Mohamed El-Ashry -3- November 25, 2002

THE WORLD BANK/IFC/M.I.G.A.

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

DATE: November 13, 2002

TO: Mr. Mohamed El-Ashry, CEO/Chairman, GEF

FROM: Lars Vidaeus, GEF Executive Coordinator

EXTENSION: 34188

SUBJECT: NILE BASIN INIATIVE (for Burundi, D.R. Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda): Nile Transboundary Environmental Action Project

Joint Bank/UNDP Submission for Final CEO Endorsement

  1. Please find attached the electronic files of the Bank Project Appraisal Document (PAD) and the UNDP Project Document for the above-mentioned project for your and Secretariat staff’s review and your final endorsement. The scheduled Board date for this project is 30 January 2003. We would appreciate receiving your response, by December 2, 2002.
  2. The Bank PAD and UNDP Project Document are fully consistent with the objectives, scope, and overall cost of the proposal approved at the December 2001 Council meeting. GEF Council comments have been addressed as detailed below.

Comments from GEF Council / Response/Comments
Comments from Switzerland:
We strongly recommend the proposed GEF financing. An absence of the GEF in this multi-donor program would not be understandable, as there is an extraordinary emphasis, and strong commitment by all riparian states to this program / Comments noted and appreciated. No response needed.
The strong support by World Bank and UNDP, together with the commitment of all riparians is a good basis for such a long term endeavor. / Comments noted and appreciated. No response needed.
This program is crucial for the development of a geopolitically important and sensitive region of the world. The program will contribute to the management of Natural Resources in a sustainable way and thus maintain or even improve the ecological equilibrium of this sensitive and unique region. / Comments noted and appreciated. No response needed.
This program has a huge potential for private-public partnerships. In fact the public financing should be seen as “seed money” for a much bigger private investment program. / Public- private partnerships and private sector involvement: Two Subsidiary Action Investment Programs have been formed within the Nile Basin Initiative. Innovative financing mechanisms, including PPP, are being explored during the design of these investment programs and projects.
A strong multidonor – commitment is already visible. An absence of GEF would not be understandable. GEF, as the worlds biggest participant in the areas of ecological and environmental issues, should “show the way” and has sufficient importance and weight needed for an efficient policy dialogue. The committed bilateral donors alone would not have this possibility. / Comments noted and appreciated.
No response needed.
Transboundary problems have to be solved with transboundary approaches and expand by far the possibilities of solely bilateral donors. Therefore the joint approach by many Bilaterals together with the “big three” (WB, UNDP, GEF) is very promising or probably the only way to tackle such problems. / Comments noted and appreciated. No response needed.
We also strongly recommend to GEF to:
Push for an immediate association of the private sector and NGOs to this program. Both have an important role to play. / NGO involvement: In terms of the project, NGOs/CBOs will be direct beneficiaries of the large Microgrants component of the project. Furthermore, the Environmental Education and Awareness component is specifically involving relevant national and regional NGOs. In relation and to interact with the larger NBI program, the NGO community has formed (and received funding for) the Nile Discourse with an independent NGO desk close to the NBI Secretariat. Private sector – see above
Strive for joint and efficient coordination mechanisms with other donors to keep the financial and administrative workload and transaction costs low. / Donor coordination: An International Consortium for Cooperation on the Nile (ICCON) has been established to support the NBI’s Strategic Action Program. Its first meeting took place in June 2001. The ICCON is a unique forum, envisioned as a long-term partnership of the riparian states and the international community.
  1. The following changes have been made to the project design since Work Program entry:

Water Quality Monitoring Component - The pre-appraisal mission identified a need for taking a step-wise approach on a basin-wide scale based on the obvious large differences in priority, institutional frameworks and technical capacity between countries. National capacity building activities will have to complement the transboundary efforts during the time of the project. The activities in this first basin-wide effort have been designed to initiate dialogue, facilitate common stock taking and identification of gaps and needs for transboundary action, and aligning measurement methods across the basin. Monitoring activities emphasize field methods and complementarity with ongoing activities and microgrants efforts to assure sustainability. NBTF co-financing was initially envisioned largely for additional equipment, which based on the pre-appraisal mission is perceived as unsustainable and not recommended at this point.

Institutional Capacity Building – Basin-wide River Basin Model (RBM) – The development of this basin-wide model will aid in understanding the regional hydrology, inform development scenarios and contribute to the assessment of likely environmental impacts of future developments. This activity will be administered through the Water Resources Planning and Development Project and co-financing for the development of the RBM of $US 2.7 million from the Nile Basin Trust Fund (NBTF) have been secured and are reflected in the project cost summary (Annex 2, Appendix E).

Incremental Costs – The figures for the alternative have been updated to represent the latest figures of the non-GEF funded increment and are reflected in Annex 4 (for projects of Shared Vision Program that are forming part of the Alternative).

  1. Please let me know if you require any additional information to complete your review of the project document. We look forward to receiving your endorsement of the project for Bank Board approval and UNDP project document signature.

Many thanks.

Attachments Nile Transboundary Environmental Action Project – Bank PAD and UNDP Project Document; Letter from UNDP dated 8 November 2002

cc: Messrs./Mmes. King, GEF PROGRAM COORDINATION (GEFSEC); Biderman, Grey (AFTU1); Andersen, Vilceus (AFTU2); Scobey, Bond, Crepin, Hillers (AFTES); Msellati, Collier (MNSRE); Khanna, Wedderburn, Aryal, Hatziolos (ENV); Pinto, Torres, Alers, Hudson (UNDP/ESDG/GEF); Cluckers (UNDP Sudan Deputy Resident Representative); Daraghma (UNDP Regional Coordinator); ENVGC ISC, AFTU2 Files (IRIS for P070073)