The World Bank MALI - Skills Development and Youth Employment Project (P145861) REPORT NO.: RES46647 DOCUMENT OF THE WORLD BANK RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF MALI - SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROJECT APPROVED ON JUNE 27, 2014 TO MINISTRY OF ECONOMY AND FINANCE, REPUBLIC OF MALI EDUCATION AFRICA WEST Regional Vice President: Ousmane Diagana Country Director: Soukeyna Kane Regional Director: Dena Ringold Practice Manager/Manager: Meskerem Mulatu Task Team Leader(s): Amina Debissa Denboba, Diletta Doretti The World Bank MALI - Skills Development and Youth Employment Project (P145861) I. BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID Financing Instrument P145861 Investment Project Financing Original EA Category Current EA Category Partial Assessment (B) Partial Assessment (B) Approval Date Current Closing Date 27-Jun-2014 30-Jun-2021 Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency Ministry of Economy and Finance, Republic of Mali Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to support education and training for employability and private-sector led job opportunities for youth in Mali. Summary Status of Financing (US$, Millions) Net Ln/Cr/Tf Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed IDA-55130 27-Jun-2014 25-Jul-2014 24-Nov-2014 30-Jun-2021 36.10 29.90 2.85 IDA-H9710 27-Jun-2014 25-Jul-2014 24-Nov-2014 30-Jun-2021 26.90 24.21 0 Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No The World Bank MALI - Skills Development and Youth Employment Project (P145861) II. SUMMARY OF PROJECT STATUS AND PROPOSED CHANGES PROPOSED CHANGE AND RATIONALE 1. As noted in the Borrower's letter dated March 31, 2021, the only change being proposed in this Level Two restructuring is to extend the Closing Date of the Credit and Grant from June 30, 2021 to December 31, 2021 (see Credit No. 5513-ML and Grant No. H971-ML, Financing Agreement, Schedule 2, Section IV, Sub-section B, paragraph 2). Although the project is performing well, the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the recent changes in government, have led to some delays in project implementation, particularly during the second half of the calendar year. Following the August 18, 2020 coup d’état in Mali, the Bank’s rules obliged it to cease project financing to evaluate the de facto government’s position relative to prior commitments and its international and domestic legitimacy. Following the completion of the OP7.30 evaluation process, disbursements resumed on November 9, 2020. This pause in disbursements slowed project implementation. 2. The requested 6-month extension of the closing date will provide the Project with the necessary time to complete all key project activities and to fully disburse the remaining project funds. The Project’s development objectives remain achievable and the performance of the Borrower remains satisfactory overall. The World Bank and the Borrower have agreed on an action plan that the Borrower will carry out to complete all outstanding activities and to fully disburse the Project’s remaining funds. PROJECT STATUS 3. The Skills Development and Youth Employment Project (PROCEJ) was approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors on June 27, 2014 and was declared effective on November 24, 2014. The Project’s closing date was subsequently extended from June 30, 2020 to June 30, 2021. The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to support education and training for employability and private sector led job opportunities for the youth in Mali. 4. Strong progress towards achievement of the PDO. Despite the challenging environment following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the latest socio-political turmoil observed in Mali the Government has been able to continue implementing most project-supported activities though at a slower pace than originally envisaged. Four out of six PDO-level performance indicators have been achieved or exceeded their projected end-of-project targets: (i) Direct project beneficiaries have reached 42,081 against the 37,000 targeted and have allowed 33,993 youth (15-35) to be employed or self-employed including 17,209 women and girls; (ii) the percentage of out-of-school youth who completed the short-term decentralized skills training program supported by the project has reached 137 percent, against the expected end target of 90 percent; (iii) the percentage of out-of-school youth who completed the dual apprenticeship program supported by the project has reached 107 percent against the expected end target of 80; and (iv) the number of enterprises created or consolidated by the project’s entrepreneurship program has reached the expected end target of 4,815. The remaining two indicators are linked to activities under implementation that have not been fully achieved but are progressing well towards the achievement of their expected end-of-project targets based upon the action plan that would be executed under the proposed extension. In addition, of the ten intermediate indicators linked to component outcomes, seven have been fully achieved or have exceeded their targets, while the remaining three – (i) Youth enrolled in the public TVET institutions supported by the project, (ii) Youth with completed business plans under the entrepreneurship program for graduates, and (iii) Firms benefitting from matching grants under the project – are also linked to ongoing activities under implementation that have not been achieved yet but are progressing well towards achieving their expected end-of-project targets. The World Bank MALI - Skills Development and Youth Employment Project (P145861) 5. Project closing date extension. In accordance with paragraph 50 of Section III of the IPF Directive, the performance of the Borrower remains satisfactory (Project management is rated Satisfactory in latest ISR and the necessary actions to complete the project are identified in the government’s letter requesting an extension. The cumulative project age will be 7.1 years once the restructuring is processed. 