Public Works & Employment
Report No: ; Type: Report/Evaluation Memorandum ; Country: Burkina Faso; Region: Africa; Sector: Labor Markets & Employment; Major Sector: Social
                                                        Protection; ProjectID: P000300


          The Burkina Faso Public Works and Employment Project, supported by Credit 2282-BUR in the
 amount of US$20 million was approved in FY91. The Credit was fully disbursed and closed in FY96, one
 year later than planned. It was modeled on the successful approach started earlier in Senegal by AGETIP
 (Agence d’Exécution des Travaux d’Intérêt Public contre le Sous-Emploi-Public Works for Employment
 Executing Agency). Although not detailed at appraisal, substantial parallel co-financing was provided
 during project implementation, among others by Germany’s KfW and France’s CFD. Also, construction
 management of other Bank projects was delegated to the project implementation agency. The Africa
 Regional Office prepared the Implementation Completion Report (ICR). The borrower prepared a
 completion report, although this is not been appended to the ICR.
          The project's major objective was to reduce under-employment through the financing of small,
 urban, labor-intensive works. These were to be executed under a system of delegated contract
 management to be implemented by local enterprises and consulting firms. The project assisted the latter
 through training and the establishment of efficient payment and management procedures. In addition, the
 feasibility of labor intensive projects would be tested and government public work procedures reviewed.

          There were substantial implementation delays, reflecting an unrealistic initial implementation
 schedule and because of a 14 month delay in appointing a new project director during the third year of the
 project. Nevertheless the project attained its objectives. In fact the number of jobs created and contracts
 awarded were higher than estimated at appraisal. The project mainly financed rehabilitation and
 construction of small buildings (60 percent), drains (17 percent) and road upgrading (13 percent) in the
 urban areas of Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso. A project-financed study resulted in improvements in
 public procurement procedures and practices. However, there were also weaknesses, notably in quality
 control and community participation.

          The Operations Evaluation Department (OED) rates the project outcome as satisfactory rather
 than the highly satisfactory in the ICR given the documented weaknesses and the major impact on the
 project caused by the management hiatus. OED agrees with the sustainability rating of uncertain, given
 the unproven capacity of municipalities to maintain the works executed under the project. In recognition
 of the creation of a new, well managed implementation agency, a new system of delegated contract
 management, improved government procurement procedures, OED rates institutional development impact
 as substantial rather than modest in the ICR. Bank performance was satisfactory.

          The key lessons from this project confirm those learned from other AGETIP projects, namely: (i)
 that private agencies can efficiently and quickly, and without expatriate technical assistance, execute
 public works; (ii) that such agencies cannot, and should not, be responsible for sector policy; and (iii) that
 grassroots participation is essential to ensure sustainability.

         The ICR is unsatisfactory. The Borrower contribution is not included, neither is the ICR mission's
 aide memoire. There is no economic analysis and only limited analysis of the project’s development
 impact on the beneficiaries. No audit is planned by OED.