Page 1 PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) APPRAISAL STAGE Report No.: AB6231 Project Name Skills Development Support Project Region AFRICA Sector Vocational training (70%); Central government administration (30%) Project ID P118974 Borrower(s) ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA Implementing Agency Ministère des Affaires Economiques et du Développement B.P. 238 Nouakchott Mauritania Tel: (222) 525-0349 Fax: (222) 525-4617 Mr. Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Chrif M’hamed Directeur des Projets Education – Formation ( DPEF) Ministère des Affaires Economiques et du Développement (MAED) B.P. 6541 Nouakchott Mauritania Tel: (222) 525-20 63 Fax: (222) 525-15 13 Email: Chrif@dpef.mr Environment Category [ ] A [ ] B [X] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) Date PID Prepared February 18, 2011 Date of Appraisal Authorization February 25, 2011 Date of Board Approval April 26, 2011 1. Country and Sector Background 1. Mauritania’s economic growth has been relatively good in recent years, averaging 4.8 percent between 2001 and 2004, reaching 5.4 percent in 2005 and surging to 11.4 percent in 2006 due to the start of oil production. Non-oil real GDP growth increased from 4.1 percent in 2006 to 5.9 percent in 2007 before it sharply declined from 4.1 percent in 2008 to -0.9 percent in 2009 due to domestic and external shocks. Inflation is currently under control, averaging 5 percent in 2009. Agriculture contribution to growth has been low and shrinking, while the manufacturing sector has not grown substantially. The need and urgency to support Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SMEs) development and improving competitiveness led to the prioritization of private sector development in the Government’s Second Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRSP-II). The 2010 Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) “ The Foundations of Growth and Competitiveness in Mauritania ” shows that Mauritania has the potential to develop a sustainable, diversified economy outside natural resource exploitation (i.e. Page 2 service industry, fisheries, agriculture and infrastructure), but it needs to address critical constraints to growth that hamper private business development, including putting in place an adequate legal environment to boost the business climate and promote SME development and increasing the availability of skilled labor. With the 10-year Education Sector Development Program 2000-2010 (PNDSE), the education sector underwent a rapid expansion, putting Mauritania on track to reach the Education MDGs related to gender equality and primary school enrollment. The GER at the primary level increased from 82 percent in 1990/1991 to 98 percent in 2008/2009, and the primary completion rate, a key indicator for the Education for All (EFA) goals, increased from 46.9 percent in 2001/2002 to 69.4 percent in 2009/2010. Enrollment rate at the secondary level also increased by 62% (growing from 60,069 students in 1998/99 to 96,893 students in 2007/-08), with girls representing 46.1 percent of the total. The number of students at the tertiary level also increased, from 10,359 in 2001/2002 to 14,368 in 2007/2008. 2. The technical and vocational training sector is facing the following challenges in its contributions to sustained economic growth and social development: a) Low skills workforce and education level is a major constraint to productivity growth: Approximately 43.9 percent of the population has never attended school, resulting in illiteracy rate of 42 percent and scarcity of qualified labor supply for the formal sector. According to the 2006 Investment Climate Survey (ICS), one in every five firms in Mauritania reported that worker’s low skills and education were a major productivity constraint. A limited number of the larger firms, operating in technology advanced sectors, have provided in-service training but ultimately resorted to hiring foreign workers because the training did not adequately increase employees’ skills levels. b) Smaller and informal firms invest very little in job training. Low skills lead to firms with low labor productivity and a low technological base. These firms, which provide the bulk of employment (more than 85 percent), find it difficult to invest in job training due to the high costs involved relative to their low financing capacities and high risks of lack of information and inability to capture the benefits. c) Limited vocational training sector capacity: The Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) sector with 4,983 students (20 percent in private training schools) represents only 3 percent of total secondary education enrolments. In 2005, only 1,136 students graduated from the TVET sector of which 69 percent at the CAP/BEP level (two or three years after primary education or skilled worker level 2), 28 percent at the BT level (six years after primary education or technician level 3) and 3 percent at the BTS level (eight years after primary or higher technician level 4). However, 34.5 percent of unemployed workers have a secondary school degree which is a pre-requisite to enter any TVET training program in Mauritania, making the expansion of TVET capacity a necessity (CEM, 2010). d) Low quality and efficiency of the TVET sector: The student-teacher ratio in the TVET in rural areas is low compared to international standards, leading to high Page 3 training costs, while TVET schools in Nouakchott have more teachers than currently utilized. Also, skill levels provided are too low to have a strong impact on the diversification and productivity of the economy, while the high unemployment rate among young graduates at 50 percent suggests a mismatch between training programs offered and employers’ expectations. e) A growing number of out-of-school unskilled youth and unemployed. There exist about 350,000 unemployed out-of-school youth (15-25 years of age) without any employable skills in addition to the 65,000 annual school leavers. The unemployment rate among the population younger than 25 is estimated to be 53 percent (EPCV, 2004). f) Insufficiently developed short-term job insertion training and apprenticeship programs: INAP-FTP’s training fund (Fonds Autonome de Promotion de la Formation Technique et Professionnelle – FAP-FTP) , established in 2002, focuses mainly on re-training adults already employed (90 percent of the training activities financed). Training programs for unemployed youth, essentially implemented by NGOs, train only about 600 students a year. 2. Objectives The Development Objectives of the proposed operation are to improve the quality and efficiency of training institutions and create an enabling environment for a more market-driven TVET system. 