unsatisfactory Overall Risk Rating Implementation Status Overview Page 1 of 6 The World Bank Report No: ISR10813 This ISR follows the Mid-Term Review mission for Chad, CAR and Cameroon, carried out from May 6 to 27, 2013 in N'djaména (Chad) and Yaoundé (Cameroon). The team and the Governments reached the conclusions that (i) the results framework of the project needed to be amended to be consistent with the reality on the ground and in line with the current sector and competitive environment, (ii) it is necessary to conduct a rationalization of the implementation plan of the projects, and focus on only one or two technical assistance / equipment purchase that are considered a key priority to the Governments. The Bank team therefore proposes the modification of intermediate results and indicators to better Public Disclosure Copy capture the expected impact of the activities through a level 2 restructuring. Out of the three countries concerned, as of October 2, 2013, the team received restructuring requests from CAR (dated July, 17, 2013) and from Chad (dated Sept. 5, 2013). Due to legislative elections, which brought Cameroonians to polls on Monday Sept. 30, 2013, the restructuring request from Cameroon has not been transmitted to the Bank as of Oct. 2, 2013. Results Framework: during the MTR, the team reviewed all the activities that have been, and should be implemented by the 3 CAB1A projects. These activities, with the exception of the purchase of frequency equipment, are all technical assistance. Therefore, the indicators measuring the achievement of the PDO should be revised to capture the potential outcomes of these TA-type activities. Project Implementation: in view of the progress of the activities initially planned by the project, the current procurement plans, and the diagnostic carried out at the mid-term review, the mission proposed a rationalization of the sub-components of the project, and proposed to the Government to focus on only one or two technical assistance / equipment purchase that are considered a key priorities of the Governments: the purchase of equipment for the control and monitoring of the frequency spectrum (Chad), the creation of the e-waste Center (Cameroon), and the development of interconnection management capacity (CAR). As of 17-Sep-2013, the disbursement rates were about 38% for Cameroon (IDA-46470), 55% for CAR (IDA-H5150) and 35% for Chad (IDA-H5160). Streamlining the implementation of the project will enable the PCU to focus on a limited number of activities and achieve a disbursement rate from a level of 42% on average as of October 1, 2013, to greater than 50% at December 31, 2013 and (2) greater than 75% by June 30, 2014. Locations No Location data has been entered Results 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 Public Disclosure Copy Date 31-Dec-2007 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Chad Average monthly price of wholesale Number Value 7000.00 3600.00 2000.00 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 Page 2 of 6 The World Bank Report No: ISR10813 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 CAR Internet users per 100 inhabitants Percentage Value 0.30 5.50 1.60 Public Disclosure Copy 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 European Hub (E1) Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Intermediate Results Indicators 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 Comments Information received from the Public Disclosure Copy client on January 16th, 2013 Chad Average monthly price of 256 kbps Number Value 530.00 450.00 80.00 broadband connection ($) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Chad Coverage of mobile networks (percent of Percentage Value 24.00 38.03 50.00 population) Date 31-Dec-2008 01-Jul-2012 15-Mar-2016 Page 3 of 6 The World Bank Report No: ISR10813 Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 CAR Average cost of mobile call (3 minutes Number Value 0.57 0.45 0.49 Public Disclosure Copy local peak) ($) 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 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 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 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 Public Disclosure Copy Comments Information received from the client on January 16th, 2013 Data on Financial Performance (as of 17-Sep-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 Page 4 of 6 The World Bank Report No: ISR10813 Project Ln/Cr/Tf Status Approval Date Signing Date Effectiveness Date Original Closing Date Revised Closing Date P108368 IDA-H5160 Effective 24-Sep-2009 22-Jan-2010 27-Jul-2010 15-Mar-2016 15-Mar-2016 Disbursements (in Millions) Public Disclosure Copy Project Ln/Cr/Tf Status Currency Original Revised Cancelled Disbursed Undisbursed % Disbursed P108368 IDA-46470 Effective XDR 6.40 6.40 0.00 2.44 3.96 38.00 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 2.03 3.77 35.00 Disbursement Graph Key Decisions Regarding Implementation Public Disclosure Copy In view of the results of the MTR, and in view of the letters received from CAR and Chad, the Team proposes to amend the results framework of the project as it is currently not consistent with the nature of the financed activities, and the current sector competitive environment. That this would require a Level 2 restructuring. The team has agreed on a revised results framework with the clients. Based on the TA nature of the activities financed by this project, the results indicators must be revised to capture the expected outcomes of this project. The current indicators were meant to reflect improvements in telecom infrastructure or in the structure of the incumbent operators. To measure the achievement of the PDO, the Governments propose new PDO level indicators (including core sector indicators) such as the "Impact of technical assistance from the World Bank in the telecommunications sector" (Impact on telecom sector of World Bank technical assistance). This composite indicator is measured on a scale from 0 to 5, and measures the impact of CAB1A on the following three aspects: a. Make the most effective legal and regulatory framework to improve the performance of the sector (Making the Legal and Regulatory Framework Delivering more effective at sector performance) b. Improve the capacity of regulatory institutions to ensure their mandates (Improving the capacity of the Regulatory institution (s) to deliver On Their mandate (s)) c. Improve sectoral ICT environment in the country (Improving the ICT policy environment in the country) From the policy and regulatory side. In Chad, the team is engaged in a policy dialogue with authorities for the adoption of the new legal and regulatory framework and the definition Page 5 of 6 The World Bank Report No: ISR10813 and finalization of the MoU between private stakeholders (namely Tigo and Airtel) and Sotelchad for the management of international gateways and the maintenance of the existing Moundou/Ndjamena backbone network. In Cameroon, the Government will implement an Open Access Regime, through further policy dialogue. The CAB team based in the field, has been building ART’s (Agence de Régulation des Télécommunications du Cameroun) capacity to regulate wholesale prices thanks to the implementation of an important US $500,000 TA that will help ART implement regulatory tools to support Open Access. In CAR, the Government team is proposing the replacement of frequency control management Public Disclosure Copy damaged or stolen during the recent events in order to improve conditions for the interconnection of broadband networks at the regional level, and will try to help make CAR a regulatory champion and center for excellence of regional fiber optic regulatory regime. Restructuring History There has been no restructuring to date. Related Projects There are no related projects. Public Disclosure Copy Page 6 of 6