The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) Program Information Document (PID) Concept Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 22-Mar-2022 | Report No: PIDC262180 Mar 21, 2022 Page 1 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Program Data OPS TABLE Country Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) Program Name Congo, Republic of P177468 Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability Does this operation Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date have an IPF component? Western and Central Africa 06-Sep-2022 30-Dec-2022 Yes Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Practice Area (Lead) Program-for-Results Ministry of Economy Ministry of Finance Governance Financing Proposed Program Development Objective(s) The Program Development Objective is to improve fiscal sustainability, expenditure management, transparency and accountability for better service delivery in selected sectors COST & FINANCING FIN_SRC_TABLE1 SUMMARY (USD Millions) Government program Cost 135.00 Total Operation Cost 100.00 Total Program Cost 85.00 IPF Component 15.00 Total Financing 100.00 Financing Gap 0.00 FINANCING (USD Millions) Total World Bank Group Financing 100.00 World Bank Lending 100.00 Mar 21, 2022 Page 2 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) Concept Review Decision The review did authorize the preparation to continue B. Introduction and Context 1. This Program Concept Note documents the context, rationale, and objectives of the Bank’s support to a new government program for strengthening the governance and Public Financial Management (PFM) in the Republic of RoC (RoC). A PFM reform strategy (2020 to 2029) has recently been elaborated to consolidate, deepen, and sustain PFM reforms in the country with a view to enable public finance efficiency and improved delivery of services. A first three- year rolling PFM action plan (2020 - 2022) was also prepared providing the implementation roadmap for priority actions in PFM. As per the Government’s request, the proposed International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) operation (US$100 million, Program-for-Results (PforR)) will support mainly the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in implementing selected components of the PFM Action Plan together with other relevant stakeholders. Country Context 2. RoC is a lower middle-income country (LMIC) dependent on fluctuating oil revenues and facing increased poverty. Located in central Africa, RoC is one of the most urbanized countries in the world, with a population of almost 5 million people. The country is highly endowed with natural resources, including natural gas and oil, and the majority of RoC (63 percent) is covered by tropical forests, with 31 percent of its surface area with abundant cultivable land. Following the oil price shock of 2014-16, government revenues slumped by about 14 percentage points of gross domestic product (GDP) between 2014 and 2017. The Congolese economy plunged into a recession, contracting on average 4.6 percent between 2015-2019. The COVID 19 crisis has exacerbated the economic downturn and negatively impacted RoC’s fiscal space due to increased pandemic related spending and negative impact of the pandemic on oil demand. RoC's real GDP per capita declined at a faster rate than that of many oil-exporting countries and neighboring countries with a few exceptions. RoC's GDP per capita is now estimated at 62 percent of its 2014 value. The decline in per capita income has led to an increase in the proportion of the population living below the international extreme poverty threshold of USD 1.90 per person per day, from 39.1 percent in 2015 to 52.5 percent in 2020. This economic outlook, compounded by governance challenges, continues to pose a threat to development and progress in many sectors, including social sectors. 3. While some social indicators improved during the past decade, the country still faces several development challenges related to human capital. During the past decade, the ROC improved some social indicators like life expectancy at birth which increased, or under-five mortality which declined. However, there are still important challenges related to human capital development, as evidenced by RoC’s Human Capital Index (HCI) of 42 – even though it is above the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) and regional average, it is lagging behind the average of LMIC (Figure 1). For several components of the HCI, ROC performs poorly as values are below the first quartile and have improved only slightly over the past decade (Figure 2). Furthermore, the country’s population is very young, with nearly two out of five people under the age of 15 and 38.1 percent of the population between the ages of 15 and 35. Public spending on education, health and social assistance has been below regional average and the average for its income group, raising concerns about the country’s capacity to improve its human capital outcomes. Mar 21, 2022 Page 3 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) Figure 1: Benchmarking Human Capital Index 2020 with Figure 2: Human Capital Index 2020 and Components: CEMAC and WAEMU countries1) RoC, Rep. 0.6 0.5 Adult Survival Rate 0.4 0.3 Not Stunted Rate 0.2 Survival to Age 5 0.1 0 Expected Years of School Chad Burkina Faso Benin Cote d'Ivoire Niger LMIC Togo CAR Senegal SSA Mali Congo, Rep Cameroon Gabon 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 2020 2010 CEMAC WAEMU Source: World Bank, Human Capital Index 2020. 