Announcement of Mauritania Receives Second IDA Credit for Education on March 4, 1982

,., , . . . _ FO_R l~~EOIA TE RELEl)§E · : •World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 82/41 Contact: Pamela Brennan March 4, 1982 (202) 477-5344 MAURITANIA RECEIVES SECOND IDA CREDIT FOR EDUCATION Skilled manpower needed for Mauritania's modern sector wi11 be trained with the assistance of a credit of SDR 4.9 million ($5.7 million), the International Development Association (IDA) announced today. A second education project, to cost a total of $15.3 million, wi11 continue IDA's support for manpower development that started under a first credit approved in 1974. In Mauritania, about 4,500 skilled jobs need filling each year. The annual supply of secondary school graduates to fill these positions is about 1,500. About 300 students graduate each year with a baccalaureate degree. The shortage of skilled manpower is espe~ially serious in the country's modern industries, agricu1ture, mining, and fisheries, and in the.education system itse1f. The first education project, supported by an IDA credit of $3.8 million, • helped to establish a general vocational training center and a mining industry training center. A training program for farmers involved in irrigation schemes was set up . Technical assistance was provided to the Directorate of Planning. Under the second project, the vocational training center at Nouakchott, which began operating in March 1981, will be provided with additional facilities and equip- ment, increasing its one-year training capacity from 145 to 365 workers annually. A maritime training center will be established at Nouadhibou, the country's main fishing port. Annually, about 30 new workers will be trained and 180 retained for deck and engine room duty in the industrial fishing fleet. Two training vesse1s will be purchased. A new teacher-training collegewill be established in Nouak~hott to provide teachers for lower secondary schools. With a capacity of about 280, the college is expected to graduate about 130 each year from a two~year curriculum. These teachers will enable Mauritania to decrease its dependence on expatriate teachers, thus reducing its education budget. A planning department will be set up in the Ministry of National Education to improve the administration of the nation's school system at all 1eve1s. Additional finance for the project is being provided by the European Economic Community with a grant of $3 million; and by the African Development Fund with a credit of $5 million. The IDA credit to Mauritania is repayable over 50 years including 10 years of grace; it is interest-free but carries a service charge of 3/4 of 1% a year • to help cover administrative costs • NOTE: IDA ~redits are denominated in SORs (Special Drawing Rights), which are valued on the basis o( a 11 basket 11 of currencies. The U.S. dollar equiva1ent of the SDR amount of the IDA credit ref1ects the exchange rates existing at the time of negotiation of the credit. FORM NO. 1121 (5-76) • T E C HN I CA L DA T A PROJECT: Second Education COUNTRY: Mauritania TOTAL COST: $ 15 . 3 mi 11 i on IOA FINANCING: SOR 4.9 million ($5.7 million), on standard IDA terms OTHER FINANCING: African Development Fund (ADF), $5 million;_ European Economic Community (EEC), $3 million; Government of Mauritania, $1.6 million IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Direction des Projets Education Ministere de 1 'Economie et des Finances Boite Postale 238 Nouakchott, Republique lslamique de Mauritanie CABLE: MINISTERE ECONOMIE ET FINANCES, NOUAKCHOTT, MAURITANIE PROJECT DESCRIPTION: It will provide: construction, furniture, equipment, techni- cal assistance, and scholarships for a Vocational Training and Upgrading Center, Maritime Training Center, and Lower Secondary Teacher Training College·· technical assistance for the planning department of the Ministry of Education; equipment technical assistance, and staff training for an organization and management unit in the ministry; and furniture, equipment, and specialist services for the project unit. The project also includes operating expenses for all these institutions except the vocational center. PROCU.REMENT: Civil works valued at $530,000 and equipment and furniture valued at $260,000 to be financed by IDA funds will be procured by international competitive bidding (ICB) in accordance with IDA guidelines. Items of furniture and equipment which cannot be grouped into packages of at least $50,000, or which are not suitable for ICB will be procured by local competitive bidding procedures. Items below $10,000 for which potential suppliers are limited will be procured whenever possible, by inviting quotations from at least three reliable suppliers. The total value of items procured by both of these methods will not exceed $100,000. Domestic contractors will be given a preference of 7-1/2% in the evaluation of bids for civil works. Domestic manufacturers of furniture and equipment procured by ICB will be allowed a preferential margin of 15% of the c.i .f. price of competing imports or the total applicable custom duties and import taxes, whichever is lower. Procurement of goods and services financed by the ADF, and the EEC will be in accordance with those agencies' guidelines. CONSULTANTS: About 51 man-years of specialist services, with four-fifths expected to be expatriate. ECONOMIC RATE OF RETURN: ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: n.a. 1985 • - 0 -