The World Bank Improving Youth Employability Through Informal Apprenticeship (P167681) REPORT NO.: RES60074 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF IMPROVING YOUTH EMPLOYABILITY THROUGH INFORMAL APPRENTICESHIP APPROVED ON NOVEMBER 21, 2018 TO THE REPUBLIC OF SENEGAL SOCIAL PROTECTION & JOBS GLOBAL PRACTICE WESTERN AND CENTRAL AFRICA REGION Regional Vice President: Ousmane Diagana Country Director: Keiko Miwa Regional Director: Trina S. Haque Practice Manager/Manager: Christian Bodewig Task Team Leader(s): Friederike Uta Rother The World Bank Improving Youth Employability Through Informal Apprenticeship (P167681) ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS GRM Grievance Redress Mechanism IP Implementation Progress MA Master Artisans MIS Monitoring Information System PEJA Youth Employability through Informal Apprenticeship Project PDO Project Development Objective VAE Validation of experience based skill Validation des Acquis d’Expérience The World Bank Improving Youth Employability Through Informal Apprenticeship (P167681) BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P167681 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Not Required (C) Not Required (C) Approval Date Current Closing Date 21-Nov-2018 31-Mar-2024 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency Republic of Senegal Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The project development objectives are to strengthen the apprenticeship system and improve the employability of selected apprentices. OPS_TABLE_PDO_CURRENTPDO Summary Status of Financing (US$, Millions) Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IDA-63470 21-Nov-2018 17-Dec-2018 09-Apr-2019 31-Mar-2024 53.00 24.12 26.33 Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No The World Bank Improving Youth Employability Through Informal Apprenticeship (P167681) I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING A. Project status 1. This restructuring paper seeks the Regional Vice President’s decision for the extension of the closing date of the Senegal Improving Youth Employability through Informal Apprenticeship Project (PEJA) from March 31, 2024 to June 30, 2024. This is the first extension of the PEJA project. The Government of the Republic of Senegal has requested this first extension on 26 February, 2024 to be able to complete implementation and achieve the development objectives of the project. 2. PEJA was approved on November 21, 2018, in the amount of EUR 45.8 million (US$53 million equivalent) and became effective on April 9, 2019. The project currently has a 48 percent disbursement rate. Overall Implementation Progress (IP) and Progress toward the achievement of the Project Development Objective (PDO) are currently rated as Moderately Unsatisfactory for several reasons, The project suffered from start-up delays, which were discussed during the March 2022 mid-term review and for which remedial measures were agreed. However, the project has also faced several other challenges, including (i) procurement delays of up to 12 months; (ii) institutional coordination issues to prepare the launch of the certification process for informal sector workers; and (iii) co-funding bottlenecks from various government entities leading to delays in implementation of the training. 3. However, the project has recently made significant progress in implementation and disbursement. The project increased its disbursement rate from 32 percent in June 2023 to 48 percent in March 2024 and has a plan in place to increase disbursement even more (particularly linked to the purchase of equipment). The total committed amount is US$10,1 million: The committed amount for the equipment amounts to US$3,7 million; the committed cash-transfers to beneficiaries are US$3,5 million; the costs committed for the certification process amount to US$1,2 million; the allocated amounts for the E-Jang platform and the impact evaluation are US$0,9 million; and US$0,8 million have been committed to training. Since September 2023, more than 5,000 beneficiaries (Master Artisans -MA and apprentices) have been selected to participate in the skills verification process, of which 35 percent are women. In addition, the following number of apprentices have completed or are in the process of completing training: (a) 12,345 apprentices in literacy; (b) 11,632 in socio-emotional skills; and (c) 13,374 in management/entrepreneurship. Finally, the project has delivered equipment to more than 3,500 of the 8,000 targeted workshops and developed a functioning Management Information System (MIS) and Grievance and Redress Mechanism (GRM). 