The World Bank Report No: ISR6715 Implementation Status & Results Africa Central African Backbone - APL4 - Gabon (P122776) Public Disclosure Copy Operation Name: Central African Backbone - APL4 - Gabon (P122776) Project Stage: Implementation Seq.No: 1 Status: ARCHIVED Archive Date: 16-Oct-2012 Country: Africa Approval FY: 2012 Product Line: IBRD/IDA Region: AFRICA Lending Instrument: Adaptable Program Loan Implementing Agency(ies): CN-TIPPEE Key Dates Board Approval Date 28-Mar-2012 Original Closing Date 31-Dec-2016 Planned Mid Term Review Date 31-Oct-2014 Last Archived ISR Date Effectiveness Date Revised Closing Date 31-Dec-2016 Actual Mid Term Review Date Project Development Objectives Project Development Objective (from Project Appraisal Document) The development objective of the proposed project is consistent with the PDO for the CAB Program: To contribute to increase geographical reach and usage of regional broadband network services and reduce their prices in the territory of the Republic of Gabon. Has the Project Development Objective been changed since Board Approval of the Project? Yes No Component(s) Component Name Component Cost Component 1 - Enabling environment 6.07 Component 2 - Connectivity 47.00 Component 3 - Project Management 2.93 Overall Ratings Previous Rating Current Rating Public Disclosure Copy Progress towards achievement of PDO Satisfactory Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Moderately Satisfactory Overall Risk Rating Substantial Implementation Status Overview This ISR is based in part on the conclusions of a Bank supervision mission Sept. 16-21, 2012. The loan agreement was signed May 21, 2012. The effectiveness date (originally set to August 19, 2012 – 90 days after signing) has been extended to November 19, 2012 along with the refinancing date of the Project Preparation Advance. The reason for this first extension of the effectiveness date is the additional time required by the Government to complete the national procedure of approval of the loan agreement. Following completion of the procedure, the State Council will issue a Legal Opinion. Additional effectiveness conditions are already completed (with evidentiary documents transmitted to the Bank). Government has initiated payment of the Front-end fee. Page 1 of 5 The World Bank Report No: ISR6715 The company (Société de Patrimoine des Infrastructures Numériques - SPIN) owning on behalf of the Government the new international, regional and national capacity that will be made available according to open access principles has been created as a public corporation by decree 0248/PR/MECNP dated 19 June 2012 but not yet made operational. Its ACE subsidiary that will own the assets covered by the ACE CM&A agreement has not yet been created. Public Disclosure Copy The selection process of the transaction advisor that will assist the Government in selecting the private wholesale operator for the international and national connectivity owned by SPIN and its ACE subsidiary is nearly completed (Combined Evaluation Report submitted). The bidding strategy for the national backbone has been defined and agreed upon; the consultant assisting the Government is now working on the bidding documents, and interactions with Gabonese operators and ISPs on the proposed backbone technical design have been scheduled. Locations Country First Administrative Division Location Planned Actual Gabon Province du Moyen-Ogooue Ndjole ✔ Gabon Province de l' Estuaire Libreville ✔ Gabon Province du Haut-Ogooue Lekoni ✔ Gabon Province de l' Ogooue-Lolo Koulamoutou ✔ Gabon Province du Haut-Ogooue Province du Haut-Ogooue ✔ Gabon Province du Haut-Ogooue Franceville ✔ Gabon Province de l' Ogooue-Ivindo Booue ✔ Results Project Development Objective Indicators Indicator Name Core Unit of Measure Baseline Current End Target International Internet Bandwidth (Bits per Number Value 4620.00 4933.00 14712.00 second per person) Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2011 31-Dec-2016 Public Disclosure Copy Comments Access to Internet Services (number of Number Value 14.00 18.00 18.00 subscribers per 100 people) Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2011 31-Dec-2016 Comments Access to Telephone Services (fixed mainlines Number Value 147.00 152.00 125.00 plus cellular phones per 100 people) Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2011 31-Dec-2016 Comments Assuming total population of As the market for telephone approx. 