3. Rationale for Bank Involvement The proposed project reflects the World Bank’s commitment to implement Mauritania’s PRSP II, particularly in support of pillar three – develop human resources and improve access to basic services and the project will contributes to objectives set out at both the international and national levels, particularly the Millennium Development Goals. In addition, the main objective of the Country Assistance Strategy is to support the Government in the implementation of the government’s poverty reduction strategy. The Bank is well placed to address the issues of quality, relevance, and institutional development, given its experience worldwide in education and in similar ongoing projects, serving as knowledge broker as well as financier. The Bank’s financial involvement as a lender of last resort provides the encouragement and example of a new partnership, leveraging other lenders and donors, complementing the decade-long priority accorded to primary, secondary education and vocational training. 4. Description The project’s total investment cost is estimated at US$17.6 million of which US$16 million will be financed by IDA, and is comprised of the following two components: Page 4 Component 1: Strengthening and diversifying Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) · Improving the quality, effectiveness and relevance of the training provided in eligible TVET institutions; and · Increasing apprenticeship and short-term training programs. Component 2: Improving the institutional environment of Technical Vocational Education Training · Enhancing the capacity of the Ministry of Employment Vocational Training and New Technologies (MEFPNT) to create a more demand-driven TVET system; and · Strengthening the capacity of the National Institute for the Promotion of Vocational and Technical training (INAP-FTP) to manage the TVET system. 5. Financing Source: ($m.) BORROWER/RECIPIENT 1.6 International Development Association (IDA) 16.0 Total 17.6 6. Implementation The project will be under the auspices of the new Ministry of State for National Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOS-E) which has the mandate to draft and implement the government’s education policies, and coordinates all other ministries involved in the education sector. The fiduciary aspects of the project will be handled by the Directorate of Education and Training Projects (DPEF – previously under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development and now under MOS-E). Implementation will be carried out by INAP-FTP under the mandate of the Ministry of Employment and Technical and Vocational Training and New Technologies (MEFPNT) and in close collaboration with the DPEF. DPEF and INAP-FTP will enter into a subsidiary agreement that spells out their respective tasks and responsibilities to ensure smooth project implementation. 7. Sustainability The project benefits from the highest political backing and sufficient financing will be provided by the Ministry of Finance. To that end, the government will share with the Bank its budget at the beginning of each fiscal year to ensure that adequate resources have been allocated. In addition, the SPIAs will encourage training institutions to not only run their trainings more efficiently but also adopt a more business-like approach that will allow them to re-invest part of their revenue into the functioning and upkeep of their training centers. As INAP-FTP becomes more effective in organizing relevant trainings that meet labor market demands, the private sector will increasingly participate in the replenishment of FAP-FTP. Increased financial participation can be easily achieved using the current set-up since employers Page 5 are already represented in equal numbers with their public sector counterparts on FAP- FTP’s Selection Committee. The willingness to increase financial support if the graduates possess skills relevant to the employers’ needs has been confirmed by employers who are already contributing to the fund. Given the harmonized approach between the different donors, 1 it is expected that those wanting to invest in the TVET sector will use the same financial mechanism, hence increasing FAP-FTP’s activities and visibility, and allowing the fund to become sustainable. 8. Lessons Learned from Past Operations in the Country/Sector To avoid implementation delays (a lesson learnt from implementation of the Higher Education Project), the project gives particular attention to an institutional framework that ensures smooth implementation and a sound coordination of the main actors. INAP-FTP serves as the coordinating body between actors involved in vocational training (MEFPNT, TVET institutions, NGOs, private sector etc.), and as a supervising entity for the TVET institutions and for the providers of apprenticeship/short-term training programs. 9. Safeguard Policies (including public consultation) Safeguard Policies Triggered by the Project Yes No Environmental Assessment ( OP / BP 4.01) [ ] [ X] Natural Habitats ( OP / BP 4.04) [ ] [ X] Pest Management ( OP 4.09 ) [ ] [ X] Indigenous Peoples ( OP / BP 4.10) [ ] [ X] Physical Cultural Resources ( OP/BP 4.11 ) [ ] [ X] Involuntary Resettlement ( OP / BP 4.12) [ ] [ X] Forests ( OP / BP 4.36) [ ] [X ] Safety of Dams ( OP / BP 4.37) [ ] [ X] Projects on International Waterways ( OP / BP 7.50) [ ] [ X] Projects in Disputed Areas ( OP / BP 7.60) * [ ] [ X] 10. List of Factual Technical Documents 1. Country Economic Memorandum : “The Foundations of Growth and Competitiveness in Mauritania” (April 2010) 2. “ Investment Climate Survey” (2006) 3. Country Status Report (CSR- 2010) 4. Technical and Vocational Training Strategy (2010) 1 BID already expressed interest to use FAP-FTP to channel resources into the TVET sub-sector * By supporting the proposed project, the Bank does not intend to prejudice the final determination of the parties' claims on the disputed areas Page 6 5. Eight Employment studies in the following sectors: Agriculture, Industry and Mine, Tourism, Civil works, Mechanic, Leather work, Administration and management, Cold Chain industry. 6. Study on Apprenticeship Organization Framework 7. Study on Jobs classification and contents. 11. Contact point Contact: Cherif Diallo Title: Sr Implementation Spec. Tel: 5353+3320 Fax: Email: Cdiallo@worldbank.org Location: Nouakchott, Mauritania (IBRD) 12. For more information contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-4500 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Email: pic@worldbank.org Web: http://www.worldbank.org/infoshop