The World Bank Report No: ISR14073 Implementation Status & Results Mauritania Public Sector Capacity Building Project (P082888) Public Disclosure Copy Operation Name: Public Sector Capacity Building Project (P082888) Project Stage: Implementation Seq.No: 15 Status: ARCHIVED Archive Date: 19-Mar-2014 Country: Mauritania Approval FY: 2007 Product Line: IBRD/IDA Region: AFRICA Lending Instrument: Specific Investment Loan Implementing Agency(ies): Key Dates Board Approval Date 06-Jul-2006 Original Closing Date 31-Dec-2009 Planned Mid Term Review Date 07-Mar-2011 Last Archived ISR Date 12-Mar-2014 Effectiveness Date 16-Jan-2007 Revised Closing Date 29-Mar-2014 Actual Mid Term Review Date 07-Mar-2011 Project Development Objectives Project Development Objective (from Project Appraisal Document) The development objective of the project is to contribute to the improvement of performance, efficiency, and transparency of public resources management in Mauritania. Has the Project Development Objective been changed since Board Approval of the Project? Yes No Component(s) Component Name Component Cost A. Improvement of public finance management 5.84 B. Support to local development 0.90 C. Mainstreaming Environment into development management 0.99 D. Improvement of HRM in public administration 2.70 E. Support to project implementation, monitoring and evaluation 1.81 Refinancing of the PPF (6 percent of total project costs) 0.76 Public Disclosure Copy Price and Physical contingencies (10 percent of total project costs) 0.00 Overall Ratings Previous Rating Current Rating Progress towards achievement of PDO Moderately Satisfactory Satisfactory Overall Implementation Progress (IP) Moderately Satisfactory Satisfactory Overall Risk Rating Substantial Substantial Implementation Status Overview Page 1 of 9 The World Bank Report No: ISR14073 This US$ 13-million Mauritania Public Sector Capacity Building Project (P082888) was approved by the Board on July 6, 2006 and became effective on January 16, 2007. Due to the political instability caused by a coup d'etat in 2008, the Bank's activities were suspended for 15 months between August 2008 and October 2009. The Project has undergone 5 restructuring to date, as follows. The original closing date of the project, December 31, 2009, was extended for two years to December 31, 2011 for the first time because of this suspension of all operations, then to March 2012 for the second time, and further extended for a third and final time to March 29, 2014. The forth restructuring, which involved minor Public Disclosure Copy changes in the Result Framework to better measure the outcomes, was approved in October 2013. On February 27, 2014, the project canceled undisbursed SDR645,000 (US $993,300 equivalent) or 7% of total funds through the fifth and last restructuring, for the following 2 reasons: (1) Thanks to the savings from the project, 2 new activities were included in the project action plan in April, 2013: (i) support for the PFM reform coordination unit, and (ii) support for implementation of the Civil Service reform strategy. However, given the limited time for its implementation, they are expected to disburse only 25% and 30% respectively by the closing date. The remaining of funds was therefore canceled and will be covered by the Government of Mauritania with their own financial resource. (2) US$ 687,232 of savings was further identified. After 7 years of implementation, the (i) achievement of outcomes, (ii) efficiency and (iii) sustainability of the project are summarized below. (i) Achievement of Outcomes The project Development Objective is to contribute to the improvement of performance, efficiency and transparency of public resource management in Mauritania. The project achieved its targets for 5 out of 6 PDO indicators and 12 out of 13 intermediate indicators. PDO 1 : Improvement of budget preparation – Achieved (Component A) • Budget preparation process has been significantly improved by aligning it with a new global MTEF as well as 7 sectoral MTEFs financed by the Project that have helped to focus on programmatic expenditures related to poverty reduction. Challenges for future will be timely updating of those frameworks and implementing them during budget preparation in a more rigorous manner, including by making the MTEF more realistic through better use of budget data. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development recently established several working groups to continue their efforts for its updates. PDO 2 : Improvement of budget execution – Achieved (Component A) • Establishment of transparent and effective financial management systems is a key achievement of this project. It includes the expenditure chain (RACHAD), the automated system for customs data (ASYCUDA++), the tax administration system, the debt management system, the land registry system, and the integrated human resources management system including the payroll and pension. Moreover, the automatic payment of payment orders by connecting the Treasury and the Central Bank is an extraordinary achievement, as the payment/budget execution has completely shifted from manual operation to the automated one. It resulted in reducing the payment duration by half and the payment transaction status and balance can be timely monitored on line on both sides. Reconciliation is now being done on a daily basis. Inter-operational system that interconnects all these PFM systems has been mostly completed (except the treasury, the tax administration system and the customs). While the basic systems have been established, the Bank further needs capacity building support for change management to adapt to the new management environment, and to operate them more efficiently. PDO 3 : Improvement of tax collection – Achieved (Component A) • As a result of the fiscal census in Nouakchott in 2012, financed by PRECASP, with an aim to identify all commercial and non-commercial properties and activities, a large Public Disclosure Copy number of unregistered taxpayers and unpaid sales tax were found. Following a rectification in the tax registry and improved tax collection, tax revenue in 2013 has increased by 160% in comparison with 2011. The development of a new tax administration system, which includes the e-tax system to be implemented in the near future, is mostly completed (provisional acceptance is expected by March 25), which will further ease the administrative burden on the tax administration and allow them to focus their scarce capacities on remaining areas of weakness. A significant amount of work remains for strengthening capacity for tax administration and improving communication with the taxpayers. PDO 4 : Improvement of public human resources management (HRM) –Achieved (Component D) • The project has been providing support for all aspects of establishing a sound HRM system in Mauritania such as the census of public servants, clean-up and reconciliation of different datasets for payroll, pension and HR records, capacity building training for key HR management staff in the Ministry of Public Service, and an establishment of the integrated HRM IT system in the Ministry of Finance and Public Service. Throughout the processes, HR records have been fine-tuned (updated and verified?) and most of the irregularities such as ghost workers and double dippers have been eliminated. The establishment of the integrated HRM system is the last achievement of this project. The new system captures all civil servants correctly (final acceptance is expected to be received before March 20). In addition, it will allow better managing civil servants’ career from Page 2 of 9 The World Bank Report No: ISR14073 recruitment through retirement including their performance, thereby serving as a strategic tool to restructure the public administration, downsizing the high wage bill and moving towards a performance-based administration. PDO 5 : Improvement of public procurement in compliance with the procurement plan– Achieved (Component A) Public Disclosure Copy • As a result of the reform, public procurement is being executed more transparently in compliance with the adopted institutional procurement plans supported by the Project. The regulatory agency, the 7 sectoral procurement commissions as well as the control commission were established and are now operational. The standard bidding documents as well as the new operational manual were prepared and training for both private sector and public entities were completed. Yet, the established institutions are complex, and not fully functioning due to weak capacity. The procurement process itself remains complex and slow. Since procurement reform is an on-going and continuous process, the team encourages the Bank to continue supporting it. PDO 6 : Decrease in the single source contracting in public procurement - Not achieved (Component A) • In 2012, the share of single source contracting in total increased to 8.3% from 6% in 2011. This is mainly due to emergency spending related to severe drought. The statistics have not been made publicly available since 2011. Other noteworthy achievements that contributed further to achieve the Development Objective are the following: (1) Completion of the Population and Habitat Census through support to the National Statistics Office (Component A) Thanks to additional support by PRECASP, the census operation that was delayed for 2 years was successfully completed in spring 2013 and authorities subsequently made the tentative result of 3.387.868 habitants available in June 2013. The National Statistics Office (ONS) made strong efforts to achieve gender equality, providing job opportunities to 90 IT operators, who are all female and very competent. The census was critical for the development of the country as important data such as demographic and socio-economic statistics have been updated for the first time since 5 years. (2) Establishment of land management system (Component A) The land management system (cadaster) to electronically manage land titles was established for the first time