Benin
Project loan

Sector: Transportation
Project: Savalou-Djougou Road
Amount: US$4.376 million
Terms*: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: June 18, 1998
Executing agency: Directorate of Roads and Bridges, Ministry of Public Works and Transport
Cofinanciers: BADEA, Kuwait Fund, IsDB, BOAD and Government of Benin
Loan administrator: OPEC Fund
Total cost: US$42.6 million

In Benin, the under-developed road network is a major constraint on the growth potential of the agricultural sector. The poor condition of the unpaved Savalou - Djougou road, for example, limits access to the fertile farmlands and forests in the Zou and Atacora regions, where several thousand tons of cotton and up to 3,000 tons of timber are produced each year. The aim of this project is to upgrade a 226 km stretch of that road to all-weather, bitumen standard. Once the road is paved, two isolated agricultural regions will be linked with the country's main economic centers. Travel time and expense will be reduced, and the transport of agricultural inputs and produce will be facilitated. Furthermore, the road will improve access to jobs and social services for the area's 400,000 inhabitants, thereby helping to raise their incomes and living standards.

The Savalou-Djougou road is also an important segment of the transport corridor from the capital Cotonou, on the southern coast of Benin, north to landlocked Burkina Faso. Improving the road is therefore expected to encourage increased international freight and passenger traffic. As a shorter route to the port at Cotonou, the road should attract a sizable amount of commercial traffic, thereby generating road and harbor tax income for Benin.

* There is a service charge on all Fund loans of 1% per annum on amounts withdrawn and outstanding.

Burkina Faso
Project loan

Sector: Transportation
Project: Ouagadougou-Leo-Ghana Border Road
Amount: US$7 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: June 18, 1998
Executing agency: PIU, Central Directorate for Supervision of Works, under the aegis of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Affairs
Cofinanciers: AfDF, CEAO, IsDB and Government of Burkina Faso
Loan administrator: OPEC Fund
Total cost: US$36.69 million

The loan will help finance the upgrading of a strategic stretch of road connecting the capital Ouagadougou with the isolated provinces in the south of the country. As only 2% of the arable land is being farmed, these fertile southern provinces are not realizing their agricultural potential. Access to the region has long been hindered by inadequate transport infrastructure, giving area farmers little incentive to abandon subsistence agricultural practices. Consequently, incomes and living standards are among the lowest in the country. Under this project, 176 km of the earth road, the backbone of the regional network, will be upgraded to bitumen standard. Two bridges and over six km of feeder roads will also be built.

A more reliable and cost-efficient road network will improve transportation within the region and to and from the larger commercial centers. It should also encourage trade with Ghana. As the movement of inputs, goods and services becomes faster and cheaper, agricultural production is expected to increase, thereby creating new employment opportunities and helping raise incomes and living standards among the population, which will also benefit from better access to social services, such as health care and education.

In developing regions, where the volume of non-motorized and pedestrian traffic is often very high, building broad road shoulders increases safety.

Burundi
Program loan

Sector: Energy
Project: Commodity Imports
Amount: US$6 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 15-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: December 1, 1998
Executing agency: Bank of the Republic of Burundi
Loan administrator: OPEC Fund
Total cost: US$23.5 million

Landlocked Burundi is entirely dependent on imports of petroleum products, primarily in the form of fuel oil for the road transport sector. Usually the largest or second largest commodity imported, fuel oil imports declined drastically after 1993 as a result of political unrest and economic setbacks. During the first ten months of 1998, however, fuel oil imports increased and now constitute some 40% of all imports. Agriculture, the country's largest export earning sector (57% of GDP in 1996), is heavily dependent on fuel oil for operating farm equipment, importing and distributing agricultural inputs, and transporting the principal cash crops, coffee, tea and cotton, to markets and ports in neighboring countries. This loan will help finance the imports of gasoline, gas oil, kerosene and crude oil needed for these activities.

