The World Bank Congo Digital Acceleration Project (P175592) Project Information Document (PID) Concept Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 26-Apr-2021 | Report No: PIDC31664 April 2021 Page 1 of 11 Official Use The World Bank Congo Digital Acceleration Project (P175592) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data OPS TABLE Country Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) Project Name Congo, Republic of P175592 Congo Digital Acceleration Project (P175592) Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Practice Area (Lead) AFRICA WEST Nov 16, 2021 Feb 16, 2022 Digital Development Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Investment Project Financing Ministere du Plan, de la Ministry of Posts, Statistique et de l'Integration Telecommunications and Régionale Digital Economy Proposed Development Objective(s) To improve the uptake and coverage of government service delivery using ICT, and strengthen the enabling environment for digital technology adoption and capabilities. PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) SUMMARY-NewFin1 Total Project Cost 100.00 Total Financing 100.00 of which IBRD/IDA 100.00 Financing Gap 0.00 DETAILS -NewFinEnh1 World Bank Group Financing International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) 100.00 Environmental and Social Risk Classification Concept Review Decision Substantial Track II-The review did authorize the preparation to continue April 2021 Page 2 of 11 Official Use The World Bank Congo Digital Acceleration Project (P175592) B. Introduction and Context Country Context 1. The Republic of Congo (Congo) is a lower middle-income country (LMI) country1 with 5.61 million inhabitants sparsely populated, located in the western coast of Central Africa, with rich natural resources and tropical forests. The economy remains undiversified, with the oil sector accounting for 86 percent of exports in 2020. This makes Congo's economy vulnerable to oil market fluctuations. Due to the decrease in oil production, the oil sector is projected to decline by 3.3 percent, while the non-oil sector is expected to experience a sharp recession of 14.6 percent for 2020. In 2020, Congo's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to be revised downwards considering the sharp decline in oil prices and the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the country's exports to China2. After reaching a high of 117 percent, the level of public debt to GDP has decreased to close to 77 percent in 2019. 2. The COVID-19 crisis, together with the negative social impacts of lower oil prices, will exacerbate poverty in Congo. Poverty is on the rise, and more vulnerable households are expected to fall into poverty. As a result of GDP contraction, the poverty rate surged to 40.9 percent in 2019. The divide between the urban and rural areas continues to grow, with the poverty headcount increasing from 64.8 percent to 69.4 percent in rural areas. Remittance flows to the country have been significantly dropping since 2013 and will continue to fall as the inflow to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region is projected to decrease by 5.8 percent in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the economy. As a result, poverty is now projected to increase to 46,8 percent in 2022, the most significant increase during the past decade. As a response, the Government is taking decisive measures to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, with health-focused response measures to ensure pedagogical continuity and emergency cash transfers. 3. The development of a strong, resilient digital economy is an integral part of Congo's strategy for economic diversification, with the current national development plan (PND3 2018-2022) committing to foster a private sector- led environment for economic diversification, particularly in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector, and laying out the country's development priorities, including governance, human capital, infrastructure development, and service delivery. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic further highlights the significance of fostering the emergence of a digital economy, particularly for access-to-information and public services as well as for remote transactions. This is in line with the global call to strengthen access to and use of digital technologies that have been playing a critical role in supporting the response to and the recovery from the crisis around the world through connectivity and essential digital solutions. 