1) HCIs for Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau are not available. 4. Ensuring that recovery from the pandemic reduces RoC’s fragility and sustains progress in poverty reduction will require strong efforts to pursue governance and structural reforms, build climate resilience, and diversify the economy. The Congolese economy is gradually recovering from the past years of recession. Although the economy is estimated to have contracted by 1.2 percent in 2021, Congo is expected to make a gradual recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, with GDP growth projected at 3.2 percent in 2022 and 4.5 percent in 2024. The recovery will be driven primarily by higher oil production from new oil fields and the gradual recovery of the non-oil economy spurred by the clearance of government arrears to domestic firms and resumption of public investments. Still RoC’s medium-term fiscal outlook remains fragile associated with governance and structural challenges, volatility in oil prices, climate shocks and debt related risks. On debt related risks, RoC’s overall and external debt is considered sustainable, an outcome grounded in higher oil prices, fiscal discipline, recent debt restructuring agreements with oil traders TRAFIGURA and ORION, and improved debt management. The Government also continues to actively pursue negotiations on debt restructuring with China (a second round) and oil trader Glencore. Congo however remains in debt distress due to outstanding arrears with some of its creditors. As the Government seeks to advance on its transformative agenda towards broad-based, resilient and inclusive growth, structural reform efforts supporting expenditure efficiency and resource mobilization will be of paramount importance. Sectoral (or multi-sectoral) and Institutional Context of the Program 5. Despite improvements in some areas, the PFM performance in RoC has essentially remained unchanged with several areas continuing to show weaknesses. The last Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Assessment (PEFA) undertaken in 2013/2014 highlighted weaknesses in key PFM areas (a new PEFA evaluation is underway and being finalized). As depicted in figure 3 below, compared to the 2006 evaluation, the PFM system in RoC demonstrated progress in some areas, such as improving medium-term predictability and the quality of budget preparation, public procurement arrangements and controls, contract debt management and strengthening internal and external control capacity. However, in other areas, including reliability in the revenue forecast and expenditure budgets, insufficient oversight, weaknesses in controls, lack of timeliness for preparation of fiscal reports and audit, progress has been slow. This is also the case for the areas of management and monitoring of budget implementation, administrative and financial accounting, and supervision of extra-budgetary entities. These findings were corroborated by RoC’s Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review (PEMFAR) undertaken in 2015, as well as more recent IMF reviews. These limitations adversely affect the institutional performance and delivery of services to citizens. Mar 21, 2022 Page 4 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) Figure 3: Evolution of PEFA Indicators in RoC 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 PI-01 PI-02 PI-03 PI-04 PI-05 PI-06 PI-07 PI-08 PI-09 PI-10 PI-11 PI-12 PI-13 PI-14 PI-15 PI-16 PI-17 PI-18 PI-19 PI-20 PI-21 PI-22 PI-23 PI-24 PI-25 PI-26 PI-27 PI-28 D-1 D-2 D-3 Budget credibility Transparency of Public Finance Budgeting Predictability and control of budget execution Accounting, recording of External scrutiny Donor practices based on information and financial and audit public reports policies 2006 2013 Source: PEFA Secretariat 6. Overall governance indicators in RoC remain below Sub-Saharan African countries (SSA). As shown in figure 4, the World Governance Indicators show that RoC remains below with a score of 13.5 for accountability (compared to 32.2 in SSA countries), 7.7 for the effectiveness of the government (compared to 26.4 in the SSA countries) and 6.2 for the control of corruption (compared to 31.8 in SSA countries). Weak governance has hampered economic development and undermined macro-fiscal stability in RoC. Poor management of oil revenues has led to boom and bust economic cycles, along with limited impact of investments. Thus, improving governance in all