Public Disclosure Authorized AFRICA Malawi Transport & Digital Development Global Practice IBRD/IDA Investment Project Financing FY 2017 Seq No: 2 ARCHIVED on 23-May-2018 ISR32537 Implementing Agencies: Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Public Private Partnership Commission, Ministry to Information and Communications Technology, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) Public Disclosure Authorized Key Dates Key Project Dates Bank Approval Date:05-Jun-2017 Planned Mid Term Review Date:01-Nov-2019 Original Closing Date:30-Jun-2022 Project Development Objectives Effectiveness Date:-- Actual Mid-Term Review Date:-- Revised Closing Date:30-Jun-2022 Public Disclosure Authorized Project Development Objective (from Project Appraisal Document) To increase access to affordable, high quality internet services for government, businesses and citizens and to improve the government's capacity to deliver digital public services. Has the Project Development Objective been changed since Board Approval of the Project Objective? No PHRPDODEL Components Name Digital Ecosystem:(Cost $9.50 M) Public Disclosure Authorized Digital Connectivity:(Cost $34.00 M) Digital Platforms and Services:(Cost $23.90 M) Project Management:(Cost $5.00 M) Overall Ratings Name Previous Rating Current Rating Progress towards achievement of PDO Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory Overall Risk Rating Moderate Moderate 5/23/2018 Page 1 of 8
Implementation Status and Key Decisions The project was approved by the World Bank Board of Directors on June 5, 2017 and is still pending Parliamentary Approval and Ratification prior to declaring effectiveness. The Loan Authorisation Bill is now expected to be presented to Parliament for consideration during the May 2018 sitting. Overall project preparation/implementation is downgraded to moderately satisfactory in light of the delays. The US$3 million project preparation advance (PPA) is now fully committed and disbursed 99% and it can therefore no longer support any new activities. A series of activities and procurements have been successfully implementing or have been completed. However due to the delay in presenting the loan authorization bill to Parliament, procurement processes for several critical activities such as recruitment of the MAREN staff, PPP transaction advisory services for the public institutions connectivity transaction and the datacenter advisory services have been delayed or suspended pending project effectiveness and ability to access project funds. Find below an update on the ongoing activities: 1. The National Broadband Strategy Consultancy is nearly completed and a final workshop was held on 9th April 2018 to disseminate the findings. 2. The Regulatory Advisory Services Study is nearly completed, with MACRA now in the public consultation and official adoption process for a range of new regulations, primarily related to implementation of the mandates under the Revised Communications Act and e-transactions Bill. These regulations are expected to support infrastructure sharing, greater competition and lower consumer prices for services. 3. The procurement for Connectivity Transaction Advisory services to carry out a detailed feasibility study (DFS) and provide transaction advisory services is underway in anticipation of project effectiveness (this process was started earlier and then delayed after the expressions of interest were received due to lack of funding available/project effectiveness.) 4. The digital mapping exercise which mapped out all the public sector offices/institutions in the 28 districts in Malawi has been completed, in conjunction with the Department of Surveys. The data is posted on the Malawi Spatial Data Platform (MASDAP), with open access to the public. It will be used to identify the locations and service level specifications for the connectivity services transaction. 5. The Enterprise Architecture and Interoperability Framework study has completed drafts of most deliverables and is now being revised based on feedback provided to the consultants, with target completion by end June. 6. The Digital Government Strategy and Institutional review is well advanced, with drafts of most deliverables completed and revision underway based on feedback provided to the consultants, with target completion by end June. 7. The procurement processes for the Malawi Research Network (MAREN) have been temporarily suspended pending the approval of the loan authorisation bill (after shortlisting had been completed). 