4. Congo has a dynamic young working-age population (15-35 years, 38.1 percent of the population) which remains unskilled and uneducated. Between 2010 and 2020, the Human Capital Index (HCI) value for Congo increased from 0.41 to 0.42. This is slightly higher than the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) regional average but lower than the average for LMI countries (HCI value of 0.48). The low HCI value, combined with the learning gap, indicates modest learning outcomes by the young people and impedes the acquisition of foundational skills essential for the labor market. Skills needed for employability are, first and foremost, basic skills (functional literacy and numeracy), and the formal education system has little to offer to youth in terms of training to increase their productivity and employability in 1 Gross national income (GNI) per capita increased from US$600 in 2000 to US$2,500 in 2014 but declined to US$1640 in 2018. 2 World Bank Republic of Congo Quarterly Economic Update, March 2020. 3 Plan National de Développement April 2021 Page 3 of 11 Official Use The World Bank Congo Digital Acceleration Project (P175592) areas that are key to thrive in the digital economy, ranging skills for workforce across a broad range of occupations in which digital technologies will be used to skills for professionals/technicians to implement, adopt, adapt, develop and diffuse digital technologies. Sectoral and Institutional Context 5. The proposed project is closely aligned with both national and sectoral strategic plans. More precisely, it will contribute to the national plan to (i) lower the cost of broadband internet and (ii) develop the broadband market under the focus area of strengthening the infrastructure services. Furthermore, the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunication, and Digital Economy (MPTEN4) adopted the National Strategy for Digital Economy "Vision Congo Digital 2025" in 2019, commissioning the Directorate General for the Digital Economy (DGDEN) to lead the implementation of the national plan. With the vision of "binding Congo with the development of Digital Economy", the plan focuses on the three pillars: (i) citizen-centric digital services (e-citizen), (ii) support to the private sector (e- business), and (iii) acceleration in e-government uptake. A digital economy country diagnostic was conducted by the World Bank Group in FY20-215 and reviewed the key building blocks of Congo's digital economy and identified progress and challenges to address to achieve "Vision Congo Digital 2025". While a significant effort has been made on several foundations of the digital economy, Congo is still lagging on digital platforms, a key enabler for acceleration in e- government uptake, and there remains a need to boost equitable and affordable access to good quality broadband. An update of the current National Strategy for Digital Economy and its elaborated action plan is expected to be published by mid-2021. Accelerating government-wide digital transformation 6. The uptake of citizen-centric digital services is limited for several reasons. Most central government and local authority entities (main core government departments and municipalities) have an online presence but very limited e-services. Public sector digitalization efforts have focused mainly on government core back-office systems (G2G) with limited transactional services and content that address the needs of citizens based on life-events such as consolidating land management and cadasters, improving the civil registration processes and identity management (among others). Any efforts to accelerate digital transformation come to the forefront in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, as digital technologies offer the only opportunity for the Government, enterprises, and individuals to ensure business continuity, prevent service disruptions, and cope with social distancing through remote work. 7. Congo's ID ecosystem is fragmented, with multiple, non-interoperable biometric identification projects and a decentralized and largely paper-based civil registration process. Although the current rate of under-5 birth registration is close to universal (96%), it is estimated that 1.27 million Congolese, or 40.7 percent of the population above age 15, have no national ID (of which 44.1 percent are women and 37.2 percent are men)6. The main reasons for non-registration are (i) lack of familiarity with the civil registration process and its benefits, (ii) cumbersome procedures requiring evidence that is sometimes difficult to obtain, (iii) difficulties accessing the registration agencies (distance), (iv) and indirect costs of registration7. In rural areas, the civil registration system is largely paper-based and relies on manual processes. In the urban areas of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, digitization is uneven across the 4 Ministère des Postes, Télécommunications et de l’Économie Numérique 5 World Bank Group, Digital Economy Assessment in Congo (DE4A), 2020. Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A) Country Diagnostics provide a snapshot of the state of the digital economy in a given country for each of the five pillars of the DE4A initiative (digital infrastructure, digital public platforms, digital financial services, digital businesses, and digital skills). Source: The Digital Economy for Africa Initiative 6 World Bank, 2018. ID4D-Findex Survey Data. 7 World Bank, 2020. The Digital Economy Assessment Republic of Congo. April 2021 Page 4 of 11 Official Use The World Bank Congo Digital Acceleration Project (P175592) different civil registration centers. No standardized system is used in these centers, and without a shared digital platform civil registration or broader for identity management, electronic civil registry records are stored locally and not consolidated. These issues and barriers are partly the results of the fragmentation of Congo's identification system, generating duplication of identity information, data protection issues, and high costs for the Government. To address this, the GoC has developed a civil registration digitalization roadmap to standardize the systems and create a consolidated population register. There are multiple functional ID systems that currently collect or intend to collect biometrics (e.g., for civil servants and taxpayers), while biometrics in a digital format are already collected as part of the enrollment process for the National ID card. Without a high-coverage, trusted foundational ID system that can uniquely identify individuals and facilitate digital identity verification authentication across different government services and systems (such as social registries or tax registers), the efficiency of (digital) service delivery and digital platforms remains limited. Boosting equitable and affordable access to good quality broadband 8. The GoC launched several national and regional fiber optic infrastructure projects to position Congo as a traffic hub and improve access to broadband services, but more should be done for the infrastructure to deliver its full potential mobilizing private sector investment and expertise. a. International fiber optic connectivity. Congo is currently connected to the West Africa Cable System (WACS8), with a landing station in Pointe Noire managed by the state-owned incumbent operator Congo Telecom. Redundancy via terrestrial fiber optic links (currently owned by the GoC) remains limited, with an interconnection with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 2017 (10GB-capacity linking Brazzaville to Kinshasa) operated and commercialized by Congo Telecom. The interconnection with Gabon established under the World Bank funded Central African Backbone (CAB) regional project9 is operated and to be commercialized by a Congolese company (Mamb Services) under a seven years contract. Under the CAB Project, financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), Congo should also interconnect with Cameroon and the Central African Republic. However, due to the COVID-19, the project has faced delays and is now expected to be completed by 2022. b. National fiber optic connectivity. The national backbone project (PCN10) funded by the GoC has built to date around 3,000 km11 of the backbone network and several metropolitan optical loops in Brazzaville, Pointe- Noire, and Oyo12 for a total of 700 km. The national backbone project is aimed to improve internet access nationally with a fiber optic network by building aerial and terrestrial cable links to connect Pointe-Noire, Dolisie, Brazzaville, Oyo, and Ouesso. This state-owned fiber is managed by the Ministry of Planning, Territorial Equipment, and Major Works13 and is operated and commercialized by Congo Telecom. 9. While the geographical reach of mobile broadband networks has significantly increased, uptake of high-speed internet services remains hampered by the level of prices. Mobile networks are operated by private telecoms operators (MTN and Airtel) and the state-owned incumbent operator, Congo Telecom, and cover 89 percent of the 8 Stretching 14,530 km, the WACS was commissioned in 2012 and now connects 15 countries, including Congo. The initial design capacity was 5.12 Tbit/s running at 10Gbps per wavelength and later upgraded to 14.4Tbit/s with 100Gbps in 2015 by Huawei Marine Solution. In 2019, the same firm completed a second upgrade to support 32*100Gbps per wavelength. Source: Submarine Cable Networks. 9 CAB3 (P122398) for the Republic of Gabon and CAB4 (P122776) for the Gabonese Republic. The project development objectives of the CAB3 and the CAB4 projects is to contribute to increase geographical reach and usage of regional broadband network services and reduce their prices in Congo and Gabon. 10 Projet de Couverture Nationale 11 Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement, 2019. Journal officiel de la République du Congo du jeudi 4 juillet 2019. 12 World Bank, 2020. The Digital Economy Assessment Republic of Congo. 