This section provides financial information on the Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) program for the financial year 2018 (FY18), from July 2017 to June 2018. Unless otherwise noted, the financial information presented in this report, including exchange rates, reflects the status as of June 30, 2018.

The CIWA program is supported by a Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) and administered by the World Bank on behalf of contributing development partners. Contributing donors to date are Denmark, the European Commission, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. This specific type of MDTF is known as a ‘Programmatic Multi Donor Trust Fund’ to which donors commit funds designed to support a thematic framework rather than financing a specific project. Within this framework, CIWA supports projects executed by recipient organizations as well as projects directly managed by the World Bank.

Consistent with standard World Bank Trust Fund practices, donors pledge funding for CIWA (current pledges total US$103.9 million) and funds are deposited on an agreed schedule (current deposits total US$89.9 million). Then, in accordance with CIWA’s strategic planning efforts, funding is allocated to specific programs and projects (current allocations are US$101.8 million) around the broad themes and areas endorsed by the CIWA Advisory Committee (AC). Following allocation to specific activities, CIWA works with clients to develop Grant Funding Requests (GFRs) and related project documentation. The World Bank then follows technical, legal and fiduciary procedures to approve projects and commits funds through its standard fiduciary processes (current commitments total US$69.5 million). Funds are then disbursed according to the grant agreements and financing plans (disbursements thus far are US$44.9 million). CIWA’s funding process is depicted in Figure 1. Additional details on pledges, deposits, allocations, commitments, and disbursements are presented in this section.

Figure 1. CIWA’s Funding Process

Donor Pledges, Deposits, and Allocations

Table 1 shows pledges, deposits, and outstanding balances. Contributing donors to date include Denmark, European Commission, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Donors deposit funds in the CIWA MDTF account according to an agreed schedule of deposits that is detailed in the Administration Agreement or other documents exchanged between the Bank and the donors. This schedule can be revised as necessary to meet project disbursement requirements.

Table 1. Overview of Donor Pledges and Deposits

As of June 30, 2018, US$101.8 million has been allocated to CIWA projects and activities. CIWA has assigned a significant amount of the available funding (99.8 percent) to activities under preparation or implementation. Table 2 presents an overview of the availability and allocation of funding.

Table 2. Overview of Availability and Allocation of funding

The majority of available funds (US$71.9 million, or 71 percent) are allocated to CIWA’s four priority basins, Nile, Niger, Volta, and Zambezi. Basin programs include recipient-executed projects and Bank-executed support programs that fund technical assistance and analytical work, which supplement the recipient-executed projects. In certain cases, CIWA has allocated funding for follow-up work on current projects, based on project and organizational performance and riparian states’ commitment. Annex C describes the details of all CIWA projects and shows the financial results of projects for which grants have been established.

Table 3. Allocated, Committed, Disbursed and Pipeline Amounts (US$)

Note: "Allocation" refers to the endorsement of funds by the CIWA AC. "Commitment" refers to recognition by internal World Bank systems that funds have been assigned to a project or activity. Funds are therefore committed when a GFR has been approved by the World Bank trust fund management, putting in place a contractual or scheduled commitment that leads to actual expenditures in the future. "Disbursement" refers to the transfer of funds from the grant account to the client’s designated account after a request for specific expenditures is cleared by the Bank. For Bank-executed grants, disbursements are payments made against a purchase order or contract. "Pipeline" activities in the basin are those for which a conditional endorsement was made or subject to approval of the World Bank trust fund management system.

Commitment, Disbursement, and Funding Balance

By the end of FY18, the program had committed a cumulative US$69.5 million in grants, of which US$44.9 million (65 percent) was disbursed by projects and activities. The pace of disbursement continued to stabilize in FY18 with a slight decrease from the previous year. Table 3 provide a summary of the overall cumulative allocations, commitments, disbursements, commitment balance, and current pipeline activity amounts.

By the end of FY18, CIWA had a cumulative inflow of US$91.5million, including US$89.9 million in donor payments and US$1.6 million in investment income from the CIWA account. Cumulative disbursements were US$44.9 million, including US$44.9 million in projects and US$1.8 million in administrative fees. The balance of grant commitments totaled US$24.5 million. Table 4 presents the balance available in the CIWA account, which is approximately US$44.7 million, or a balance of US$20.2 million when the balance of current commitments of US$24.5 million is taken into account.

Table 4. Fund Balance

Financial Summary of Program Management

CIWA management costs include expenses incurred by the Program Management Unit (PMU) and the World Bank’s technical experts who provide strategic advice and support. In addition to staff and consultant costs, this category encompasses costs associated with CIWA donor coordination, outreach and communications, monitoring and evaluation, mid-term review, reporting, partnership meetings, and dissemination activities including website, brochure, and publications, among others. The CIWA Administration Agreement establishes that PMU costs should not exceed 6 percent of total donor contributions. Since the start of the program, CIWA has spent approximately 3 percent of the current envelope, keeping PMU expenses well within the agreed-upon range. Overall, the program has been cost efficient in its management, benefiting from the solid financial management and monitoring systems put in place at program inception.