The World Bank Southeastern Corridor Road Asset Management Project (P149279) REPORT NO.: RES37028 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF SOUTHEASTERN CORRIDOR ROAD ASSET MANAGEMENT PROJECT APPROVED ON DECEMBER 18, 2018 TO REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA TRANSPORT AFRICA Regional Vice President: Hafez M. H. Ghanem Country Director: Pierre Frank Laporte Regional Director: Riccardo Puliti Practice Manager/Manager: Nicolas Peltier-Thiberge Task Team Leader(s): Kulwinder Singh Rao, Satheesh Kumar Sundararajan The World Bank Southeastern Corridor Road Asset Management Project (P149279) ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS The World Bank Southeastern Corridor Road Asset Management Project (P149279) Note to Task Teams: The following sections are system generated and can only be edited online in the Portal. BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P149279 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Partial Assessment (B) Partial Assessment (B) Approval Date Current Closing Date 18-Dec-2018 30-Jun-2026 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency Republic of Liberia Infrastructure Implementation Unit Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The project aims to support the Recipient’s efforts to enhance road connectivity for residents living along selected sections of the Ganta-to-Zwedru Road Corridor, and to improve institutional capacity to manage the road sector. OPS_TABLE_PDO_CURRENTPDO Summary Status of Financing Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IDA-63590 18-Dec-2018 30-Jun-2026 29.00 0 29.00 IDA-G2780 18-Dec-2018 30-Jun-2026 48.00 0 48.00 TF-A9104 18-Dec-2018 16-Jan-2019 16-Jan-2019 30-Jun-2021 .83 .14 .68 TF-B1347 18-Dec-2018 30-Jun-2020 21.00 0 21.00 The World Bank Southeastern Corridor Road Asset Management Project (P149279) Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING The Southeastern Road Asset Management Project (SECRAMP) was approved by the World Bank Board on December18, 2018 with IDA financing and optional IDA Guarantees for the planned Ganta-Zwedru road Public-Private Partnership (PPP) contract in Liberia. In addition to IDA financing, the Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF) provided Grant TF0A9104 to finance transaction advisory services for preparation of the project PPP and the Liberia Reconstruction Trust Fund (LRFT) provided Grant TF0B1347 to finance construction costs of road civil works and Institutional strengthening activities. The challenges surrounding the road fund and later the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly impacted the procurement process of the PPP transaction. The Request for Proposals has been issued for procurement of the PPP and the revised date of proposal submission is August 14, 2020. The PPP transaction, IDA and LRTF financing, and potential IDA Guarantee Agreement(s) could become effective by December of 2020 or early 2021. (a) GIF Grant: The GIF Grant was signed on January 16, 2019. The Trust Funds Account Clearance Team (TACT) made the Grant effective within the Bank systems on October 25, 2019. To date, the Recipient has expended US$982,868 towards the transaction advisory services financed by the GIF Grant, including approximately US$622,000 for services delivered before the Grant signing (i.e. ‘retroactive’ expenditures) against the Grant retroactive financing amount of US$330,128 (40 percent of the total Grant). A combination of technical and procedural problems prevented the Government from making withdrawals for expenses made prior to the date of signing of the agreement TF0A9104. Specifically, the Grant Letter established a retroactive financing date of January 15, 2018, but the Grant signing was unexpectedly delayed to January 16, 2019, resulting in a retroactive financing period of one year and one day. As World Bank policy limits the retroactive financing period to one year, TACT could not complete the internal administrative steps necessary to enable retroactive disbursements under the Grant. (b) LRTF Grant: The LRTF Grant, Grant TF0B1347, was signed in October 2019. Its effectiveness is linked to successful financial closure of the PPP contract. Although award and signing of the PPP is on track to be completed by December 2020 or early 2021, the cumulative delays have shifted the start of civil works until after the closing date of the LRTF Grant. As the LRTF Grant is a critical source of financing for payments during the construction phase of the PPP, the Government of Liberia has requested extension of the closing date for the LRTF Grant to ensure the LRTF funds can be used to support the project as intended. Whereas the original closing date of the LRTF Grant Agreement was limited by the closing date of LRTF Administrative Agreement (AA), a revised LRTF AA was recently signed, thereby allowing extension of the closing date of Grant TF0B1347. II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES Following changes are proposed: (a) This restructuring establishes a new retroactive financing date of March 1, 2018 for GIF Grant No. TF0A9104. With this change, the Recipient will be eligible to withdraw the retroactive financing intended to be available under the Grant. (b) The closing date of the LRTF Grant No. TF0B1347 is proposed to be extended from June 30, 2020, to May 31, 2022. (c) The disbursement estimates have been amended to reflect the delay in the implementation schedule. (d) The SORT ratings are updated to reflect the recent guidance on risk levels issued May of 2020. The World Bank Southeastern Corridor Road Asset Management Project (P149279) III. SUMMARY OF CHANGES Changed Not Changed Loan Closing Date(s) ✔ Disbursement Estimates ✔ Overall Risk Rating ✔ Implementation Schedule ✔ Other Change(s) ✔ Implementing Agency ✔ DDO Status ✔ Project's Development Objectives ✔ Results Framework ✔ Components and Cost ✔ Cancellations Proposed ✔ Reallocation between Disbursement Categories ✔ Disbursements Arrangements ✔ Safeguard Policies Triggered ✔ EA category ✔ Legal Covenants ✔ Institutional Arrangements ✔ Financial Management ✔ Procurement ✔ Economic and Financial Analysis ✔ Technical Analysis ✔ Social Analysis ✔ Environmental Analysis ✔ IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_LOANCLOSING_TABLE The World Bank Southeastern Corridor Road Asset Management Project (P149279) LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) Original Revised Proposed Proposed Deadline Ln/Cr/Tf Status Closing Closing(s) Closing for Withdrawal Applications IDA-63590 Not Effective 30-Jun-2026 IDA-G2780 Not Effective 30-Jun-2026 TF-A9104 Effective 31-Oct-2019 30-Jun-2021 TF-B1347 Not Effective 30-Jun-2020 31-May-2022 30-Sep-2022 OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_DISBURSEMENT_TABLE DISBURSEMENT ESTIMATES Change in Disbursement Estimates Yes Year Current Proposed 2018 0.00 0.00 2019 11,250,000.00 0.00 2020 16,750,000.00 0.00 2021 13,750,000.00 15.75 2022 5,500,000.00 13.50 2023 2,750,000.00 13.75 2024 2,750,000.00 4.75 2025 2,250,000.00 4.75 2026 0.00 2.50 OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_SORT_TABLE SYSTEMATIC OPERATIONS RISK-RATING TOOL (SORT) Risk Category Rating at Approval Current Rating Political and Governance  High  Moderate Macroeconomic  High  Moderate Sector Strategies and Policies  Substantial  Low Technical Design of Project or Program  Substantial  Moderate The World Bank Southeastern Corridor Road Asset Management Project (P149279) Institutional Capacity for Implementation and  High  Moderate Sustainability Fiduciary  High  Moderate Environment and Social  Substantial  Substantial Stakeholders  Moderate  Low Other  Low  Low Overall  High  Moderate .