4. The project has undergone two previous restructurings. The first restructuring (July 2020) included a new activity under component 2 to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on informal workshops through the provision of CFA 150,000 (US$ 260 equivalent) and the provision of sanitary kits. The second restructuring (May 2023) aimed at addressing institutional constraints under the parent project. Specifically, it realigned institutional arrangements within the existing implementation structure to clarify roles and responsibilities and strengthen decision making. It also expanded the target age of the beneficiaries from 15-25 to 15-30 years of age. 5. Progress to date can be summarized as follows: (a) Component 1 “Strengthening the system of informal apprenticeship”: (i) All 12 of the integrated competency-based training programs with relevant guides for MAs and apprentices have been produced or revised; (ii) a national framework for certifying competencies acquired through informal training was approved; (iii) the e-learning platform “E-Jang” to enhance self-learning of apprentices has been finalized, is in use by beneficiaries and being prepared for public launch; (iv) the capacity of 10 key ministry staff to manage the E-Jang platform (content update, monitoring and reporting, analysis etc.) was strengthened with the support from a Bank-executed trust fund; (v) the capacity of relevant public agencies was built; and (vi) the certification process is being implemented for both informal sector workers and MAs and The World Bank Improving Youth Employability Through Informal Apprenticeship (P167681) being brought to scale. Regarding the certification process: (i) 811 youths have completed their certification, while about 4,000 youths have begun their certification process for informal sector workers; (ii) 475 MAs participated in the exams for the validation of experienced-based skills (Validation des Acquis d’Expérience- VAE), while the process has been launched for another 3,200 MAs (currently awaiting their participation in the VAE). Delays in certification are due to challenges in securing and deploying the required human and financial resources by the ministry for the implementation at scale of the VAE of MAs and the certification process of informal sector workers, (i.e., to certify all 5,000 MAs and 15,000 apprentices). Finally, delays in procuring the materials for the exams further delayed implementation and disbursement. (b) Component 2 “Improve the quality of apprentices’ skills formation process”: (i) approximately 6,715 MAs were trained in entrepreneurship, business skills and socio-emotional skills training against an overall target of 8,000 and 6,116 in pedagogy against a target of 3,500; (ii) 4,000 received their equipment, while 2,000 have made their orders or are in the process of making their orders (totaling 6,000 against a target of 8,000); and (iii) 19,699 apprentices were enrolled in the project of which approximately 14,360 were trained in entrepreneurship, with nearly half (7,946) receiving their financial entrepreneurship support (seed funding). The remaining apprentices are currently in the process of receiving their entrepreneurship support. In addition, literacy training was provided to 12,033 of the total number of registered youths. (c) Component 3 “Project management” has supported the: (i) hiring of fiduciary staff; (ii) strengthening of monitoring and evaluation capacity, including the hiring of a database management specialist, and initiation of impact evaluation work; and (iii) putting in place a functional GRM and MIS. However, inter- and intra-ministerial collaboration has remained challenging throughout the lifetime of the project, which has (among other things) led to delays in hiring the internal auditor. Procurement performance has continued to see challenges in terms of contract preparation, contract management, documentation, and contract tracing/monitoring through the Systematic Tracking of Exchanges in Procurement so that key activities such as hiring of impact evaluation firm, payment of cash-transfers, submissions of Disbursement Request Forms (DRF) have suffered from delays. 6. There are no outstanding audits, and interim financial reports have been accepted. The audits have been found acceptable without any qualifications from the auditors. B. Rationale for restructuring 7. The project has recently faced challenges which prevent it from undertaking its full set of planned activities by its closing date. Those include particularly: (i) delays in the delivery of equipment due to the geopolitical crisis in the Red Sea; (ii) inefficiencies in coordination of the certification process that is handled by the Directorate of Professional Exams, Entrances and Certifications (Direction des Examens et Concours Professionels et de la Certification) and the Apprenticeship Directorate (Direction de l’Apprentissage-DA), as well as other government entities; (ii) lack of adequate financial budgeting and resource allocations to ensure the implementation of the certification process at scale; and (iii) delays in preparation, procurement, and orders for equipment taking more than 20 months. 