its forms is imperative to ensuring the delivery of public services and transforming the country’s economy Mar 21, 2022 Page 5 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) Figure 4: World Governance Indicators (WGI) 2020 Source: The World Bank – World Governance Indicators 7. RoC has been engaged in a process of modernizing the management of its public finances for several years . To strengthen the management of its public finances, RoC completed the process of transposing the six (6) directives of the harmonized public finance management framework of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) into its national legal framework. Key reform measures have focused on strengthening fiscal planning instruments (such as macroeconomic forecasting and the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MDTF)), public procurement, the establishment of the Court of Auditors and Budgetary Discipline, the creation of the Single Treasury Account, the fight against corruption and the transparency of extractive industries. Most recently, in accordance with the CEMAC directives the country has embarked on introducing program-based budgeting by January 1, 2023. 8. However, weaknesses in budget credibility, execution and control are major challenges that hamper government efforts to reform its PFM system. Key weaknesses remain particularly related to resource mobilization, debt management, the governance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), budget credibility, treasury management, expenditure control, contract management, and capital expenditure efficiency. These weaknesses have resulted in significant losses (from lower resource and expenditure optimization) and contributed to the creation of arrears and considerable increase in outstanding debt. Lastly, much remain to be done for the implementation of program-based budgeting, including the establishment of a regulatory and institutional framework defining roles and responsibilities of each entity, implementation of new procedures, revisions in the existing PFM system, and type of review performed by the CCDB. 9. Non-oil revenues in RoC remain low. In RoC, tax revenues as a percentage of GDP were 9.6 percent in 2014 and increased until 2016 due to the decline in nominal GDP as a result of the economic crisis, before returning in recent years to their pre-crisis value. They are below the revenue as a percentage of GDP collected by Cameroon's tax administration (figure 5). The ratio of tax revenue to GDP, which has averaged 10.2 percent of GDP over the past seven years, is well below the African Union convergence criterion of 20 percent of GDP. 1 Identified weaknesses in relation to revenue 1 Second-ranked criteria selected at the 4th Technical Committee specialized in finance, monetary affairs, economic planning and Mar 21, 2022 Page 6 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) mobilization include: (i) the excessive and discretionary use of tax exemptions that do not comply with existing laws and regulations; (ii) low tax effort resulting from weaknesses in the tax administration; (iii) low transparency and governance issues in the tax administration; (iv) the inefficiency of the tax administration in collecting indirect taxes; (v) the under- exploitation of mining and forestry taxation; and (vi) weaknesses in the collection of tax arrears from businesses. Figure 5: Tax revenue in RoC and Cameroon, 2014-2020 (% du GDP) Source: WB Calculations based on Government Data 10. RoC is one of the 15 most indebted countries in the world. Indeed, RoC's debt-to-GDP ratio more than doubled from 47.4 percent in 2014 to about 118.6 percent of GDP in 2016, after reaching another peak in 2020 of 101 percent of GDP it shows a downward trend with a projected debt-to-GDP of 58 percent by 2025 (Figure 6). Nonetheless, RoC’s public debt remains far above the average of CEMAC’s public debt (Figure 7) and debt sustainability remains highly vulnerable in particular to negative oil price shocks. The collapse in oil prices in 2014-16 and inadequacies in governance led RoC to this over-indebtedness. RoC is in a situation of over-indebtedness due to several factors, notably: (i) the management of public investment including the rapid growth of public spending; (ii) non-concessional borrowing, including oil-backed loans; (iii) the low mobilization of non-oil revenues; (iv) the inadequacy of the public finance management system; (v) gaps in governance, anti-corruption policies and debt management (including debt notification); and (vi) materialization of the conditional commitments of state-owned enterprises. 