1,545,255 and an services in Gabon is reaching annual growth rate of 2% saturation, only moderate Page 2 of 5 The World Bank Report No: ISR6715 (source: CIA World growth is expected when Factbook). The percentage of clean up of non-active multiple SIM holders is at customers and identification least 25% (estimate 2008, of SIM card holders will have Public Disclosure Copy with 3 operators in the taken place. market) and is probably closer to 35% in 2010, which corresponds to a real penetration of 109%: the market for telephone services in Gabon is reaching saturation. Average monthly price of wholesale Number Value 10500.00 6913.00 500.00 international E1 capacity link from capital city to Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2011 31-Dec-2016 Europe (US$/ month/2Mbps) Comments Direct project beneficiaries Number Value 1545255.00 2392726.00 1740208.00 Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2011 31-Dec-2016 Comments Gabonese operators have started to “clean up� their database to exclude non- active customers. Furthermore, it is scheduled that allSIM card owners will be registered by the Gabonese mobile operators before End 2012. Both operations (clean up of non- active customers, identification of SIM card holders) are generally associated with a sharp decrease in the number of mobile cellular subscriptions Public Disclosure Copy Female beneficiaries Percentage Value 51.00 51.00 51.00 Sub Type Supplemental Intermediate Results Indicators Page 3 of 5 The World Bank Report No: ISR6715 Indicator Name Core Unit of Measure Baseline Current End Target Impact on Telecom sector of World Bank Number Value 0.00 0.00 4.00 Technical Assistance (composite score: 1- low Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2011 31-Dec-2016 Public Disclosure Copy impact to 5-high impact) Comments Average cost of mobile call (three minutes, Number Value 0.71 0.80 0.20 local, peak) (US$/3 min) Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2011 31-Dec-2016 Comments This indicator is now requested on a quarterly basis from mobile operators with a standardized definition. Retail Price of Internet Services (per Mbit/s per Amount(USD) Value 218.00 80.00 Month, in US$) Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2011 31-Dec-2016 Comments Not yet available on a systematic basis. Number of operators and ISPs buying capacity Number Value 0.00 0.00 6.00 from the regional infrastructure deployed Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2011 31-Dec-2016 Comments The infrastructure does not yet exist. International Communications (Internet, Number Value 1.20 2.00 4.90 Telecoms and Data) bandwidth (Gbit/s) Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2011 Comments Not yet available on a systematic basis. Information provided by operator. Length of Fiber Optic Network Built (km) Kilometers Value 0.00 0.00 1140.00 Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2011 31-Dec-2016 Comments The infrastructure does not yet exist. Increased access to ICT services: Number of Number Value 3.00 10.00 Public Disclosure Copy localities with broadband Internet access Date 31-Dec-2010 31-Dec-2016 (256Kbps) Comments Not yet available on a systematic basis. Data on Financial Performance (as of 25-May-2012) Financial Agreement(s) Key Dates Project Ln/Cr/Tf Status Approval Date Signing Date Effectiveness Date Original Closing Date Revised Closing Date P122776 IBRD-81500 Not Effective 28-Mar-2012 21-May-2012 31-Dec-2016 31-Dec-2016 Page 4 of 5 The World Bank Report No: ISR6715 Disbursements (in Millions) Project Ln/Cr/Tf Status Currency Original Revised Cancelled Disbursed Undisbursed % Disbursed P122776 IBRD-81500 Not Effective USD 58.00 58.00 0.00 0.00 58.00 0.00 Public Disclosure Copy Disbursement Graph Key Decisions Regarding Implementation The team should closely monitor (i) the national procedure of approval of the loan agreement by the Parliament to avoid another extension of the effectiveness date beyond November 19, 2012, (ii) the availability before October 31, 2012 of the counterpart funding due no later than 30 June 2012 to avoid any negative impact on the ability of the PIU for CAB4 GA to perform its procurement and fiduciary activities and (iii) that the company (Société de Patrimoine des Infrastructures Numériques - SPIN) owning on behalf of the Government the new international, regional as well as its ACE subsidiary that will own the assets covered by the ACE CM&A agreement will set up and made operational before November 19, 2012 to avoid any delay in disbursement. Public Disclosure Copy Restructuring History There has been no restructuring to date. Related Projects There are no related projects. Page 5 of 5