Agriculture, the mainstay of Burundi's economy, depends heavily on imported petroleum products for fueling essential farm equipment.

Chad
Project loan

Sector: Transportation
Project: Massaguet-N'Goura Road
Amount: US$7 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: December 1, 1998
Executing agency: Division des Travaux Neufs, Directorate of Roads, Ministry of Public Works, Transport, Housing and Urban Development
Cofinanciers: AfDB, BADEA, IsDB, Kuwait Fund and Government of Benin
Loan administrator: OPEC Fund
Total cost: US$57.181 million

Nearly all goods are transported by road in Chad, although the country's road network is in an early stage of development. Of the country's 7,300 km of classified roads, only 263 km are bitumen paved. Of the rest, 2,900 km are characterized as "modern earth roads", 610 km are laterite earth roads, and the remainder, "ordinary" earth roads. Non-classified rural roads and tracks account for an additional 24,000 km. In the country's Sahelian zones, the roads are built on fine sand with neither foundations nor drainage, and a single intense storm can destroy large sections. During the rainy season, most roads become impassable for four to five months.

Reliable transportation for agricultural products is of vital importance in Chad, a country with great internal distances and three distinctly different climate zones. The two Sahelian zones are highly susceptible to drought and often experience famine, while the south of the country with its good soils and adequate rainfall enjoys large harvests. Under this project, 125 km of the Massaguet-N'Goura road will be upgraded to asphalt concrete standard. Well frequented during the dry season despite its extremely poor condition, this ordinary earth road becomes virtually impassable in the rainy season even for four-wheel drive vehicles. Upgrading the road to all-weather standard will make links between the project area and the capital, N'Djamena, possible year-round, thus improving food distribution and marketing opportunities. By providing a reliable link between food deficit and food surplus areas, the road should have a powerful positive effect on food security in the project area. At the same time, by lowering transport costs and losses due to damage or spoilage in transit, the improved road should encourage additional agricultural production in remote areas. By counteracting isolation, the road will also help raise health and educational levels.

Gambia, The
Project loan

Sector: Transportation
Project: Serrekunda-Mandina Ba Road
Amount: US$1.93 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: June 18, 1998
Executing agency: Department of State for Works, Communication and Information
Cofinanciers: IsDB and Government of the Gambia
Loan administrator: IsDB
Total cost: US$7.758 million

The project involves improving an important stretch of road on the heavily used South Bank Trunk Route, which runs from Basse to Banjul, serves Yundum International Airport and provides access to the Trans-Gambia Highway and neighboring Senegal. A heavily traveled section of the road, 28.6 km long, will be rehabilitated and upgraded to all-weather standard, thereby making the link to industrial areas near Banjul and to the airport more reliable. The road will eventually form part of the Trans-West Africa Sub-Regional Highway network. By eliminating transport constraints and facilitating the movement of goods and people, the improved road will encourage economic activity, enhance the flow of goods, open new employment opportunities and improve access to social services for some 900,000 people living in the project area.

The Gambia is upgrading a road that provides access to the international airport at Banjul, the Trans-Gambia Highway and neighboring Senegal.

Guinea
Project loan

Sector: Agriculture and agro-industry
Project: Fouta Djallon Integrated Rural Development
Amount: US$4.5 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1.25% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: March 17, 1998
Executing agency: Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Forestry
Cofinanciers: IFAD, Government of Guinea and project beneficiaries
Loan administrator: United Nations Office for Project Services
Total cost: US$18.3 million

The project aims at intensifying crop production and improving local infrastructure in Middle Guinea. In addition to strengthening food security and promoting production for export, it will help boost incomes and raise living standards among some 22,000 farming families. Only 14% of Guinea's eight million ha of prime arable land is cultivated, and that mainly by smallholders, whose productivity is severely limited by lack of modern farming technology and inputs, and the absence of infrastructure conducive to commercial activity. Once a major exporter of agricultural produce, Guinea is now a net importer of food. The project is part of a Government strategy to exploit the country's agricultural potential more fully by providing farmers with technical advice and improved inputs, and upgrading rural infrastructure to facilitate marketing activities.