11. RoC has a large portfolio of SOEs, with more than 50 companies, largest providers of jobs in the country . RoC’s SOEs operate in strategic and social sectors important to the economy (including water, electricity, oil, telecommunications and transport). Thus, SOEs play a significant role in the Congolese economy and the governance of SOEs has considerable effect on fiscal management and service delivery. SOEs generally do not benefit from the same level of attention and control as institutions and transactions under the scope of the budget. Financial and governance related data on SOEs is fragmented, and performance is not monitored effectively. Even though a unit within the Minister of Finance exists with the responsibility to monitor financial and governance related data of SOEs, consolidated information on fiscal risks, debt and contingent liabilities for all SOEs is unknown. As a result, there is a significant need for strengthening the functions of this unit, particularly as it related to fiscal risk monitoring and performance of SOEs . A World Bank diagnosis in 2018 highlighted the need to modernize and strengthen the governance of SOEs in order to create the conditions for improving their performance and contribution to the national economy. integration 9-11 March 2020 in Ghana, African Union Mar 21, 2022 Page 7 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) Figure 6: Evolution of public debt in RoC, 2014-2025 (% Figure 7: Public Debt in CEMAC zone and RoC GDP) (% GDP) 140 120 100 % of GDP 80 60 40 20 0 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022e 2023e 2024e 2025e External debt Internal debt Source : WB Calculations based on Government Data 12. Strengthening planning and budget implementation procedures, including procurement, would assist in improving the efficiency of public spending and service delivery in RoC . Despite a budget implementation rate close to 90 percent in 2020, figure 8 shows the disparity in budgetary execution by sector with a particularly low rate in some social sectors (for example, 47 percent in the health sector). Studies show that budget execution suffers from: (1) redundant and lengthy steps in budget implementation processes; (2) use of exceptional or emergency procedures; (3) centralization of the budget enforcement authority at the Ministry of Finance and Budget and (4) weaknesses in procurement implementation. The streamlining of budget implementation procedures is still only partially operational and the computerization of the expenditure chain, which is supposed to strengthen the rationalization of engagement and control systems, is also not fully finalized due to deficiencies in accounting procedures. In addition, procurement shows weaknesses in: (i) the adequacy of the institutional framework and management capacity, with the operationalization of the entities involved in the procurement cycle (the regulatory authority, Autorité de régulation des marchés publics – ARMP, the control body, Direction générale de contrôle des marchés publics – DGCMP, and the implementing units, Cellule de gestion des marchés publics - CGMP) , (ii) public acquisition and market practices, and (iii) accountability, integrity and transparency of the procurement system. Figure 8: Budget Execution Rates in Some Sectors Source: Ministry of Finance 13. The efficiency of public investment in RoC could be improved to better target basic investments in key sectors and promote economic growth. Public investment is seen as an essential element in reviving the long-term growth of the Mar 21, 2022 Page 8 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) economy. However, the effectiveness of RoC's public investment is estimated at 0.35 (PIMA index), well below the 1.00 maximum (Figure 9). While public investment in nominal terms has grown rapidly as a percentage of GDP since 2005, the ratio of public capital stock to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has not increased at the same rate. Weaknesses in the efficiency of capital expenditure, in the preparation, selection and implementation of investment projects, result in the conversion of only a fraction of capital expenditure into productive fixed capital. This reduces the economic and social impact of investment projects. To strengthen project preparation and selection, the Center for Studies and Evaluation of Investment Projects (Centre National d’étude et d’Evaluation des Projets d’Investissement Public or CNEEPIP), was created in 2018 to assist in the preparation of evaluations and studies potential investment projects. However, the center still lacks resources, preventing a significant improvement in the quality of investment projects. Therefore, a strengthening of efficiency and the public investment process is a reform that could support saving in capital expenditure, while still promoting economic growth. Figure 9: Weaknesses in efficiency of public investment Source : FMI 14. Oversight functions are performed by a supreme audit institution and two parliamentary committees, but the court does not fully exercise its constitutional mandate. External control is carried out by the Court of Accounts and Budgetary Discipline (Cour des Comptes et de Discipline Budgétaire, CCDB) as well as by the two Economy and Finance committees of the National Assembly and the Senate. The mandate to audit public accounts had been officially