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Multilateral Development Bank Assistance Proposals
Likely to Have Adverse Impacts -
By Region & Country
>> Summary >> MDB Assistance Proposals
Summary
MDB Assistance Proposals - By Region & Country
Africa
Africa (page 2)
Asia & Pacific
Europe & Central Asia
Latin Amer. & Caribbean
Middle East & N. Africa
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As described in the introduction, USAID is required to review proposed multilateral development bank (MDB) loans for economic viability and impact on the environment, natural resources, public health, and indigenous peoples. This main body of this report describes a selection of loans at various stages with an emphasis on the World Bank's review process and its project loans. Structural adjustment and other loans are also represented. Because of space considerations, there are some projects in USAID's last report that are not repeated here yet continue to be controversial. Their omission from this report is not necessarily an indication that all questions have been resolved. The Agency is continuing to press for resolutions.
This report does not prejudge the U.S. government's position on the final versions of the projects listed here. Rather it serves as a record of USAID environmental monitoring of a group of MDB projects at a given time. Since USAID does not have the resources to analyze every MDB project, this analysis is representative rather than comprehensive. Thus, should a particular loan not be included in this list, it should not necessarily be concluded that the project does not have potential environmental issues. Though this list is representative, USAID has confidence in its value as a review during this period of MDB projects with potential environmental problems.
The Agency hopes to include more on the regional development banks in its future reports. The report seeks to inform congressional and other readers of problem areas and to help the MDBs to demonstrate that any problems in these areas have been addressed so that the tremendous development potential of these institutions and their partners can be achieved.
This report was written over a period of late 2000 to mid-2001. Entries tend to reflect the evolution of the projects over that time. For the most recent status of projects, the reader may wish to check directly with USAID or the MDBs or the banks' Web sites. Finally, some loans or project descriptions are included even though board votes or other actions may have been taken on a given part or phase, because such projects and loans often come in several segments with support from one or more international financial institution. Such descriptions are also useful for the light they shed on the process and the likely impact on the affected environments and peoples.
Tracking Bank Loans: Monthly Operating Summary
One of the best means of tracking World Bank loans is the Monthly Operating Summary (MOS), which had been available only for a subscription rate of several hundred dollars, but which on 16 June 2000, at least for a trial period, became available on the bank's Web site at http://www.worldbank.org/html/opr/procure/MOS/mosguide.html.
The MOS is updated on the 16th of each month. The following description is taken from that site. It provides a useful description of the World Bank's project cycle as well. The reader is warned, however, that not all projects one would expect to find are easily located in the MOS. Therefore, it should not be the reader's only source.
The Monthly Operational Summary reports on the status of projects in the World Bank's pipeline—from the point of identification of investment opportunities to the signing of the loan or credit. After loans or credits are signed, entries are dropped from the MOS.
By becoming familiar with the Bank's "project cycle," summarized in the following paragraphs, consultants or suppliers of goods and works can gauge when the timing is right for them to pursue business opportunities with Bank borrowers. Each entry in the MOS tells at what point in the project cycle a particular project resides.
During IDENTIFICATION, both governments and the Bank are involved in analyzing development strategies for the borrower's economy as a whole and in identifying projects that support those strategies. When the project identification is completed, the Project Information Document will be available through the Public Information Center—see below for more information.
PREPARATION, the second stage of the cycle, is the responsibility of the borrower. During preparation, the technical and institutional alternatives for achieving a project's objectives are identified and discussed. Preparation usually requires feasibility studies followed by more detailed studies of the alternatives that promise to yield the most satisfactory results. The environmental assessment is usually carried out during this phase—see below for more information on environmental assessment. In this stage of the project cycle, borrowers often supplement their own efforts by hiring consultants to carry out a major part of the work.
Project APPRAISAL, the responsibility of the Bank, provides a comprehensive review of all aspects of the project (technical, institutional, economic, and financial) and lays the foundation for implementing the project and evaluating it when completed. Conducted by Bank staff, project appraisal may be supplemented by individual experts. A Project Appraisal Document is published following this stage.
During NEGOTIATIONS, discussions are held between the Bank and the borrower and agreements reached are contained in the draft loan documents. Upon completion of negotiations, the project is then presented to the Executive Directors of the Bank for their consideration. After approval, the loan agreement is signed.