in the country. All titles available in the country were scanned and registered in the electronic system. Double and/or false titles were eliminated and regularized through the registration process. The next step would be how to use it as a strategic tool to address related issues including property taxes and guarantees for the Bank. (3) Improvement of PFM coordination (Component A) Following an approval of the PFM reform master plan in 2011, the Ministry of Finance has established the coordination unit with support from the PRECASP and identified all missing actions and financial gaps in the plan. A first round table was organized on December 10, 2013. This was a critical step to improve the coordination among financial and technical partners involved in the PFM reform. (4) A big step forward to the E-government (Component A) PRECASP supported to create an electronic archive and records system in the government for critical documents such as minutes of ministerial meetings, legal documents (Laws, Public Disclosure Copy Presidential and Ministerial Decrees), policy statements, etc. It improved significantly the efficiency of the public administration and also paved the way for establishing the platform for the electronic system in each ministry. (5) Mainstreaming Environment in the Economic Development Policy (Component C) Environment policy has been successfully integrated in the development program with the creation of a new ministry and the adoption of the National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) for the first time in the country. The green growth study and the clean energy program have been subsequently prepared. They paved the way for more sustainable economic development of the country. The outcomes achieved by the project are important as PRECASP has been the first project in the country to initiate important reform activities. As summerized above, it introduced for the first time in the country several innovations in the public administration by putting in place effective public resources management systems. The use of those systems are strongly contributing to a more effective and efficient management of the public sector in Mauritania. Moreover, it should be noted that for some indicators the project has even Page 3 of 9 The World Bank Report No: ISR14073 surpassed the targets like in the case of PDO 1, 2 and 3, respectively, on budget preparation, execution and tax c ollection. The Project Development Objective has therefore been satisfactorily achieved. Public Disclosure Copy (ii) Efficiency The implementation of this project was long and not without problems and challenges, as the project underwent 5 restructuring to date with the strong willingness it would achieve its objectives and to adapt to changing circumstances. It should be also stressed that Mauritania remains a fragile country. As experienced 15 months of the project interruption due to the political instability caused by a coup d'etat in 2008, the project has been implemented under uncertain and difficult political circumstances. Nonetheless, the government has made tremendous efforts to carry out important and major reforms and achieved them, despite these delays in the project management. The challenges of the project and implementation delays were mainly due to (i) a complex project design including 4 sectors, (ii) the broad variety of beneficiaries (5 ministries and several institutions/agencies) which makes the coordination and project management difficult, (iii) a long and complex national procurement process (duplications of roles in several commissions and frequent complaint cases), (iv) a limited level of monitoring by the project committee (it was organized only twice in 2012 and 2013 respectively as opposed to the quarterly basis organization), and (v) a not well conceived implementation arrangement. The pilot committee was headed by the Ministry of Public Service, whose the minister was responsible for signing all contracts of the project, while the major beneficiaries and activities of this project were situated in the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development. This unfavorable implementation arrangement did not ensure efficient project management and appropriate monitoring. Moreover, the project encountered several problems during implementation because of resistance to change from several stakeholders as many activities supported by the project represented important innovations in the country. It should be also noted frequent change of TTLs (5 TTLs for 7 years including 15 months of interruption) was not helpful to ensure appropriate supervision and monitoring of the project. To improve the disbursement and to complete all planned activities within the tight schedule, special efforts from the Government and the Bank's team were made in the last year of the project. These efforts included: (i) assignment of additional staff from the government to thoroughly follow and manage on-going but stuck activities; (ii) additional technical