Teams of specialists will work with farmers to develop sustainable crop and livestock production, and achieve higher yields, while protecting the soil and other natural resources. Income-generating activities and grassroots organizations will be encouraged and supported. Infrastructure improvements will include upgrading 400 km of feeder roads and constructing or repairing 100 water points. A pilot exercise will develop nine Financial Service Associations to improve local access to loans.

Madagascar
Project loan

Sector: Education
Project: Education Improvement
Amount: US$10 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: December 1, 1998
Executing agency: PIU under the aegis of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education
Cofinanciers: Government of Madagascar and recipient communities
Loan administrator: OPEC Fund
Total cost: US$11.475 million

This loan is in support of a project within the framework of a Government education program, which seeks to improve schools and make a good education more accessible to Malagasy children, especially those in rural areas, where schools are often too far apart or too small for the rapidly growing school-age population. The project focuses on Fianarantsoa, Toliara and Mahajanga provinces, where many schools were badly damaged by recent cyclones and had to be closed. Under the project, 170 primary schools, 18 lower secondary schools and two lycées will be rehabilitated and enlarged. A total of 280 new classrooms will be constructed, 232 of them at primary schools. Sanitary facilities and wells at the schools will also be built or improved. The new classrooms will be fully furnished and equipped, and about 60% of the existing furniture and equipment in the renovated classrooms will be replaced. Furthermore, the project will supply teaching materials, office equipment and computers to four Pedagogic Research Centers in the three provinces mentioned above and Toamasina province. A school mapping exercise, teacher training seminars and workshops, as well as the necessary architectural consulting and supervision, will also be provided.

In all, 34,080 school places will be created for primary pupils and 5,760 places for secondary school students. Re-opening and enlarging the schools will help eliminate overcrowding and shorten the distance between home and school for many pupils. Better learning conditions are expected to increase the efficiency of education by lowering the repetition and drop-out rates.

H.E. Mr. T. Andrianarivo, Vice Prime Minister of Madagascar (left), and H.E. Dr. Y. Seyyid Abdulai, Director-General, met to sign the loan agreement.

Malawi
Project loan

Sector: Transportation
Project: Naminga-Nselema-Chiponde-Mangochi Road
Amount: US$7 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: September 22, 1998
Executing agency: Ministry of Works
Cofinanciers: Kuwait Fund, BADEA and Government of Malawi
Loan administrator: OPEC Fund
Total cost: US$35.24 million

As a landlocked country, Malawi is highly dependent on its roads for the movement of goods. Therefore, the Government's strategy for the transport sector focuses on developing an efficient, well-maintained road network. Improvements are especially needed in rural areas, where poor roads hamper the development of agricultural potential by restricting the movement of inputs, goods and services. This loan will cofinance the upgrading of 142 km of the Naminga-Mangochi road, a gravel-surfaced road, to bitumen standard. In addition to serving the transport needs in Liwonde Agricultural Development District in the south of the country, the road provides a valuable link to ports in neighboring Mozambique.

Most of the 1.3 million inhabitants of Liwonde District are smallholders. Yield per hectare is low, primarily because the existing possibilities for transporting produce to outside markets are so poor that farmers have little or no incentive to grow more than they need for their own families. Better access to outside markets is expected to motivate them to increase output with the aim of producing a surplus to sell on domestic markets and abroad. As a swifter, more reliable route for the transportation of goods and people, the new road should contribute to economic recovery by reducing transport costs, spurring economic activity and promoting the integration of domestic and regional markets. It will also help make social services more accessible to the rural population.

Waiting for a bus in Malawi. Improving transportation in rural areas helps to end isolation by easing access to social services, jobs and markets.