8. The procurement of a consultant to conduct a gap analysis study and develop the Universal Services Fund (USF) operations manual towards the establishment of the USF is now underway, following delays pending approval of the loan authorization bill. 9. The recruitment of additional staff including the Digital Technology Specialist, the ICT Partnerships Manager and a Project Accountant at the PPPC has been temporarily suspended pending the approval of the loan authorization bill. Risks Systematic Operations Risk-rating Tool Risk Category Rating at Approval Previous Rating Current Rating Political and Governance Substantial Substantial High Macroeconomic Substantial Substantial Substantial Sector Strategies and Policies Substantial High High Technical Design of Project or Program Moderate Moderate Moderate Institutional Capacity for Implementation and Sustainability Moderate Substantial Substantial Fiduciary Moderate Moderate Moderate Environment and Social Moderate Substantial Substantial 5/23/2018 Page 2 of 8
Stakeholders Moderate Moderate Moderate Other -- -- -- Overall Moderate Moderate Moderate Results Project Development Objective Indicators Internet Users per 100 people (Percentage, Custom) Value 17.60 17.60 19.60 30.00 Date 30-Dec-2016 31-Oct-2017 02-Feb-2018 30-Jun-2022 Retail Price of Pre-Paid Mobile Broadband Monthly Bundle, 500MB Data Volume (Amount(USD), Custom) Value 4.08 4.08 4.00 3.00 Date 30-Dec-2016 31-Oct-2017 02-Feb-2018 30-Jun-2022 Number of Public Institutions Utilizing High Speed Internet Connections Under the Project (Number, Custom) Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 400.00 People obtaining new digital skills or knowledge under the project (Number, Custom) Value 0.00 0.00 205.00 1,500.00 5/23/2018 Page 3 of 8
Date 02-Jun-2017 31-Oct-2017 02-Feb-2018 30-Jun-2022 Of which, Percentage of Women and Girls obtaining new digital skills or knowledge under the project (Percentage, Custom Supplement) Value 0.00 0.00 15.70 50.00 Number of Transactions Per Year Utilizing the Shared Digital Services Platform (Number, Custom) Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 25,000.00 Direct project beneficiaries (Number, Custom) Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 6,280,000.00 Female beneficiaries (Percentage, Custom Supplement) 5/23/2018 Page 4 of 8
PHINDIRITBL PHINDIRITBL Value 46.00 0.00 0.00 48.00 Overall Comments Total project beneficiaries to be estimated only after implementation of key policy and regulatory activities with impact on ICT sector development and internet access. Intermediate Results Indicators Percentage of the population covered by at least a 3G mobile network (Percentage, Custom) Value 32.00 32.00 42.00 60.00 Date 31-Dec-2015 31-Oct-2017 31-Dec-2016 30-Jun-2022 Comments Latest ITU data that has been released is for December 2016. 2017 data should be available soon. GSMA intelligence also shows growth in 3G and 4G though with a much lower baseline and current indicator (22%). Publication and Adoption of National Strategies for Broadband Access and Digital Government (Number, Custom) Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.00 Comments Indicator expected to be met as of next ISR 5/23/2018 Page 5 of 8
PHINDIRITBL PHINDIRITBL PHINDIRITBL PHINDIRITBL Number of Higher Education Students Provided with Enhanced with Access to the Internet Under the Project (Number, Custom) Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 10,000.00 Number of e-services and Applications Utilizing the Shared Services Platform (Number, Custom) Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 8.00 Number of MDAs and LGAs using eprocurement System (Number, Custom) Value 0.00 0.00 0.00 6.00 Average wholesale monthly price per Mbit/s of international internet bandwidth (Amount(USD), Custom) Value 466.00 466.00 466.00 50.00 Date 28-Feb-2017 31-Oct-2017 12-May-2018 30-Jun-2022 Comments New data not yet reported 5/23/2018 Page 6 of 8
PHINDIRITBL Digital services developed based on priorities identified through citizen engagement (Yes/No) (Yes/No, Custom) Value N N N Y Overall Comments Data on Financial Performance Disbursements (by loan) Project Loan/Credit/TF Status Currency Original Revised Cancelled Disbursed Undisbursed Disbursed P160533 IDA-60500 Not Effective USD 72.40 72.40 0.00 0.00 74.26 0% Key Dates (by loan) Project Loan/Credit/TF Status Approval Date Signing Date Effectiveness Date Orig. Closing Date Rev. Closing Date P160533 IDA-60500 Not Effective 05-Jun-2017 -- -- 30-Jun-2022 30-Jun-2022 Cumulative Disbursements 5/23/2018 Page 7 of 8
Restructuring History There has been no restructuring to date. Related Project(s) There are no related projects. 5/23/2018 Page 8 of 8