Conformed Copy - C2618 - Basic Education Sector Project - Norwegian Grant Agreement

Page 1 CONFORMED COPY NORWEGIAN GRANT RELATED TO CREDIT NUMBER 2618 NIR Norwegian Grant Agreement (Basic Education Sector Credit) between REPUBLIC OF NIGER and INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION as Administrator on behalf of the GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY Dated October 26, 1994 NORWEGIAN GRANT RELATED TO CREDIT NUMBER 2618 NIR NORWEGIAN GRANT AGREEMENT AGREEMENT, dated October 26, 1994, between REPUBLIC OF NIGER (the Recipient) and INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION, acting as Administrator (the Administrator) of a Grant provided by the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway (Norway). WHEREAS: (A) the Recipient has requested the assistance of the International Development Association (the Association) and Norway in the financing of a program of actions described in the Letter of Development Policy regarding the implementation of the Borrower's Emergency Education Rehabilitation Plan, dated May 2, 1994, referred to in Recital A of the Development Credit Agreement, for the Basic Education Sector Project, as negotiated on May 2, 1994 between the Recipient and the Association (Cr. 2618) (the Development Credit Agreement); (B) by a letter dated September 19, 1994, the Association and Norway have accepted that the Association will administer the Norwegian Grant in accordance with the provisions of the Cofinancing and Technical Assistance Framework Agreement entered into between Norway and the Association on March 9, 1994 (the Administration Agreement); (C) the Recipient acknowledges that the financial assistance extended to the Recipient under this Agreement (the Norwegian Grant Agreement) shall be considered as part of the bilateral development aid extended by Norway to the Recipient; and (D) the Administrator has agreed on the basis, inter alia, of the foregoing to extend the Norwegian Grant to the Recipient upon the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth; Page 2 NOW THEREFORE the parties hereto hereby agree as follows: ARTICLE I General Conditions; Definitions Section 1.01. The General Conditions Applicable to Development Credit Agreements of the Association, dated January 1, 1985, (the "General Conditions"), constitute an integral part of this Agreement, subject however, to the following modifications thereof: (a) the term "Association", whenever used in the General Conditions, means the International Development Association acting as Administrator of the Norwegian Grant pursuant to the Administration Agreement; (b) the term "Development Credit Agreement", whenever used in the General Conditions, means this Agreement; (c) the term "Credit", whenever used in the General Conditions, means the Norwegian Grant extended to the Recipient under this Agreement; (d) the term "Credit Account", whenever used in the General Conditions, means the Account opened by the Administrator in its books in the name of the Recipient to which the amount of the Norwegian Grant is credited; (e) Section 9.06, paragraph 6, shall be modified to read: "(c) Not later than six months after the Closing Date or such later date as may be agreed for this purpose between the Recipient and the Administrator, the Recipient shall prepare and furnish to the Administrator a report, of such scope and in such detail as the Administrator shall reasonably request, on the execution of the Project and the Program referred to in the Preamble to the Development Credit Agreement, the performance by the Recipient and the Administrator of their respective obligations under the Norwegian Grant Agreement and the accomplishment of the purposes of the Norwegian Grant."; (f) in Sections 6.02 and 7.01 of the General Conditions, the term "Association" shall also include the International Development Association acting in its own capacity; and (g) Sections 3.02, 3.03, 3.04, 3.05, 4.02, 4.03, 4.04, 4.05, 4.06, 6.05, 7.01, 8.01 (a), 9.03 and Article XII of the General Conditions are deleted. Section 1.02. Wherever used in this Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires, the several terms defined in the General Conditions, in the Administration Agreement, in the Preamble to this Agreement and in the Development Credit Agreement have the respective meanings therein set forth. However, wherever used in this Agreement, the term "Imports" shall mean goods imported during the execution of the Program and to be financed from the proceeds of the Norwegian Grant. Section 1.03. Wherever used in this Agreement, the terms, "Norwegian Kroner" and "NOK" mean the currency of Norway. ARTICLE II The Grant Section 2.01. The Administrator agrees to extend to the Recipient, on the terms and conditions herein set forth or referred to, a grant in an amount of thirty-five million Norwegian Kroner (NOK 35,000,000). Section 2.02. (a) The amount of the Norwegian Grant may be withdrawn from the Norwegian Grant Account in accordance with the provisions of the Schedule to this Agreement, as such Schedule may be amended from time to time by agreement between the Recipient and the Administrator for the financing of expenditures made (or, if the Administrator shall so agree, to be made) in respect of the reasonable cost of: (i) Imports; and (ii) goods, required for the Project described in Schedule 2 to the Development Credit Agreement and to be financed from the proceeds of the Norwegian Grant. Page 3 (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) above, no withdrawals shall be made in respect of payments of taxes levied by, or in the territory of, the Recipient on goods and services or in the importation, manufacture, procurement or supply thereof. (c) Withdrawals from the Norwegian Grant Account shall be made in the respective currencies in which the expenditures to be financed out of the proceeds of the Norwegian Grant have been paid or are payable, or at the option of the Administrator, in Norwegian Kroner. (d) The Recipient shall, for the purposes of the Project, open and maintain in CFAF a special deposit account in a commercial bank on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Administrator, including appropriate protection against set-off, seizure or attachment. Deposits into, and payments out of, the Special Account shall be made in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 5 to the Development