13 Le Ministère de l’Aménagement, de l’Équipement du Territoire et des Grands Travaux April 2021 Page 5 of 11 Official Use The World Bank Congo Digital Acceleration Project (P175592) population for 3G and 69 percent for 4G14. The nominal subscription rate in Congo stands at 104 percent15, while the "unique" mobile broadband subscription rate per 100 inhabitants stands at 31% in 2020. Even though broadband prices have significantly dropped compared to 2018 and mobile operators keep lowering their tariffs —the weighted average tariff for mobile data per Megabyte dropped 11.7 percent in October 2020 from a year earlier 16— broadband prices are still high. As of October 2020, the average price of a 1GB data plan was 3.86 percent of the average monthly income compared to the regional average of 8.42 percent. Yet, it is still considered expensive compared to the leading countries in the SSA region and the "1 for 2" measures for affordable internet (where the price of 1GB mobile data is at 2 percent or less of average monthly income). With respect to fixed broadband, the household penetration rate for broadband internet subscriptions rests at less than 1 percent compared to the regional average of 8 percent17. Congo Telecom has the significant power of the fixed broadband market through fiber-to-home (FTTH) technology, with a few alternatives that exist in the market but with low uptake18. 10. There is also a risk of a lasting digital divide if efforts undertaken by the Universal Service Fund to extend the coverage of broadband networks in underserved and rural areas are not stepped up. Aimed to finance projects that would improve coverage in rural and underserved areas, the Universal Service Fund (Fonds pour l'Accès et le Service Universel des Communications Électroniques — FASUCE) was created in 2017 and made operational only in 2019. The FASUCE is primarily financed by mobile network operators contributing up to 1 percent of their annual turnover. In 2021, the FASUCE seeks to connect at least 40 small villages19 and educational facilities in rural areas20. Yet, the key gap remains in the distribution of last mile connectivity, where small cities and villages are still unconnected. Stepping up digital skills development to fuel adoption of digital services 11. There is not enough supply nor qualified teachers and trainers to develop the required digital skills. Basic/Foundational digital skills training is non-existent at the primary and secondary level as ICT education is considered a luxury for most public schools and institutes, on top of the unavailability of trained teachers, pedagogical materials, as well as ICT equipment, and broadband connectivity. As for intermediate, advanced, and specialized digital skills, formal higher education curriculums related to digital professions are highly limited and often appear fragmented as there is a lack of qualified teachers and trainers to enhance the current programs. Furthermore, there is no reliable and timely data on the current capacity of teachers, trainers, and professionals in the formal education system nor a mandated structure to monitor and ensure skills upgrade of existing trainers. The Government is taking a handful of operations (such as the regional Artificial Intelligence research center at the Denis Sassou Nguesso University and the interconnection of the establishments of the Marien Ngouabi University), yet more should be done. To date, there is no National Research and Education Network (NREN) established in Congo to ensure universities and research institutes connect with high-speed internet service at a discounted rate due to demand aggregation. 14 GSMA Intelligence, 2021. MTN has the most 3G coverage at 87.5% followed by Airtel (72.6%) and Congo Telecom (16.28%) as of last quarter of 2020. 15 ARPCE, November 2020. Monthly report on mobile network. 16 ARPCE, October 2020. The Monthly report on mobile internet network. 17 World Bank, 2020. The Digital Economy Assessment Republic of Congo. 18 A Belgium-based Internet Service Provider GBS offers VSAT and WiMAX services in Brazzaville, while GVA (Vivendi Group subsidiary) offers FTTx services in Pointe- Noire. MTN and Airtel also provide WiMAX services, though they mainly target businesses rather than households. 19 Including i)Tsoumbou in the Kouilou department, ii) Loulomboand Vindza in the Pool, iii) Minga in the Bouenza, iv) Okouet in the Cuvette, v) Ekouasende, Ossele, Okeke and Ngania in the Plateaux, vi) Elogo in the Sangha, vii) Binanga and Moungoundou in the Niari, viii) Edzouga and Vaga in the West Cuvette. 20 As of November 2020, 30 locations are connected while 13 school multimedia rooms are being renovated, equipped, and connected to the internet and electricity using solar panels (2 of which have been connected to the internet: General Leclerc Military Preparatory School and Technical College of Oyo). April 2021 Page 6 of 11 Official Use The World Bank Congo Digital Acceleration Project (P175592) 12. As the formal education system does not serve as the main provider of digital skills training, a handful of non-state actors21 step in to provide a small number of training programs. The supply of TVET, particularly those that offer advanced and e-business digital skills training, is driven by the private sector concentrated in Brazzaville and Pointe- Noire. The Digital Young Entrepreneurs Association (AJENC22) appears to be one of few digital skills training providers in rural areas. Non-state entities develop and use their own digital skills