Evaluation : project USAID 681-HG-004 (Ivory Coast)

Initial external evaluation covers the period through 2/86 and is based on document review, site visits, interviews with project staff, and a questionnaire survey of GOIC officials. Despite a long delay in start-up, the project has provided work to both the public and private sectors during a period of economic crisis and is now generally making good progress. Work is underway or about to begin in 9 of the 12 original cities, and should be completed by the end of 1986. Infrastructure upgrading has begun in 7 of the cities - there are some design faults in Vavoua (these are being corrected) and some maintenance problems in Issia which so far have escaped the concern of local authorities - and work on community facilities is underway in 8 cities, and complete in 3. The sites and services component has been reduced in scope and suffers from delays; nonetheless, 1,941 lots have been laid out in 3 cities and beneficiary selection has begun. Another 4 cities have been added to the project (with work due to be finished by the end of 1987); work in these cities will build on experience gained, emphasizing an integrated, interministerial approach to planning and implementation. Also, cost recovery mechanisms are being developed or are in place and progress is being made on simplified cadastral surveys. The project's small loans component has not begun, and will probably have to be eliminated as planned interest rates are not allowable (too high) under the GOIC's agreement with the West Africa Monetary Union. The financial and project management techniques of the involved agencies have improved. In one instance, a failed plan to install data processing equipment purchased with escrow interest earnings in one agency was successfully transferred to another. Still, interagency coordination must be improved; the Ministries of Public Works and of Interior are vying for lead responsibility for implementation. Also, frozen GOIC budgets have affected staff morale and institutional growth, and project monitoring has been restricted due to inadequate travel budgets and a lack of vehicles. Low physical design standards, while understood, have raised technical questions and should be reviewed, especially for road paving and drainage where maintenance and citizen education are poor. Key lessons learned are: (1) shifting political and economic environments offer opportunities for policy initiatives at times which might otherwise appear unconducive to such efforts; and (2) a combination of flexible project design, considerable regional automony for RHUDO, and creative resources are needed to take advantage of such opportunities.