Municipal and Agglomerations Support Program

active

The development objective of the Municipal and Agglomerations Support Program are to: (i) improve local government financing; and (ii) enhance the performance of participating urban local governments in managing public investments. The proposed Operation is fully aligned with the existing Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Senegal (2013-2017). In line with the World Bank’s updated Governance and Accountability (GAC) agenda, the CPS recommends that interventions focus on strengthening governance systems and processes to enhance the predictability, credibility and accountability of the Government. The proposed operation aligns with key outcomes under Pillar one is accelerating inclusive growth and creating employment; and Pillar two is improving service delivery. The Operation also addresses several binding constraints identified in the Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) for Senegal, which is under preparation and which will inform the preparation of a CPF in FY18. The SCD identifies the spatial challenges involved in creating productivity-enhancing urban spaces, including secondary cities, to promote transformational growth and job creation, while bridging the urban and rural divide by securing basic service provision across the territory. It also highlights the importance of shifting the prevailing centralized and low level governance equilibrium by promoting local level contestation and citizen engagement. The bulk of the proposed Operation will be financed through the PforR Instrument - a financing modality that is particularly well-suited to managing conditional grants to sub-national governments and to supporting sustainable structural incentives to strengthen local government capacity to deliver front-line infrastructure and services. Though the Government of Senegal does not have prior experience with the PforR instrument, the selection of the financing modality has been welcomed by the authorities. The government’s commitment to the instrument is underscored by extensive efforts during preparation to sensitize the authorities to the implications of a PforR.