training curriculum for educating students or apprentices, adapted to the market needs and capabilities. Given their graduates' varied acquisition levels, the need for a standardized certification of digital skills becomes essential for individuals, private institutions, and government entities. Partnership with existing training structures and institutes providing digital skills should be considered to re- use and adapt existing content and material, especially for the basic and intermediate digital skills. Partnership with the local ICT enterprises and academia is also key to accelerate the provision of advanced and specialized digital skills at the local level. Timely and reliable data is essential to monitor and evaluate digital skills training progress to shed more light on demand for digital skills in the labor market and ensure women and other marginalized groups are digitally skilled and employed in positions that they were once considered unqualified. 13. Public officials need to be trained on digital skills and certified for using and managing e-government services. Many Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) operate outdated and isolated digital applications and systems, and many civil servants lack comfort with these tools or basic levels of cyber awareness. No internal capacity-building programs are available for government employees willing to improve their digital skills. Due to the lack of recognition of the local training (private and public), the locally trained engineers (mostly men) are hired below their grade compared to the foreign-trained engineers employed at a grade corresponding to their degree. There is a need for a strategy to develop digital skills within the public administration, from basic to specialized level, in collaboration with local incubators, employment agencies, and educational institutes. Adopting the "train the trainer" approach that is used in several countries by governments, academia, and specialized institutes (such as ICDL23) could be an appropriate approach to train and certify the (number) of civil servants whose jobs are pivoting from face-to-face to online delivery. Likewise, there is a need for centralization and significant upscaling of cybersecurity capabilities in line with growing risks to critical networks, infrastructure, and information systems. Relationship to CPF 14. The proposed project is aligned with the CPF's (FY20-24) strategic focus area to strengthen Economic Management to Create an Improved Investment Climate for Private Sector Led Growth. This focus area sets out to promote necessary reforms in the sector's policies and regulatory framework, enabling a nurturing environment for the private sector-led Digital Economy to increase access and use of digital services in Congo. The proposed project will also support CPF objective 1.1. Improved efficiency and accountability in Public Resources Management through its series of interventions in strengthening institutional capacity and frameworks essential to roll out the digital public services. Additionally, several activities within the project's scope, such as citizen-centric digital services and digital skills training and empowerment, will contribute to the several objectives (2.1, 2.2, and 2.3) of the focus area 2. Reducing fragility and building human capital for improved social inclusion. Given the Government's commitment and consideration of the ICT sector as a driving factor for its economic diversification, the CPF (FY20-24) is fully aligned with the Government's National Development Plan (2018-2022) and supports necessary steps in implementing its sectorial plan, "Vision Congo Digital 2025". Finally, the proposed project and its objectives are aligned with and 21 Such as Yékolab, Kosala, Club Congo France Numérique, PRATIC, PUITS, CNEUF, Bantu hub, and OSIANE. 22 Association des Jeunes Entrepreneurs du Numérique au Congo 23 International Computer Driving License April 2021 Page 7 of 11 Official Use The World Bank Congo Digital Acceleration Project (P175592) complement the WBG's twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity by tackling key barriers in digital inclusion. 15. The proposed project will contribute to three of the four pillars of the World Bank Group (WBG) Gender Strategy (FY16-23), it will improve human development outcomes and enhance women's voice and agency by boosting their participation in digital spaces. It will also contribute to removing constraints for more and better jobs by ensuring equal access to digital skills training that aim to improve access to labor market and quality of jobs, contributing to the women's economic empowerment priority. The proposed operation also reinforces women's access to public administrative services and ensures equal representation of female beneficiaries and their specific digital services' needs throughout the project, particularly under Subcomponent 2. C. Proposed Development Objective(s) 16. The Project Development Objective is to improve the uptake and coverage of