$ Report No: RES00298 RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF Central African Republic - LONDO Project APPROVED ON 30-Jul-2015 TO Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Cooperation Social Sustainability and Inclusion Western And Central Africa Regional Vice President: Ousmane Diagana Regional Director: Chakib Jenane Country Director: Cheick Fantamady Kante Practice Manager: Nicolas Perrin Task Team Leader(s): Abderrahim Fraiji, Camilla Marie Lindstrom ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) @#&OPS~Doctype~OPS^dynamics@restrhybridbasicdata#doctemplate BASIC DATA Product Information Operation ID Operation Name P152512 Central African Republic - LONDO Project Product/Financing Instrument Geographical Identifier Investment Project Financing (IPF) Central African Republic Approval Date Current Closing Date 30-Jul-2015 30-Jul-2024 Original EA Category Partial Assessment (B) (PAD Approval Package-27 Apr 2021) Organizations Borrower Responsible Agency Ministry of Economy, Planning, and LONDO+ Project Implementation Unit Cooperation @#&OPS~Doctype~OPS^dynamics@restrhybridoperationstatus#doctemplate OPERATION STATUS Project Development Objective (DO) Original Development Objective To provide temporary employment to vulnerable people and to facilitate access to basic services throughout the entire territory of the Recepient, and to provide a response in the case of an eligible crisis or emergency. Disbursement Summary (in USD million) Source of Funds Net Commitment Disbursed Balance % Disbursed i The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) IBRD -- -- -- 0 IDA 82.22 76.70 5.52 93.28 Grants -- -- -- 0 Policy Waivers Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No @#&OPS~Doctype~OPS^dynamics@restrhybridmpa#doctemplate @#&OPS~Doctype~OPS^dynamics@restrhybridmpa#doctemplate ii The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) TABLE OF CONTENTS I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING ...........................................1 II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES ........................................................................2 III. PROPOSED CHANGES ......................................................................................................3 IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) .....................................................................................................4 The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING A. Project Background and Progress 1. The Londo plus project was approved on 30 July 2015 and came into effect on 29 September 2015 with an initial budget of $30 million funded by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA). This commitment was renewed in 2019 with Londo plus, with additional funding of $75 million from IDA. Overall, the project's progress towards the project development objective (PDO) is satisfactory and implementation progress is rated moderately satisfactory. As of 15 July 2024, the disbursement rate was 95%, with a disbursement rate of 34% for FY24. The project will close as planned on 30 July 2024. 2. The development objective is to provide temporary employment to vulnerable people throughout the entire territory of the country. The project has three components: • Local Governance: This component supports the inclusive engagement of local stakeholders to facilitate the selection of beneficiaries and agree on the priorities regarding the socio- economic infrastructure to be rehabilitated or built under the project. The inclusive process includes local authorities and community members. • Public infrastructure: The construction and rehabilitation of small-scale public infrastructure selected through the participatory process under Component 1. The infrastructure has included schools, health centers and boreholes at the community level. • Socio-economic integration: The maintenance of feeder roads and the provision of small paid jobs through labor-intensive work (THIMO) for young people. This to enable them to earn a living. 3. Progress towards achieving the project development objective (PDO) is rated satisfactory and project implementation is rated moderately satisfactory. The Financial management (FM) of the project is rated as moderately satisfactory, while the safeguard and the procurement ratings are satisfactory. The risk rating for FM and procurement are assessed as substantial. The safeguard rating is rated as moderate (a category B project). B. Rational for Restructuring 4. Although the project implementation has picked up satisfactorily, with a disbursement rate of 34% on 15 July 2024, the project will not be able to spend the remaining US$4.31 million before the closing of the project on 30 July 2014. 