support from the Bank's team by all means (supervision mission, monthly VC and daily phone conversation) to discuss and review/modify activities if needed, and to evaluate results and impacts; (iii) the strengthening of the supervision mission/team with additional members including a new public sector specialist, a senior procurement specialist, a PFM IT expert, a M&E specialist, and a construction expert for rehabilitation of the Ministry of Environment. As a consequence of these efforts, the last supervision in January and March 2014 noted significant progress. The disbursement rate was improved from 55% to 90% in 12 months. The final disbursement rate will be close to 100% after the cancellation of SDR 645,000. (The rate will be finalized during the grace period.) (iii) Sustainability The development of transparent and efficient public resource management systems supported by PRECASP is a positive sign in terms of sustainability. The two last supervision missions in January and March 2014 appreciated that the government realizes the benefits of using those systems and will likely use them in the future. Public Disclosure Copy Another important contribution to make project achievements sustainable is the stocktaking exercise that the Bank has supported to better highlight and capture all the achievements but also to reflect upon the problems and delays the project has encountered to learn from them. The Bank team is in the process of developing the successor of PRECASP that might follow up on some activities already supported by the project to ensure further sustainability. The successor of the PRECASP and the government will likely put particular attention to sustainability 1) by accompanying the public reform process by paying attention to change management so that stakeholders will take full advantage of the new systems developed and 2) by developing a learning system to capture the information and knowledge produced by the project. Locations Page 4 of 9 The World Bank Report No: ISR14073 Country First Administrative Division Location Planned Actual Mauritania Wilaya du Trarza Rosso Public Disclosure Copy Mauritania District de Nouakchott Nouakchott Mauritania Wilaya de Dakhlet Nouadhibou Nouadhibou Mauritania Not Entered Islamic Republic of Mauritania Results Project Development Objective Indicators Indicator Name Core Unit of Measure Baseline Current End Target INDICATOR #1: Budget preparation is Number Value 0.00 7.00 3.00 improved through enhanced linking with policy Date 31-Dec-2006 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 priorities. Comments REVISED - Number of Achieved Achieved ministries preparing the budget in line with MTEF INDICATOR #2: Budget execution is improved Number Value 48.00 24.00 36.00 through a more efficient payment process at Date 30-Mar-2012 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Treasury. Comments NEW - Payment executed in Achieved - Interconnection Achieved - Interconnection number of hours between treasury and central between treasury and central BK is completed on January BK is completed on January 2014. Payment duration was 2014. Payment duration was reduced by half. reduced by half. INDICATOR #3: Tax collection is improved. Number Value 183.70 250.50 211.26 Date 31-Dec-2011 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Comments NEW - Billion Ouguiya Achieved. Tax collection is Achieved. Tax collection is significantly improved significantly improved following the fiscal census. following the fiscal census. Public Disclosure Copy INDICATOR #4: Percentage of civil servants Percentage Value 0.00 100.00 50.00 effectively monitored by the Ministry of Civil Date 31-Dec-2006 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Service. Comments REVISED - % of civil servants The integrated HR The integrated HR registered in and monitored management system which management system which through HR system captures all civil servants is captures all civil servants is under finalization and final under finalization and final acceptance will be received acceptance will be received by March 25. by March 25, 2014. Page 5 of 9 The World Bank Report No: ISR14073 INDICATOR #5: Public Procurement executed Number Value 0.00 8.00 4.00 in compliance with the adopted institutional Date 30-Mar-2012 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 procurement plans. Comments NEW - Number of ministries Achieved Achieved Public Disclosure Copy executing their procurement in compliance with their procurement plan INDICATOR #6: There is a decreasing Percentage Value 6.00 8.30 5.00 percentage of single source contracting. Date 30-Mar-2012 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Comments NEW - Single source The last available statistics Not achieved contracting as % of total date 2012. Single source contracting rate has not been officially published since 2011. Intermediate Results Indicators Indicator Name Core Unit of Measure Baseline Current End Target Tax office is equipped with a computerized Text Value No It