6. The proposed six-month project closing date extension would enable the Borrower to complete the remainder of activities that have already been programmed but that have been delayed due to this year's COVID-19 pandemic and recent political events. Below is a summary of each component: a. Component 1. Education and Training for Employability: This component supports more effective formal education and training for in-school youth and non-formal training for out-of-school youth to improve their skills for employability by strengthening technical and vocational education and non-formal skills development programs for key value-chains. The component supports targeted public training institutions (Bankass, Banankabougou, Kalabancoro, Ségou, and Missabougou) and competitively selected private institutions in key priority sectors. While the planned activities under the component are at an advanced stage of implementation, key activities to be completed here include the: (a) finalization of the planned rehabilitation of the targeted training institutes; (b) completion of the training of trainers in the key priority sectors and subsequently the delivery of the planned training programs; (c) adoption of a regulatory framework in line with the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) reform agenda and establishment of a new model of governance conferring advanced autonomy to training institutes; (d) completion of the planned certification of youth who have benefitted from the short-term decentralized skills training programs which has been expanded nationwide during the project’s mid-term review; and (e) implementation of the overall evaluation of the program with the ultimate objective of building an improved apprenticeship system based on lessons learned from the project implementation. b. Component 2. Private-Sector led Job Creation for Youth: This component supports private sector led youth employment strategies in Mali to improve job opportunities for youth. Particularly, it supports the employability of youth through entrepreneurship development through two targeted programs adapted for youth, ages 21-35 years, with different education and training levels: (i) Entrepreneurship program for youth with limited education; and (ii) Entrepreneurship program for youth with at least upper secondary education. The component also supports select Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) (with more than 5 years of life) for Job Creation with plans to scale-up through facilitating access to markets and credit, and ad-hoc specialized managerial, business and technical expertise. Key activities remaining to be completed include: (i) Based on the success of the entrepreneurship program for youth with limited education, which has already benefitted 10,000 youth, a last cohort of an additional 3,000 youth who have completed the short-term decentralized skills training program has been identified to further benefit from the entrepreneurship program, among whom, 1,200 will be selected based on performance to receive start-up funds upon completion of the program. The planned support to this last cohort had been suspended due to the pandemic and is now expected to be completed by the newly proposed closing date. (ii) For the entrepreneurship program for youth with at least upper secondary education, the third and final edition of the business plan competition program (Concours de Plan d’Affaires) has been improved based on lessons learned from the first and second editions of the program and engagement with groups of experts in the sectors selected has also been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To further support the beneficiary youth, the project aims to also provide additional continued support and coaching. These activities are now expected to be completed by the proposed new closing date. The World Bank MALI - Skills Development and Youth Employment Project (P145861) (iii) The planned support to SMEs particularly targets firms affected by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. A dedicated investment fund has been established following the project’s restructuring to address the mismatch between the requirements of the former matching grant scheme and the reality of Malian SMEs that are, even in the formal sector, mostly still very unstructured. The investment fund is also combined with technical support to enterprises. However, this activity has been delayed due to the various changes that have taken place and by the pause of Bank engagement following the political events that occurred in August 2020. This activity is currently at the agreements signing stage with beneficiary SMEs and the additional project implementation period will allow for the adequate delivery of this activity, including the planned close monitoring to ensure the effective use of resources. c. Component 3. Institutional Strengthening and Project Management: This component established the Project Coordinating Unit (PCU) staffed with experts to ensure smooth implementation of the project. It also supported the planned employment and tracer surveys and SME inventories as well as the institutional strengthening of the relevant technical departments and agencies in charge of the implementation of components 1 and 2. It also supported capacity building activities for monitoring and evaluation, additional human resources, selected equipment and operating costs. The PCU team continues to be engaged and proactively manages the project, including through holding regular meetings to closely monitor the implementation of planned project activities. Activities to be completed here are mostly related to forthcoming project closing: a final audit; project completion reports; remaining studies; and other operating expenses. 7. Revised Project Disbursements Forecasts. To date, US$53.79 million has been disbursed, representing approximately 94.49 percent of the Project’s total funding. The “Disbursement Estimates” section of the data sheet provides the actual disbursements observed from FY2015-FY2020. Based on a detailed assessment of the various contracts and activities financed under the Project, the remaining US$3.14 million will be fully disbursed in FY2021- FY2022 based upon the action plan that would be executed under the proposed extension. The main activities are the finalization of the rehabilitation and equipment of TVET institutions (22 percent of the remaining funds), the completion of the training of trainers programs (9 percent), the completion of the planned entrepreneurship and skills development programs (26 percent), the support to SMEs (23 percent), and project coordination and closing costs (20 percent). III. DETAILED CHANGES LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) Original Revised Proposed Proposed Deadline Ln/Cr/Tf Status Closing Closing(s) Closing for Withdrawal Applications IDA-55130 Effective 30-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2021 31-Dec-2021 30-Apr-2022 IDA-H9710 Effective 30-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2021 31-Dec-2021 30-Apr-2022 The World Bank MALI - Skills Development and Youth Employment Project (P145861)