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




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         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




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         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.




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          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.


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         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




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           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

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         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

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                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

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          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)

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         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)


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         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


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         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




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