Gambia - Exceptional Project to support ECOWAS Low Income Members Countries and Strengthening the Health Systems of the Gambia, Mali and Niger to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic

The proposed intervention aims at providing assistance to low-income ECOWAS member countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and it is an appropriate response to the COVID-19 pandemic in West Africa. This is a well-defined support to regional public goods defined according to Phases I and II criteria and is considered a priority regional need by ECOWAS on account of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its member countries. The project is based on the elements contained in the ECOWAS request to the Bank, which are themselves drawn from a regional COVID-19 response plan amounting to a total of USD 52 million. The Bank's financing will be twenty-two million three hundred and eighty-four thousand US dollars (USD 22,384,000) (UA 16.4 million). It will be implemented over a period of eighteen (18) months, through three (3) components, namely: (i) prevention of coronavirus transmission in ECOWAS countries; (ii) strengthening and integration of national and regional systems in The Gambia, Mali and Niger; and (iii) project management. This operation provides special assistance in the form of a UA 2.5 million grant to the Republic of The Gambia (including UA 1 million from TSF Pillar I resources and UA 1.5 million from the regional operations envelope), which feature among the fragile countries in the ECOWAS region that have weak health systems and face other multifaceted challenges that could have a multiplier effect on their fragility factors.