IMPLEMENTATION of a project usually starts after the loan is declared effective, which can normally be expected to take a few months after loan signing. Contractors and suppliers, therefore, should contact borrowers expressing their interest in specific projects. They should obtain information on what goods and services will be needed, and when and how to submit bids and proposals. During implementation, consultants are often used to provide technical assistance and other project implementation support. As contracts for consulting services are not usually advertised, consultants, in particular, should contact the responsible implementing agency early in the project preparation period to express their interest.
Within each region, projects are classified by the following sector designations:
Agriculture Education/Training Environment Finance Industry Infrastructure Population, Health, and Nutrition Power Private Sector Development Public Sector Management Reconstruction/Rehabilitation Rural Development Social Sector Structural Adjustment Transport Urban Development Telecommunications Water Supply/Sanitation A typical entry in the MOS looks like this:
Kenya
Water Supply/Sanitation
(R) Mombasa Water and Sanitation: The project seeks to a) develop ground water sources; b) improve the transmission line between Baricho Well Field and Mombasa; and c) provide emergency measures to improve distribution systems and reduce unaccounted for water. Project preparation is under way. Environmental Assessment Category to be determined.
US$30 million (IDA). Consultant services to be determined.
National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation, Workshop Road and Commercial Street, PO Box 30173, Nairobi, Kenya, Tel: (254-2) 556-600, Fax: (254-2) 545-882.
World Bank Environmental Assessment Process and Categories
In October 1989 the bank established a specific policy and procedures for environmental assessment and related environmental analyses of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA) lending operations. Under this environmental assessment process, the type, timing, and main issues of environmental analysis to be performed by the borrower are to be confirmed at the time that a given lending operation is initiated into the bank's prospective lending program and thereafter reported and updated on a quarterly basis in the Monthly Operational Summary.
In October 1991 the bank revised its policies and procedures so that projects are now assigned one of the following categories on the bases of the nature, magnitude, and sensitivity of environmental issues:
Category A. Environmental assessment is normally required as the project may have adverse and significant environmental impacts.
Category B. More limited environmental analysis is appropriate, as the project may have specific environmental impacts.
Category C. Environmental analysis is normally unnecessary.
Category FI. A proposed project is classified as category FI if it involves investment of bank funds through a financial intermediary, in subprojects that may result in adverse environmental impacts.
"U" (unclassified). This indicates structural and sectoral adjustment loans, which do not fall within one of the above categories for purposes of the directive governing environmental assessment.
The 1991 revision also introduced the use of a standard environmental data sheet for all projects to identify the main issues and schedule for any required environmental analysis.
Project descriptions in every issue of the Monthly Operational Summary include the environmental category A, B, C, or FI, except in the case of structural and sectoral adjustment loans, which are designated "U."
Most regional development banks and financial institutions have similar systems, though there are differences in the names of the designations and how the process is applied. Further information is available from each institution. The Asian Development Bank, for example, gives helpful illustrative examples of environmental categories for projects. These are generally representative of all three basic categories used by the MDBs:
Category A (World Bank A, AfDB I):
- Forest industries (large scale)
- Irrigation (large scale with new source development)
- River basin development
- Large scale power plants
- Large scale industries
- Surface and underground mining
- Large water impoundments
- New railways/mass transit/roads (near or through sensitive areas)
- Ports and harbors
- Water supply (with impoundments, river intakes, or both)
Category B (World Bank B, AfDB II):
- Agroindustries (small scale or no wet processing)
- Renewable energy
- Aquaculture and mariculture
- Rehabilitation, maintenance, and upgrading projects (small scale)
- Industries (small-scale and without toxic/harmful pollution discharges)
- Water supply without impoundments or new river intakes
Category C (World Bank C, AfDB III):
- Forestry research and extension
- Protected area establishment and management
- Marine sciences education
- Geological or mineral surveys
- Education
- Family planning
- Capital market development study
Stages of World Bank Processing
There are 11 stages in the processing of a typical World Bank project. They ordinarily proceed as follows:
- Identification
- Preparation, including feasibility studies, alternative studies, environmental assessment
- Preparation mission
- Preappraisal mission
- Preappraisal
- Appraisal mission, including comprehensive review of all aspects of the project
- Appraisal report preparation concludes this stage
- Negotiations
- Board date and approval
- Signing of loan agreement
- Implementation
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Last Updated on: March 20, 2002 |