Mali
Project loans

1.
Sector: Agriculture and agro-industry
Project: Manantali Integrated Rural Development
Amount: US$3.84 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: June 18, 1998
Executing agency: National Office for Rural Development and Equipment
Cofinanciers: IsDB, Kuwait Fund, Saudi Fund and Government of Mali
Loan administrator: IsDB
Total cost: US$26.09 million

The loan is in support of a rural development project in the Kayes region which aims at expanding irrigated agriculture on the banks of the Bafing river, thereby contributing to the national objective of achieving food security and helping raise incomes and living standards for area residents. Agriculture, the mainstay of Mali's economy, contributes about 80% of exports and employs more than 80% of the total population. Soil erosion, limited use of irrigation and the lack of modern inputs and farming technology continue, however, to restrict the development of the sector. This project plans to exploit the existing water resources and introduce more productive farming techniques with the aim of boosting agricultural production on 1,562 ha downstream from the Manantali Dam.

Downstream from the Manantali Dam in Mali. A new irrigation network will be built to help boost agricultural production along the Bafing River.

Irrigation and drainage networks will be constructed over two separate perimeters, one fed directly from the dam and the other by means of a pumping station. Both perimeters will be served by a small network of feeder roads. Equipment and inputs, such as ox-plows, high-yield seeds and fertilizers, will be procured, and improved species of breeding cattle introduced to raise livestock production. A wide range of social development activities are also envisaged, including schemes to promote better health and sanitation, raise adult literacy levels and create more economic opportunities for women. To ensure the sustainability of the project, training in water management, infrastructure maintenance, rice-cropping techniques, animal nutrition and farm management will be provided.


2.
Sector: Transportation
Project: Nioro-Gogui Paved Road
Amount: US$5.5 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: December 1, 1998
Executing agency: National Office for Public Works, under the aegis of the Ministry of Equipment and Housing
Cofinanciers: IsDB and Government of Mali
Loan administrator: OPEC Fund
Total cost: US$14 million

In large, land-locked countries, development often depends to a great extent on the condition of the country's roads. Mali, the third largest African country, provides a good example. The nearest seaport (Dakar in neighboring Senegal) is 600 km from the border and nearly 1,230 km from the capital, Bamako. Less than 20% of Mali's 14,477 km of roads are paved, and more than 75% of the country's earth roads are passable only with four-wheel-drive vehicles at average speeds of 25-30 km per hour - in dry weather. At least one-third of some 15,500 km of rural tracks are absolutely impassable with normal motorized vehicles during the rainy season from June to October.

In the Sahel, where roads are literally built on "shifting sands" with neither foundations nor drainage, a single intense storm can wreak havoc.

Improving rural roads and tracks is an important prerequisite for boosting agricultural production, especially for export crops, and improving incomes and living conditions for the population. This project aims at upgrading and paving a badly damaged earth road from Nioro to Gogui on the border with Mauritania. Once completed, the road will greatly improve accessibility to eight villages in the Kayes region, one of country's poorest and most isolated, thereby promoting their development and economic integration. As the Malian portion of the Nioro-Aioun El Atrouss route, the road will link Mali and Mauritania. By providing an additional connection to the Atlantic Ocean at Nouakchott, the road will eventually facilitate the export of Malian goods and products, especially cotton and livestock, as well as much needed imports from Mauritania, such as fresh fish and agricultural inputs.

Only 20% of all roads in Mali and Mauritania are paved. Most of the others are passable only with four-wheel-drive vehicles at low speeds.