instituted by the Constitution of October 25, 2015, but the organic law fixing its attributions, organization, composition as well as its functioning has not been promulgated. The absence of this organic law constitutes a major handicap to the proper functioning of the CCDB. For their part, the two Economy and Finance committees of the National Assembly and of the Senate are technical bodies of analysis and action responsible for assisting the Parliament in the exercise of its prerogatives of: representing the citizen, voting on economic and financial laws, and controlling the laws’ execution; in particular the budget laws. 15. While governance and accountability play an important role for the effectiveness of public resources and service delivery in sectors such as health, education and energy, recent assessments of the PFM system2 in RoC point to 2 Rapid evaluation of PFM bottleneck in health and education in Congo (2021) and the HD PER (2021) Mar 21, 2022 Page 9 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) weaknesses in several areas, including specific bottlenecks in health and education. PFM weaknesses identified include weak linkages between sector planning and budgeting, budget preparation and execution, transparency, and overall credibility, affecting the effectiveness of public resources and service delivery in sectors. Major PFM bottlenecks contributing to poor outcomes in the education sector include limited teacher effectiveness, inadequate infrastructure (such as classrooms, latrines, water), and lack of teaching and learning materials. Teacher management is a serious challenge for the country, including recruitment, deployment, professional development, promotion, training, and exit/retirement from the system. The quality of teachers in civil service is low, and many volunteer teachers in the system are paid by households, especially in rural areas. Teacher training systems for teachers in civil service are dysfunctional, given the dispersion of responsibilities among three ministries. Similarly, the health sector is hampered by several bottlenecks, including limited public resources for health, and weaknesses in the systems governing the flows of public funds and public procurement processes. Studies have identified weaknesses in access and management of funding by service providers (health facilities) which would require reforms in the flow of funds such that resources reach the front- line health service providers using an allocation formula to facilities, and a simplified financial management procedure regulating the use of funds. 16. To respond to identified weaknesses in PFM, the Government has recently approved a PFM Reform Strategy (2020-29) together with a rolling 3-year PFM Action Plan (2020-22). The PFM Reform Strategy (the PSRFP 2020-2029) clearly sets out the key goals and objectives of the PFM reforms and identifies the priority reform actions. The Strategy was developed by a cross-institutional team from the MoF, the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MoEP), the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) and other institutions through elaborate, broad-based consultations. The PFM Action Plan provides the implementation roadmap for some priority actions with clear institutional responsibilities among key reform components, cost-benefit analysis of sub-activities, and results indicators to monitor the successful implementation. The strategy, approved in August 2020, includes 8 strategic areas: (i) implementation of program budgeting, (ii) planning and budget preparation, (iii) budget execution, (iv) internal and external control and audit, (v) integration of information technology, (vi) strengthening domestic resource mobilization/n, (vii) debt management, and (viii) governance and transparence in the management of public resources (including in ministries and public entities). 17. The government's high-level priorities are articulated in the President of the Republic's strategic vision and delineated in the government’s program focused on economic diversification, the 2022 -2026 National Development Plan (NDP). The President’s strategic vision entitled ‘’Together, let's continue the march’’ aims to restore fiscal sustainability, diversify Congo’s economy and return to inclusive and sustainable growth. This new strategy is composed of nine axes structured in three pillars of governance, namely: 1) institutional and systemic governance; 2) attractive economic and financial governance; and 3) social and solidarity governance. The new NDP delineate the President’s strategic vision. It aims to build a strong, resilient, and diversified economy. This new PND identifies strategic priority sectors for economic diversification and cross-cutting areas, including governance, human capital and the business environment. It includes measures to pursue a rapid recovery of the country’s economy, with sustained and inclusive growth to generate higher incomes and improve welfare, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the CEMAC economic and financial reform program, and other regional programs, including the African Continental Free Trade Area (Zone de Libre-Echange Continental Africaine). 