government service delivery using ICT, and strengthen the enabling environment for digital technology adoption and capabilities. Key Results (From PCN) The achievement of the PDO could be measured by the results indicators below. Improved uptake and coverage of government service delivery using ICT a. Number of successful digital transactions initiated by beneficiaries in the framework of public service delivery of project- services (of which, % female; of which, % population in rural areas) b. The number of unique mobile broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants (of which, % female; % covered with 3G/4G, % urban/rural). Strengthened enabling environment for digital technology adoption and capabilities a. The number of individuals, civil servants, and employees with certified basic/foundational to intermediate digital skills (of which, % female). i. The number of institutes and education facilities providing government-approved courses and certification. ii. The number of trained teachers and trainers in the education system throughout the project of which % of female). D. Concept Description 17. The proposed project is articulated around six components designed to accelerate country-wide digital transformation through series of interventions that promote uptake and coverage of government service delivery using ICT and strengthen the enabling environment for digital technology adoption and capabilities. The project will also enable Congo to implement a shared e-services platform under a whole-of-government approach and increase the uptake of citizen-centric digital services. The project will also seek to bring more Congolese online by increasing broadband connectivity and strengthening the regulatory and institutional environment towards a competition- oriented broadband market, contributing to universal and affordable internet access. Finally, the project aims to improve digital technology adoption by supporting national digital literacy and skills development. April 2021 Page 8 of 11 Official Use The World Bank Congo Digital Acceleration Project (P175592) 18. Component 1: Strengthening the legal, regulatory, and institutional environment for Digital Economy focuses on supporting the sector's legal, regulatory, and institutional improvements as well as continuing the sectorial reforms. The measures will be aimed at strengthening the key entities' capacities mandated to implement and enact the newly adopted legislations — Personal Data Protection (Law No.29/2019); on Electronic Transactions (Law No.37/2019) which regulates e-commerce, e-certification, e-signature; on Cybersecurity (Law No.26/2020); and on Cybercrime (No.2720) — and ensuring operational and strategic coordination between the agencies (including the National Agency for the Security of Digital Systems (ANSSI24) and the Computer Security Incident Response Team. This component is also dedicated to reinforce the necessary institutional and regulatory pre-requisites and frameworks essential for enabling environment to accelerate public service digitalization. It will further focus on strengthening the overall market regulation and policy to promote a competition-oriented broadband/telecom market to ensure affordable and high-quality internet service for citizens and businesses, particularly those living in the underserved rural areas. 19. Component 2: Improve delivery of, and access to, user-centric digital government services will focus on supporting the design and implementation of efficient digital and in-person services, prioritizing the most pressing needs for the citizens and businesses, especially those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Under this component, the Government's capacity to deliver digital public services will be strengthened by supporting the implementation of a shared platform with common standards and protocols to allow information exchange between different entities and ensure interoperability between different platforms. Hence, it will further support the design and implementation of a single government information and transaction portal and the deployment of certain number of digital public services, focusing on the most pressing needs for citizens and businesses (i.e., healthcare, social service, education, agriculture). Moreover, this component intends to support the Government in developing its roadmap to a trusted and inclusive digital identification system by laying its regulatory and institutional foundations through assessments and advisory services for modernizing and harmonizing its civil registration and identification systems. 