will most likely become Yes Yes revenue management tool. by March 29. Date 31-Dec-2006 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Comments CONTINUE Under finalization. Final Under finalization. Final acceptance is scheduled for acceptance is scheduled for March 25. March 25. The issuance of orders of payment is Number Value 0.00 26.00 26.00 delegated to sector ministries through Date 31-Dec-2006 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 RACHAD, in accordance with adopted norms Comments CONTINUE - Number of Achieved Achieved and regulations. Ministries where payment orders are issued through RACHAD There is an increased number of Sector Number Value 0.00 26.00 26.00 Ministries using the RACHAD software for the Date 31-Dec-2006 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Public Disclosure Copy management of their budget. Comments CONTINUE - Number of Achieved Achieved sector ministries using RACHAD software for the management of their budget Network connection between Treasury and Yes/No Value No Yes Yes Central Bank is in place. Date 30-Mar-2012 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Comments Achieved - Inter-conenction is Achieved completed on January 2, 2014. Page 6 of 9 The World Bank Report No: ISR14073 The Fiscal and Accounting Reports are Text Value No Yes Yes produced timely and in accordance with the Date 31-Dec-2006 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 legislation. Comments CONTINUE - Production Achieved. Achieved Public Disclosure Copy meeting standards Yes/No Yes (Annual TOFE, Treasury balance product and Annual Budget Execution Law adopted An increasing number of institutions is Text Value March 2012: The Regulatory 9 commissions are staffed Commission for Social operational and carry out duties, as defined by Authority and the National and operational Sectors is also staffed and the new procurement code. Control Commission are carries out duties. staffed and carry out their duties Date 30-Mar-2012 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Comments NEW Achieved. All sectoral Achieved commissions are staffed and functional. An increasing number of staff from Ministry of Text Value 0 160 150 Interior is trained to support the Date 30-Mar-2012 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 decentralization process to Municipalities. Comments NEW Achieved. Achieved The National Environment Action Plan (NEAP) Text Value No Yes Yes is officially approved by the Government. Date 31-Dec-2006 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Comments CONTINUE Achieved Achieved The dedicated structure recommended by the Text Value No Yes Yes NEAP is implemented. Date 31-Dec-2006 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Comments CONTINUE - Ministry of Achieved Achieved Environment established: Yes/No Capacity building for Ministry of Environment Number Value 0.00 15.00 15.00 staff on conducting environmental impact Date 30-Mar-2012 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 studies. Public Disclosure Copy Comments NEW - Number of staff trained Achieved Achieved on conducting environmental impact studies The new legislation on Human Resources Text Value No 75% achieved Yes - Secondary legislation Management is adopted and implemented and regulation adopted Date 31-Dec-2006 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Comments Legislation related to civil 3 out of 4 legislations are 3 out of 4 legislations are service special status and approved and implemented. approved and implemented. salary grid partially adopted (Legislation related to the new (Legislation related to the new evaluation system remain.) evaluation system remain.) Page 7 of 9 The World Bank Report No: ISR14073 The new computerized HRM system is Text Value No It will most likely become Yes Yes developed and implemented. by March 29. Date 31-Dec-2006 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Public Disclosure Copy Comments CONTINUE Under finalization. Final Under finalization. Final acceptance will be received acceptance will be received by March 25. by March 25. Civil servant census is validated by inter- Text Value No No Yes ministerial committee Date 30-Mar-2012 17-Mar-2014 29-Mar-2014 Comments NEW Not achieved Data on Financial Performance (as of 10-Mar-2014) Financial Agreement(s) Key Dates Project Ln/Cr/Tf Status Approval Date Signing Date Effectiveness Date Original Closing Date Revised Closing Date P082888 IDA-42180 Effective 06-Jul-2006 19-Jul-2006 16-Jan-2007 31-Dec-2009 29-Mar-2014 Disbursements (in Millions) Project Ln/Cr/Tf Status Currency Original Revised Cancelled Disbursed Undisbursed % Disbursed P082888 IDA-42180 Effective XDR 9.10 8.46 0.65 7.51 0.94 89.00 Disbursement Graph Public Disclosure Copy Page 8 of 9 The World Bank Report No: ISR14073 Key Decisions Regarding Implementation None Public Disclosure Copy Restructuring History Level two Approved on 18-Mar-2013 Related Projects There are no related projects. 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