18. The new Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability Program will finance the implementation of a part of the PFM Action Plan to strengthen institutional and systematic governance. The proposed operation would support the implementation of the Government’s reform program, particularly in the area of improving governance and institutional capacity for better service delivery with an emphasis on improving public financial management and supporting fiscal sustainability. Specifically, the proposed Program for Results (PforR) would support results in the areas of: (i) increasing domestic resource mobilization, (ii) strengthening debt management, (iii) Mar 21, 2022 Page 10 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) improving SOE management, (iv) facilitating budget preparation and execution, including procurement and contract management, (v) improving the quality of expenditures particularly in public investments, (vi) strengthening oversight and audit of public finances and natural resource rents, and (viii) the pilot of key PFM reform to ensure better service delivery in key sectors such as education and health. These areas are all currently part of the Government’s program. The Program boundaries are further clarified later in this document Relationship to CAS/CPF 19. The proposed operation is consistent with the latest Country Partnership Strategy (CPF) and the new Africa West (AFW) regional strategy. The proposed operation is consistent with the first area of focus in the Bank’s CPF 2020 - 2024, as it would directly support objective 1.1: Improved efficiency and accountability in public resources management. It would also contribute to objective 2.1: Improved quality and access of the health delivery system and objective 2.2: Improved quality and equity in the education system. The proposed PforR is also consistent with the new AFW Regional Strategy as it aims to rebuild trust between citizens and the state by strengthening institutions and core government functions for effective and inclusive service delivery. In turn, this approach is fully aligned with the Governance and Institutions focus of IDA19 and the Bank’s FCV Strategy. Rationale for Bank Engagement and Choice of Financing Instrument 20. The current context provides a unique window of opportunity to strengthen RoC’s PFM institutions and systems. The World Bank has a well-recognized comparative advantage among Development Partners (DPs) in improving PFM systems, given its broad international experience. This is also a critical time to intervene in RoC, given the President’s inaugural speech, heightened prominence given to governance, the need for prudent use of resources under the current fiscal pressures, and the current level of indebtedness of the country. 21. The proposed PforR complements existing and planned Bank operations. The proposed PforR would complement the potential Development Policy Operation (DPO) program by supporting the government in the implementation of reforms, particularly in the areas of fiscal performance and sustainability, expenditure efficiency and improved transparency and accountability. The proposed PforR would also complement the ongoing Integrated Public Sector Reforms Project (P160801) by pushing the envelope through results-based financing of public sector reforms. Finally, the proposed PforR will complement ongoing operations in health (Kobikisa, P 67890) and education (P152910) by piloting key PFM reform to overcome key bottlenecks affecting the performance of those sectors. The addition of the PforR to the ongoing portfolio will augment the effect of PFM reforms in RoC. 22. A PforR Operation would make a significant contribution in strengthening governance in RoC. Firstly, it would focus attention on results which reflect genuine change to the strengthening and functioning of PFM systems developed in the past and making the relevant connections to support the service delivery outcomes through better functioning systems. Secondly, it would transform the generalized high-level support for PFM reforms into the specific actions with ownership required to achieve these results. The PforR would support a framework for monitoring and reporting that would transform the high-level support for PFM reforms into actionable drive and accountability. The Government can follow its own rules to achieve these results, ensuring that work processes are suitable for the local context. As part of the preparation, technical assessments conducted with client counterparts would help to identify key challenges and opportunities for change that could be addressed through disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs) and steps towards achieving these DLIs would be identified. 