20. Component 3: Expanding Digital Broadband Connectivity and Digital Inclusion will focus on promoting universal access and reducing the regional digital divide under Maximizing Finance for Development (MFD) principle. This component intends to promote the private sector's effort to connect the lagging areas where the digital divide risk is highest. In support of the Maximizing Finance for Development (MFD) principle when expanding digital connectivity, public financing will be employed to the extent necessary to reach areas where the private sector's interest is insufficient to provide connectivity without additional intervention or incentives. In case an additional intervention is required, priority will be given to selected rural and remote schools, health centers, unconnected MDAs that can be connected through bulk purchase capacity contracts. Moreover, this component further supports the network redundancy for Congo's existing international submarine cable system (WACS25) by assisting the Government in choosing, installing, and commercializing the best-suited additional submarine cable to connect. As the component aims to spur the private sector's participation, all the infrastructure financed under the project will be open access and operated under the Private and Public Partnership (PPP) and MFD principle. 21. Component 4: Enabling environment for digital technology adoption and capabilities will focus on boosting the use of digital technologies by strengthening individuals' and public employees' digital skills adoption. The key activities under this component will revolve around the assessment for digital skills needed in the labor market, adoption of a common standard to evaluate the level of skillsets, and capacity building for targeted individuals (especially unemployed, women, and youth), government employees. The measures will be aimed at (i) identifying the skillset 24 Agence Nationale de Sécurité des Systèmes d’Information 25 West Africa Cable System April 2021 Page 9 of 11 Official Use The World Bank Congo Digital Acceleration Project (P175592) needed to participate in the labor market and the number and types of digital skills training required for targeted groups, (ii) rollout of tailored training programs with standard certification, available at both formal and informal learning institutes (e.g., tech hubs, incubators, TVET, associations), (iii) capacity building for a selected group of civil servants (such as teachers, trainers, public employees) requiring deeper knowledge to support digital skills acquisition, (iv) training a targeted set of aspiring and talented individuals to reinforce capacity building at advanced and specialized levels. 22. Component 5: Project Management will provide support for the management and implementation of project- associated activities. 23. Component 6: CERC is added to the project to provide support, with an initial zero value, to swiftly respond to an actual or potential crisis, such as natural disaster or public health emergencies, such as COVID-19. On the other hand, it should be noted that the CERC component is not expected to finance activities that pose adverse environmental and social risks and impacts. 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 . 24. The most significant environmental aspect of this project will be the installation of the additional submarine cable system and the guarantee of the preservation of the aquatic fauna. The Congolese coastline is about 170 km long and has a continental shelf with an average width of 60 km, covering an area of about 9,300 km2, after deduction of the area reserved for oil extraction activities (about 1,400 km2). The Exclusive Economic Zone for its part, is estimated at about 60.000km. Due to this strong economic activity and weak enforcement of regulations, the maritime fishing resources are under increasing stress. In addition, the eventual terrestrial cable-laying which will likely present environmental and social risks similar to those traditionally associated with physical works. Land acquisition may be required for the construction of the landing stations as well as for the laying of fiber optic cables. The latter may also affect livelihood activities (e.g., roadside vending), especially if cable burying is required in or around densely populated urban centers. In addition, potential temporary impacts on fisher livelihoods could result from the works required to lay the submarine cables. The scope of these activities implies environmental and social risks that will be assessed in-depth through the environmental and social assessment process during project preparation as technical details become finalized. April 2021 Page 10 of 11 Official Use The World Bank Congo Digital Acceleration Project (P175592) . CONTACT POINT World Bank Maria Claudia Pachon, Samia Melhem Senior Digital Development Specialist Borrower/Client/Recipient Ministere du Plan, de la Statistique et de l'Integration Régionale Randy Kamba Attaché aux Relations avec les Partenaires au Développement rk.aymard@gmail.com Implementing Agencies Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Digital Economy Eric Ndoumba Advisor to the Minister on Digital Economy eric.ndoumba@me.com 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 APPROVAL Task Team Leader(s): Maria Claudia Pachon, Samia Melhem Approved By APPROVALTBL Country Director: Abdoulaye Seck 30-Apr-2021 April 2021 Page 11 of 11 Official Use