5. The project was partially cancelled on 29 April 2024, as it had not been able to disburse the full allocation, mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic which slowed down the implementation of project activities for a long period. In addition, the ongoing conflicts in certain project areas and the fuel shortage crisis that hit the country in 2022 for almost a full year slowed down implementation, as it limited the movements of the project Page 1 The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) implementation unit (PIU). For these reasons, the Central African Government, through the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and International Cooperation (MEPCI), sent an official letter to the World Bank Country Director on 15 March 2024 stating that they, after having carefully analyzed the remaining budget, requesting the cancellation of part of the Londo plus project funds for a total of US$12,708,041 to be transferred to the E KPENGBA project on local governance and resilient communities (P178699), in order to allow the government to complete Londo plus project activities in prefectures that would not be covered before the closing date on July 30, 2024. The partial cancellation was approved by the World Bank on 29 April 2024. 6. Due to the challenging geo-political situation, the Londo project had to cancel some activities in spring 2024, as it became impossible to guarantee the delivery of the bikes needed for the THIMO part of the project. The bikes are imported from China and the shipping routes between China and Africa have been disrupted by events in the Middle East. The Londo project implementation unit has therefore, prudently, decided to cancel this part of the activities. As before, the government has requested that the cancelled funds be transferred to the Local Governance and Resilient Communities project (P178699), in Sango ‘E KPENGBA’, to enable the government to complete Londo plus project activities in prefectures that will not be covered before the closing date of 30 July, 2024. In response to the government's request, the Bank is considering cancelling part of the funds a second time to enable the Government to offer support to the people in these regions and complete the planned activities. 7. It should be noted that the Londo and E KPENGBA projects are implemented under MEPCI and have similar objectives and activities. Hence, there are synergies between the two different projects, which will make it relatively easy for the PIU of E KPENGBA to implement the remaining Londo project activities. A significant number of staff in the PIU also have in-depth experience of working with Londo. 8. This amendment will therefore allow the government to cancel part of the current Londo plus project funds (USS4,31 million). The returned IDA funds are expected to be later allocated to the E KPENGBA project on Local Governance and Resilient Communities through a potential additional financing, subject to Bank approval. The additional financing is expected to restructure said Project to carry out the remaining activities of the Londo project, e.g support to the improvement of local governance (component 1), construction and rehabilitation of small-scale public infrastructure (component 2) and socio- economic reintegration (component 3). II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES 9. The Londo plus project is being restructured to do a partial cancellation of funds. The partial cancellation of funds concerns component 1 on local governance, component 2 on public infrastructure and component 3 on socio-economic reintegration. There will be no change in the Page 2 The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) implementation arrangements, neither will there be any changes in the risk assessments of procurement, safeguard and financial management. There is no need to change the Project Document (PAD) and procurement arrangements. A. Changes to Components and Costs 10. The total amount of cancellation is 4,310,000.00 USD. A total amount of US$978,933 thousand will be cancelled for category 1, a total amount of US$2,743,511 million will be cancelled for category 2 and finally, a total amount of US$587,623 thousand will be cancelled for category 3. B. Changes to the Result Framework 11. Considering that parts of the funds will be cancelled, the indicators have been adjusted downwards. @#&OPS~Doctype~OPS^dynamics@restrhybridsummarychanges#doctemplate Summary changes III. PROPOSED CHANGES Operation Proposed Operation Proposed Information Changes Information Changes Results Yes Loan Cancellations Yes Disbursements Yes Reallocations Yes Estimates Loan Closing Date Development Objective No No Extension Page 3 The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) Safeguard Policies No Financial Management No Triggered ISDS No Procurement No Institutional MFD/PCE No No Arrangement Implementation Risks No No Schedule Legal Covenants No Conditions No Implementation No Modalities Disbursements No Arrangements DDO No Clients No Appraisal Summary No Components No @#&OPS~Doctype~OPS^dynamics@restrhybriddetailedchanges-disclose#doctemplate IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) COSTS & FINANCING Private Capital Facilitation Is this an MFD-Enabling Project (MFD-EP)? Is this project Private Capital Enabling (PCE)? LOANS Cancellations Value Reason Loan/Cre Cancellat Statu Curren Current Date of New for dit/Trust ion s cy Amount Cancellati Amount Cancell Fund Amount on ation Page 4 The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) IDA- Disbur 14,300,000 14,300,000. D0800- XDR 0.00 sing .00 00 001 UNDISB IDA- USRSED Disbur 44,273,075 3,250,769. 41,022,306. D4810- XDR 19-Jul-2024 BALANC sing .00 00 00 001 E AT CLOSING Reallocations IDA-D0800-001 Cancellations (if any): New Allocation: Currency: XDR 0.00 14,300,000.00 Propose Financing % d (Type Total) Catego Expenditure Current Actuals + Allocati Current Proposed ry No. Category Allocation Committed on 1 GD,WK,NCS,CS,O 7,082,450. 