23. The Program will be complemented by a Technical Assistance (TA) or Investment Project Financing (IPF) component to support reform implementation. A TA or IPF component will support selected PFM reforms. It will ensure the provision of timely and quality technical assistance and advice as required and include the engagement of expertise Mar 21, 2022 Page 11 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) to support the government in niche areas (such as Cash Management, Commitment Control, Treasury Single Account (TSA) expertise, budgeting, and medium-term budget frameworks, etc.), as well as several discrete studies to help enhance understanding of key public resource management constraints at central or sectoral levels. The technical assistance would help the government identify relevant actions to address challenges faced as they evolve, broker solutions to collective action problems, and help ensure that reform processes are informed and adapted as implementation progresses. C. Program Development Objective(s) (PDO) and PDO Level Results Indicators Program Development Objective(s) 24. The Program Development Objective is to improve fiscal sustainability, expenditure management, transparency and accountability for better service delivery in selected sectors PDO Level Results Indicators 25. The following PDO level results indicators can be used: • Improved revenue mobilization • Enhanced SOE performance monitoring • Enhanced budget execution rates • More efficient public procurement • More transparent natural resource rent disclosures • Enhanced service delivery in selected sectors D. Program Description PforR Program Boundary 26. The proposed PforR will support parts of the government’s PFM program to make structural improvement in core functions of the State, directly improving service delivery in key targeting sectors . The PFM reform strategy, approved in August 2020, includes 8 strategic areas: (i) implementation of program budgeting, (ii) planning and budget preparation, (iii) budget execution, (iv) internal and external control and audit, (v) integration of information technology, (vi) strengthening domestic resource mobilization/n, (vii) debt management, and (viii) governance and transparence in the management of public resources (including in ministries and public entities). As part of the implementation of the 2020-2029 Strategic Plan, the Government adopted the approach of rolling three-year action plans (PAT) that will be updated and adopted annually, in two major phases: (i) a first phase to implement priority actions over the period 2020- 2022 and (ii) a second phase to consolidate improvements over the period 2023-2029. The actions adopted in the first PAT are aimed at improving the technical capacity of institutions to manage the new procedures related to budget programming according to the requirements of the LOLF. This would set the conditions for system consolidation and thus pave the way for more ambitious targets during the 2023-2029 phase. The PforR will address key identified bottlenecks in PFM that negatively affect PFM results, as well as quality in education and health. Specifically, the PforR will make significant contributions in 3 results areas: (i) managing fiscal risks, (ii) improving public finance efficiency and (iii)improving service delivery in health and education. E. Initial Environmental and Social Screening 27. The Environment and Social Specialists of the team will assess - at Program level - the government’s authority and organizational capacity to achieve environmental and social objectives against the range of environmental and social impacts that maybe associated with the program. In consequence an Environmental and Social Systems Assessment (ESSA) will be prepared that will address the consistency of the proposed program with the Core Principles relevant and applicable to this PforR operation. Mar 21, 2022 Page 12 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) . . Legal Operational Policies Triggered? Projects on International Waterways OP 7.50 No Projects in Disputed Areas OP 7.60 No Summary of Screening of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts of the IPF Component . . CONTACT POINT World Bank Name : Fabienne Mroczka Designation : Senior Public Sector Specialist Role : Team Leader(ADM Responsible) Telephone No : 5220+34560 / Email : fmroczka@worldbank.org Name : Ousmane Deme Designation : Governance Specialist Role : Team Leader Telephone No : 473-2261 Email : odeme@worldbank.org Borrower/Client/Recipient Borrower : Ministry of Economy Contact : Title : Telephone No : Email : Implementing Agencies Implementing Ministry of Finance Agency : Contact : Ludovic Ngaste Title : Ministre Delegue du Budget Telephone No : 242069999999 Email : ludovicngatse@gmail.com Mar 21, 2022 Page 13 of 14 The World Bank Supporting Resilient Governance for Better Service Delivery and Fiscal Sustainability (P177468) FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1000 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects Mar 21, 2022 Page 14 of 14