ICRR 11664 Report Number : ICRR11664 ICR Review Operations Evaluation Department 1. Project Data: Date Posted : 02/13/2004 PROJ ID : P049691 Appraisal Actual Project Name : Urban Infrastructure Project Costs 28.00 23.71 Rehabilitation Project US$M ) (US$M) Country : Niger Loan/ Loan US$M ) 20.00 /Credit (US$M) 19.20 Sector (s): Board: UD - Other social Cofinancing 3.50 3.00 services (88%), US$M ) (US$M) Sub-national government administration (10%), Other domestic and international trade (2%) L/C Number : C2957; CP603 Board Approval 97 FY ) (FY) Partners involved : French Development Closing Date 12/31/2001 03/31/2003 Agency (AFD) Prepared by : Reviewed by : Group Manager : Group : Jay-Hyung Kim George T. K. Pitman Alain A. Barbu OEDST 2. Project Objectives and Components a. Objectives (a) Reduce poverty in urban areas by creating employment; (b) Provide municipalities with the skills necessary to develop and manage their infrastructure assets; and (c) Promote local engineering firms and contractors, labor-based methods and local materials . b. Components (a) Part A-Public Works Program: i) Promotion, identification, appraisal, designing, grant financing, supervision, and evaluation of municipality initiated sub -projects to rehabilitate essential infrastructure; ii ) Advice and training for local and central government; iii) Strengthening of the local construction industry . (b) Part B-Capacity Building: i) Studies reviewing the Borrower's central and local administration, the budgetary structure, new municipal budgetary resources, restructuring the Atelier National d'Urbanisme, establishing standardized methods for urban planning and development, and attracting private sector participation; ii ) Technical advice on mapping Niamey and the Dogondoutchi; iii ) Studies and technical assistance on urban environmental management and ex-post environmental assessment . (c) Part C-Project Management: Technical advice to the BNC and NIGETIP to strengthen their management information systems and their capacity to carry out audits of sub -projects. c. Comments on Project Cost, Financing and Dates By closing, IDA had disbursed US$ 19.2 million (99.6%) of the planned US$20.00 million credits. The Borrower provided only US$0.43 million(9.6%) of the planned contribution in the appraisal (US$4.50 million). Cofinancing (US$3.00 million) was also less than planned(US$3.50 million). Project costs fell from US$28 million projected at appraisal to less than US$24 million at completion, curtailing roughly 20 percent of the project implementation . Closing was fifteen months later than forecast, owing to the redesign of the project . 3. Achievement of Relevant Objectives: (i) Objective (a) was fully achieved. Although the project cannot be assessed with the current poverty analysis tools, it met its objective in terms of impact on poverty by creating temporary employment of 1,206,153 person-days, compared with 730,000 person-days estimated in the project appraisal document . (ii) Objective (b) was partially achieved. With redefinition of the composition and the role of the project after the mid-term review, the project prepared and delivered a set of simple planning and programming tools aimed at helping the municipalities carry out their tasks . Even though proposed decentralization of municipal management was not carried out this will have only a modest effect on the sustainability of capacity built at municipal levels . (iii) Objective (c) was achieved. The sub-projects approved was implemented in a satisfactory manner by local contractors and consultants . BNC and NIGETIP effectiveness was improved and the efficacy of the AGETIP model, modified for Niger, demonstrated. 4. Significant Outcomes/Impacts: 1. Studies carried out to measure the project's indirect impact on poverty show that the public facilities and infrastructure (schools, health facilities, and water supply system ) constructed under the project improved access of the beneficiary population to these basic services . 2. Initially planned for two cities of Niamey and Dogondoutchi, the cartography was undertaken under the form of urban sketches for 21 cities. The production of simplified digital cartography for municipalities and the production of a national atlas, plus the simple planning tools introduced, are essential steps for better urban management in Niger. 3. Contracts awarded for engineering studies, construction, and supervision have prompted the establishment of numerous local engineering firms and enterprises . 4. There has been significant buy -in to the NIGETIP program by other external development agencies . 5. Significant Shortcomings (including non-compliance with safeguard policies): 1. Planned decentralization, on which project design was predicated, was not carried out . 2. Project design was unduly ambitious, given the difficult political and institutional environment during the 1996-1999. 3. Some of the tools developed under the current centrally -administered system may not be relevant, once Niger embarks on its new municipal decentralization plan in 2005, creating 265 new communes governed by the locally-elected officials. 4. Lack of counterpart funds significantly slowed implementation of project activities . 6. Ratings : ICR OED Review Reason for Disagreement /Comments Outcome : Satisfactory Satisfactory Institutional Dev .: Substantial Substantial Sustainability : Likely Non-evaluable Sustainability will be partly dependent upon the municipal decentralization process planned for 2005 and how this clarifies funding mechanisms. Bank Performance : Satisfactory Satisfactory Satisfactory but with some shortcomings . Project design was over-ambitious and inappropriate for local project management, requiring project restructuring at MTR. Supervision was of variable quality. Borrower Perf .: Satisfactory Satisfactory Quality of ICR : Satisfactory NOTE: NOTE ICR rating values flagged with ' * ' don't comply with OP/BP 13.55, but are listed for completeness. 7. Lessons of Broad Applicability: In Africa, delegating contract management to the private sector in can be an effective strategy for municipalities to execute infrastructure programs . Adequate training for consultants and SMEs is needed to ensure a satisfactory quality for the works ordered by the municipalities. The development of partnerships between the Government, municipalities, NIGETIP and local training institutions is needed to ensure sustainability of the transfer of know -how. 8. Assessment Recommended? Yes No Why? If PPAR could explicitly analyze the exact contributions of NIGETIP and BNC to the project, it would help to draw further lessons about the Bank's work and the roles of government and implementing agencies . 9. Comments on Quality of ICR: Fairly comprehensive. However, ICR gives little account of the deficiencies in project design, appraisal, and counterpart underfunding. There is an error in reporting costs (the amount of loan/credit is described US$19.2 million in the text Section 5, instead of US$18.24 million in the table in Annex 2).