Mauritania
Project loan

Sector: Transportation
Project: Aioun El Atrouss-Hassi-Gogui-Mali Border Road
Amount: US$4 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1.25% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: December 1, 1998
Executing agency: Directorate of Public Works, Ministry of Transport and Equipment
Cofinanciers: IsDB, EDF and Government of Mauritania
Loan administrator: OPEC Fund
Total cost: US$25 million

In recent years, road traffic in Mauritania has grown at an annual rate of about 7%. With less than 0.2% of the country's vast land area suitable for agriculture, food production is still unable to keep pace with demand. Despite efforts towards self-sufficiency, the necessity to import food continues. Most imports are transported by road from the port at Nouakchott towards the interior of the country. The total road network includes about 10,300 km of roads and tracks, only one-fifth of which are at bituminous standard. While 70% of the paved roads are in good condition, over 60% of the unpaved roads are in a dismal state and become hazardous in wet weather. One such deteriorated earth road is the Aioun El Atrouss-Hassi-Gogui road, leading to the border with Mali. The road passes through an isolated area which becomes virtually inaccessible during the rainy season. Under the current project, 125 km of that road will be upgraded to bituminous concrete standard, designed to enable speeds of 80 km per hour and weights of 13 tons per vehicle. The project covers site clearance, earth and pavement works, and the construction of the necessary drainage structures and signals. This loan will cofinance the work on a 72 km stretch of the road from Hassi to Gogui. Once completed, the Aioun El Atrouss-Hassi-Gogui road is expected to stimulate a substantial volume of new trade between Mauritania and Mali. The extended zone of influence of this road and the Gogui-Nioro du Sahel Road in Mali (described above) will benefit 1.6 million people in the two countries. On a local level, the inhabitants of eight remote villages near the road will profit from being able to sell their livestock to other communities more easily, thus improving their incomes and standards of living.

Rwanda
Program loan

Sector: Energy
Program: Commodity Imports
Amount: US$6 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 15-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: December 1, 1998
Executing agency: Treasury Department, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning
Loan administrator: OPEC Fund
Total cost: US$34 million

This program loan will help Rwanda meet about one-fifth of its projected annual requirements for petroleum products, primarily petrol, gas oil and other fuels, which are needed to support economic recovery in the conflict-torn country. The petroleum imports will also contribute to efforts to diversify energy supplies, thus relieving pressure on natural forests, which are rapidly being depleted through the excessive demand for fuelwood, which currently accounts for 90% of all the energy consumed. The resulting deforestation is exerting a very negative effect on the overall environment, increasing erosion, causing significant declines in soil fertility and moisture levels, and leading to decreased agricultural productivity.

A loan for petroleum imports will help relieve pressure on Rwanda's natural forests, which are being rapidly depleted for fuelwood.

Tanzania
Project loan

Sector: Transportation
Project: Kidimni-Kitope Road Project
Amount: US$5 million
Terms: Interest rate of 1% per annum; 17-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period
Approved: September 22, 1998
Executing agency: Ministry of Communications and Transport, Zanzibar
Cofinancier: Government of Tanzania
Loan administrator: OPEC Fund
Total cost: US$5.82 million

The loan will cofinance a road rehabilitation project on Zanzibar's Unguja Island, which is being implemented within the framework of an integrated road sector recovery program. The project will support the Government in its efforts to establish the transport infrastructure necessary to boost socio-economic development on the island. Unguja has a fairly extensive road network, but most of its roads are in poor condition and constitute a major hindrance to the efficient movement of people and goods, and thus to the expansion of economic activity. The road to be upgraded is the 18.6 km Kidimni-Kitope road in the densely-populated Central District, an area rich in agricultural and human resources. This potential, however, remains largely under-developed because of the constraints imposed by poor road conditions.

Plans call for the road to be widened, resurfaced to bitumen standard and provided with drainage structures. After rehabilitation, safe travel speeds will be increased to 70 km per hour, an immense improvement over current speeds of only 10-25 km per hour. The new road is expected to have a significant impact on social and economic integration in Unguja, not only within the Central District itself, but also between the District and Zanzibar town. Communication between neighboring communities will be easier, agricultural production will be encouraged, and access to schools and healthcare facilities improved.

Inaugurating the Rufigi River Bridge in Tanzania. Opening a new road is a cause for great rejoicing in many remote communities.