8. The extension to June 2024 not only responds to the government request but it will also ensure orderly closure of the project and increase the likelihood that the project performance will be improved. Specifically, the extension will allow the project to (i) increase the number of apprentices in the informal sector being certified – the most transformational aspect of the project, assisting the most vulnerable youths to transition into more productive jobs in the long-term which in turn also increases the share of apprentices who participate in the various kind of trainings (literacy, socio emotional, management); (ii) achieve the target of 5,000 MAs in the informal sector receiving the VAE; (iii) increase the number of apprentices receiving the first cash grant which is provided once they finish their training and which is The World Bank Improving Youth Employability Through Informal Apprenticeship (P167681) intended to support them launch their own business, and increase the number of those receiving the second cash grant once they have been certified. These grants are essential to ensure the project has lasting impacts improving the productivity and employability of vulnerable youths. Finally, the extension will allow time for the delivery of the equipment ordered by the MAs to improve productivity in their workshops and allow them to train their apprentices. The latter represents a large share of the project disbursements. To date 6,000 MAs have ordered workshop equipment. An estimated 4,000 will receive their equipment by March 31, 2024, while an estimated 2,000 shipments are currently delayed due to the geopolitical crisis/shipments through the Red Sea. Finally, the final results and corrective measures will constitute a value added and be capitalized in the perspective of a new jobs project. 9. The above-mentioned rationale for project extension will likely lead to an overall increase in performance and an upgrade of the IP and achievement of the PDO to Moderately Satisfactory by the revised closing date. 10. The performance of the PIU, particularly since the last supervision mission, has significantly improved. The performance of the PIU since November 2023 shows that the action plan discussed during that mission has been largely followed. This is evident by the increase in number of beneficiaries in the process of being certified, and the pipeline of beneficiaries and the fact that nearly 2000 equipment orders were processed in that timeline. This reveals their ability to be able to adequately scale up activities even further with a three-month extension and achieve the PDO in its essence. These factors would improve project management rating to Moderately Satisfactory in the next ISR. 11. A series of actions have been agreed with the PIU to ensure the project will continue on its positive trajectory. (i) for the certification process the project will work on two parallel streams: One is to create a one stop shop which assembles all the different decision-making parties in one place. This will speed up the verification process and allow applications to move faster. In addition, the project will have greater involvement of the chambers of commerce (CoC) facilitating a more decentralized approach to certification. The CoC reach out to beneficiaries and MAs to facilitate and organize the certification itself. The CoC will also sit as part of the jury members; (ii) streamline the quality verification of the equipment delivery by following the update simplified procedure in the Program Operations Manual; and (iii) proactive and advanced data verification of beneficiary data to ensure that the cash grants to apprentices can be rolled out in a more efficient manner. II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES 12. The proposed change involves extension of the closing date. The closing date will be extended from March 31, 2024 to June 30, 2024 to allow sufficient time for the satisfactory completion of the project. III. SUMMARY OF CHANGES Changed Not Changed Loan Closing Date(s) ✔ The World Bank Improving Youth Employability Through Informal Apprenticeship (P167681) Implementing Agency ✔ DDO Status ✔ Project's Development Objectives ✔ Results Framework ✔ Components and Cost ✔ Cancellations Proposed ✔ Reallocation between Disbursement Categories ✔ Disbursements Arrangements ✔ Disbursement Estimates ✔ Overall Risk Rating ✔ Safeguard Policies Triggered ✔ EA category ✔ Legal Covenants ✔ Institutional Arrangements ✔ Financial Management ✔ Procurement ✔ Implementation Schedule ✔ Other Change(s) ✔ Economic and Financial Analysis ✔ Technical Analysis ✔ Social Analysis ✔ Environmental Analysis ✔ IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_LOANCLOSING_TABLE LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) Original Revised Proposed Proposed Deadline Ln/Cr/Tf Status Closing Closing(s) Closing for Withdrawal Applications IDA-63470 Effective 31-Mar-2024 30-Jun-2024 30-Oct-2024 The World Bank Improving Youth Employability Through Informal Apprenticeship (P167681) .