7,081,877.40 0.00 100.00 0.00 C Pt 1,2,3; 29 2 Stipends for Elig. 3,060,000. 2,645,909.26 0.00 100.00 0.00 Benef. Pt 3(a); 00 3 GD,WK,NCS,CS,O 3,140,000. 3,484,188.64 0.00 100.00 0.00 C Pt 4; 00 4 PPF 1,017,549. 1,017,549.71 0.00 0.00 0.00 REFINANCING; 71 Total 14,300,00 0.00 0.00 IDA-D4810-001 Cancellations (if any): New Allocation: Currency: XDR 3,250,769.00 41,022,306.00 Propose Financing % d (Type Total) Catego Expenditure Current Actuals + Allocati Current Proposed ry No. Category Allocation Committed on 1 GD,WK,NCS,CS,O 33,887,760 32,189,658.3 33,149,411. 100.00 0.00 C Pt 1,2,3; .00 7 00 2 Stipends to Elig. 5,563,740. 3,238,166.96 3,494,477.0 100.00 0.00 Benef. Pt 3.1; 00 0 3 GD,WK,NCS,CS,O 4,821,575. 4,246,958.23 4,378,418.0 100.00 0.00 C Pt 4; 00 0 4 UNALLOCATED; 0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 5 CER; 0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 Total 44,273,07 41,022,30 5.00 6.00 Page 5 The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) DISBURSEMENTS Operation Dates & Projection Details Reasons to change the full Disbursement date and/or the projection Restructuring Implementation Start Date Operation Closing Date 30-Jul-2015 30-Jul-2024 Projected Date for Full Disbursement 04-Feb-2021 Expected Disbursements (in US $) (Absolute) Original Estimation at Actual Preparation Year Revised Estimation (Approval Package – 27 Apr 2021) FY2016 0.00 0.00 5,078,266.99 FY2017 0.00 0.00 5,070,198.60 FY2018 0.00 0.00 3,831,372.18 FY2019 0.00 0.00 3,422,553.10 FY2020 0.00 0.00 8,011,317.49 FY2021 0.00 0.00 27,631,466.81 Page 6 The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) RESULTS COUNTRY: Central African Republic Central African Republic - LONDO Project Note to Task Team: The following sections are system generated and can only be edited online in the Portal. Delete this note when finalizing the document. @#&OPS~Doctype~OPS^dynamics@restrannexpolicyandresult#doctemplate PDO Indicators by PDO Outcomes Improve access Indicator Name Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) Closing Period Result Month/Year Result Date Result Date Result Month/Year Revise Direct project 0.00 Dec/2014 80,875.00 15-Apr-2024 80,875.00 15-Apr-2024 81,500.00 Jul/2024 beneficiaries (Number) Female beneficiaries 0.00 Dec/2014 39.00 16-Mar-2018 39.00 16-Mar-2018 40.00 Dec/2018 (Percentage) Expand public services Indicator Name Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) Closing Period Result Month/Year Result Date Result Date Result Month/Year ReviseBenefitting districts 0.00 Dec/2014 101.00 15-Apr-2024 101.00 15-Apr-2024 101.00 Jul/2024 (sous-prefectures) (Number) Promote resilience Indicator Name Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) Closing Period Result Month/Year Result Date Result Date Result Month/Year Revise Worked days (men- 0.00 Dec/2014 3,143,242.00 15-Apr-2024 3,143,242.00 15-Apr-2024 3,180,000.00 Jul/2024 days) (Days) Page 7 The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) Intermediate Results Indicators by Components Local Governance Indicator Name Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) Closing Period Result Month/Year Result Date Result Date Result Month/Year Revise Rapid development 0.00 Dec/2014 110.00 15-Apr-2024 110.00 15-Apr-2024 110.00 Jul/2024 assessments (Number) ReviseGrievances registered 0.00 May/2023 100.00 15-Apr-2024 100.00 15-Apr-2024 100.00 Jul/2024 related to delivery of project benefits addressed (%) (Percentage) Public Infrastructure Indicator Name Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) Closing Period Result Month/Year Result Date Result Date Result Month/Year ReviseRoad maintenance 0.00 Dec/2014 4,221,120.00 15-Feb-2024 4,221,120.00 15-Feb-2024 4,230,000.00 Jul/2024 (Kilometers) Revise New or rehabilitated 0.00 Jun/2019 68.00 15-Apr-2024 68.00 15-Apr-2024 130.00 Jul/2024 community infrastructures (Number) ReviseInfrastructures built via 0.00 May/2019 0.00 15-Apr-2024 0.00 15-Apr-2024 0.00 Jul/2024 the chantier-école method (Number) Socio-Economic Integration Indicator Name Baseline Actual (Previous) Actual (Current) Closing Period Result Month/Year Result Date Result Date Result Month/Year Revise Distribution of stipends 0.00 Dec/2014 545.00 15-Apr-2024 545.00 15-Apr-2024 560.00 Jul/2024 (Number) Revise Local private firms or 0.00 Jun/2019 0.00 15-Apr-2024 0.00 15-Apr-2024 0.00 Jul/2024 NGOs contracted to train beneficiaries on community works (Number) Page 8 The World Bank Central African Republic - LONDO Project (P152512) Revise Direct beneficiaries of 0.00 Jun/2015 80,125.00 15-Apr-2024 80,125.00 15-Apr-2024 80,940.00 Jul/2024 LIPW (Number) Revise Direct beneficiairies of 0.00 Jun/2019 0.00 15-Apr-2024 0.00 15-Apr-2024 0.00 Jul/2024 chantiers-écoles (Number) Number of sewing workshops 0.00 May/2020 318.00 15-Apr-2024 318.00 15-Apr-2024 318.00 Aug/2021 contracted to organize and train the mask makers (Number) Direct beneficiaries 0.00 May/2020 10,474.00 15-Apr-2024 10,474.00 15-Apr-2024 10,474.00 Aug/2021 remunerated to produce the non-medical masks (Number) Number of non-medical masks 0.00 May/2020 10,368,105.00 15-Apr-2024 10,368,105.00 15-Apr-2024 10,368,105.00 Aug/2021 manufactured by the project (Number) Note to Task Team: End of system generated content, document is editable from here. Delete this note when finalizing the document. Page 9