Credit Agreement, it being understood that the references in said Schedule to "Credit", "Credit Account", "Association", "Authorized Allocation" and "Eligible Categories" shall be deemed to be references to the Norwegian Grant, the Norwegian Grant Account, the Administrator of the Norwegian Grant, an amount equivalent to CFAF 97,000,000, and Category (2) respectively. Section 2.03. (a) Except as the Administrator shall otherwise agree, contracts for goods required for the Project and to be financed out of the proceeds of the Norwegian Grant as well as contracts for Imports shall be procured in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 3 to the Development Credit Agreement, it being understood that the references in said Schedule to the "Association" and the "Credit Account" shall be deemed to be references to the Administrator of the Norwegian Grant and the Norwegian Grant Account, respectively. (b) If the Administrator shall have reasonably determined that the procurement of any items is inconsistent with the procedures set forth or referred to in paragraph (a) above, no expenditures for such item shall be financed out of the proceeds of the Norwegian Grant, and the Administrator may, without in any way restricting or limiting any other right, power or remedy of the Administrator under this Agreement, by notice to the Recipient, cancel such amount of the Norwegian Grant as, in the Administrator's reasonable opinion, represents the amount of such expenditures which would otherwise have been eligible for financing out of the proceeds of the Norwegian Grant. Section 2.04. The Closing Date shall be December 31, 2000, or such later date as the Administrator shall establish. The Administrator shall promptly notify the Recipient of such later date. ARTICLE III Execution of the Program Section 3.01. (a) Except as the Administrator shall otherwise agree, Article III, Sections 3.01 and 3.02 as well as Article IV, of the Development Credit Agreement are hereby incorporated into this Agreement with the same force and effect as if they were fully set forth herein, it being understood that all references to the "Association" in Article III, Sections 3.01 and 3.02, and in Article IV shall be deemed to be references to the Association, as Administrator on behalf of Norway under this Agreement and all references to the "Credit" shall be deemed to be references to the Norwegian Grant. (b) The Administrator may at any time suspend the right of the Recipient to receive funds from the Norwegian Grant Account if the Association shall have suspended in whole or in part the right of the Recipient to make withdrawals under the Development Credit Agreement, or if the Recipient shall have failed to perform any of its obligations under this Agreement. ARTICLE IV Effective Date; Termination; Representation Section 4.01. This Agreement shall become effective as of the date first above written and shall continue in effect until the Norwegian Grant has been fully disbursed and the parties to this Agreement have fulfilled their obligations under this Agreement. Section 4.02. This Agreement and all obligations of the Recipient and the Page 4 Administrator hereunder shall terminate on the date on which the Development Credit Agreement shall terminate in accordance with its terms. Section 4.03. The representative designated in Section 7.01 of the Development Credit Agreement shall be the representative of the Recipient for the purposes of Section 11.03 of the General Conditions. Section 4.04. The addresses specified in Section 7.02 of the Development Credit Agreement shall be the addresses specified for the purposes of Section 11.01 of the General Conditions. ARTICLE V Transfer of Rights and Obligations Section 5.01. In accordance with the provisions of the Administration Agreement, the rights and obligations of the Administrator under this Agreement may be transferred to Norway. The Recipient accepts and agrees that, upon notice by the Administrator to the Recipient to that effect, Norway shall, ipso facto, from the date specified in such notice be substitutes in all rights and obligations of the Administrator under this Agreement as if Norway had been an original party to this Agreement, without any further action or formality required on the part of any party, and from such date, the Administrator shall cease to have any rights or obligations as a party under this Agreement. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto, acting through their representatives thereunto duly authorized, have caused this Agreement to be signed in their respective names in the District of Columbia, United States of America, as of the day and year first above written. REPUBLIC OF NIGER By /s/ Adamou Seydou Authorized Representative INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION as Administrator of development aid funds provided by the ROYAL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY By /s/ Stephen M. Denning Acting Regional Vice President Africa SCHEDULE Withdrawal of the Proceeds of the Grant 1. The table below sets forth the Categories of items to be financed out of the proceeds of the Grant, the Allocation of the amounts of the Grant to each Category and the percentage of expenditures for items so to be financed in each Category: Amount of the % of Credit Allocated Expenditures Category (Expressed in NOK) to be Financed (1) Imports 21,000,000 100% of foreign expenditures Page 5 (2) Textbooks 14,000,000 100% TOTAL 35,000,000 2. For the purpose of this Schedule, the term "foreign expenditures" means expenditures in the currency of any country other than that of the Recipient for goods supplied from the territory of any country other than that of the Recipient. 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 above: (a) no withdrawals shall be made in respect of payments made for expenditures prior to the date of the Development Credit Agreement, except that withdrawals in an aggregate amount not exceeding the equivalent of NOK 4,200,000 may be made in respect of Category (1) of paragraph 1 above, on account of payments made for expenditures during the four months preceding that date; (b) withdrawals from Category (1) above shall be subject to the restriction specified in Schedule 1, paragraph 3 (c) of the Development Credit Agreement; and (c) Schedule 1, paragraph 6 of the Development Credit Agreement applies mutatis mutandis to this Agreement.