Document Type: Progress Reports

The objective of this project on factoring in Egypt was to complete a set of new regulations related to factoring, first in draft form for discussion with the EFS team and with the counterpart, then in final form following discussions with the counterpart.

As stated in the SOW of October 2005, these documents were therefore completed in two phases:

Phase One (before coming to Cairo): Draft regulations and a Policy Paper were completed on October 30 and sent to EFS, then EFS distributed them to the advisory team and to the counterpart.

Phase Two (in Cairo): Following an meeting on November 20 with the counterpart and discussions with the EFS team, a full proposal for a regulatory framework for factoring was completed on November 26 and distributed to the EFS team. Following discussions with the EFS team, this proposal (dated November 29) was given to the counterpart and discussed with him on November 30, in two meetings (morning and afternoon). At these meetings, some policy issues were discussed and resolved, and reflected in the final proposed regulations which were completed and submitted to EFS team and to the counterpart (the Executive Regulations, and the Rules, final version dated December 1). At the November 30 meetings the counterpart expressed satisfaction with the proposed regulatory documents; asked for a brief summary of the proposal for presentation to the Minister (this summary was then done by this Consultant, dated December 1), and asked the EFS project to arrange for an Arabic version of the Executive Regulations and Rules to be done by financial and legal experts.

From April 12-21, 2006, short-term financial advisor Carrie Averch, jointly with USAID CTO Mr. Gregg Wiitala and the extended Commodities Import Program Messrs. Robert Van Horne, Team Leader, and Tawfik Frega, Program Manager, explored interests in participation as potential lenders for a Development Credit Authority guarantee facility to stimulate broad lending in Upper Egypt to SMEs and larger enterprises, with private sector commercial banks, Egyptian American Bank and Commercial International Bank, and leasing companies Citileasing and MANTRAC.

A DCA concept paper was prepared, along with suggested points of discussion with CIB and MANTRAC; sample letters of intent for CIB and MANTRAC; draft concept paper; outline and resource list for Loan Portfolio Guarantee Borrower Cohort Report; outline of DCA action package; sample monitoring plan and updated schedule to submit DCA action package to Credit Review Board for fiscal year 2006. These were handed to the USAID Mission at a meeting advising of deadlines and requirements for establishing the proposed guarantee facility for Upper Egypt in fiscal year 2006.

This proposed DCA guarantee is on hold until there is a clear indication from the GOE of the types of development assistance sought from USAID.

Objective

In Egypt, private enterprises have few alternatives for financing equipment, fixed assets, and other major capital expenditures with a long repayment period. As part of the Egypt Financial Services (EFS) project’s mandate to foster the development of new financial instruments, the objective of this assignment was to determine the feasibility of using USAID Development Credit Authority (DCA) guarantees to encourage private sector financial institutions to lend to SMEs and large enterprises in Upper Egypt (UE), with a focus on medium-term financing for equipment and fixed asset purchases.

The nine governorates comprising Upper Egypt are historically underdeveloped as compared to Egypt’s primary cities of Cairo and Alexandria. Aside from tourism in Luxor and Aswan, much of UE’s economic activity centers around agriculture, and the region is perceived as higher risk by the financial sector. Credit access has been limited to large corporations, primarily based in Cairo and Alexandria, and there has been some recent success in stimulating short term credit for micro-enterprises supported by donor programs. Additionally, USAID/Egypt’s Commodity Import Program (CIP) has been able to support medium-term and equipment import financing through the provision of credit lines through commercial banks, but the program is entering its last year. A large segment of borrowers in the “missing middle” remain underserved by the financial sector, and USAID/Egypt is exploring market-oriented mechanisms to create a sustainable solution for catalyzing the private sector to offer this type of credit to borrowers in underserved areas and sectors.

The expected expansion in lending and leasing catalyzed by a partial credit guarantee would contribute to EFS objectives of creating longer term credit products, as well as more broadly fostering economic growth in Egypt per the Mission’s Strategic Objective 16: Environment for Trade and Investment Strengthened.

The USAID ProParque project, with an anticipated timeline of five years, is the Honduran Mission’s flagship natural resources program, and seeks to realign the country’s economic and social development trajectory with the sound management of its rich natural resource base. A holistically integrated program, USAID ProParque focuses on consolidating the system of protected areas in Honduras and includes work in biodiversity and natural resource management, rural enterprise growth (tourism, forestry, agroforestry), climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and clean energy development (hydropower, biomass, biofuel). USAID/ProParque will improve Honduran biodiversity conservation, create jobs for Hondurans, and strengthen national capacity for mitigating and adapting to global climate change.

This Annual/Quarterly Report covers the sixteenth quarter of project implementation (the fourth quarter of the project’s Option Period) and provides an overview of Year Four of the project. It consists of five principal sections – 1) a section on Technical Programming, including project status as of the end of Year 4/Q16, plus detailed reporting by technical area; 2) A section on Program Management; 3) a forward looking section focused on Quarter 17 and beyond; 4) a Financial Report for Q16; and 5) Annexes.

The USAID ProParque project, with an anticipated timeline of five years, is the Honduran Mission’s flagship natural resources program, and seeks to realign the country’s economic and social development trajectory with the sound management of its rich natural resource base. A holistically integrated program, USAID ProParque focuses on consolidating the system of protected areas in Honduras and includes work in biodiversity and natural resource management, rural enterprise growth (tourism, forestry, agroforestry), climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and clean energy development (hydropower, biomass, biofuel). USAID/ProParque will improve Honduran biodiversity conservation, create jobs for Hondurans, and strengthen national capacity for mitigating and adapting to global climate change.

This Annual Report covers the third year of project implementation and the final year of the project’s Base Period. It also meets the objectives of providing a comprehensive overview of twelfth quarter, and as such serves as Quarterly Report Number Twelve. It consists of five principal sections – 1) a section on Technical Programming, including an overview of Year One (Y1) and detailed reporting on Quarter Four; 2) A section on Program Management; 3) a forward looking section focused on Quarter Five; 4) a Financial Report for the time period; and 5) Annexes.

The USAID ProParque project, with an anticipated timeline of five years, is the Honduran Mission’s flagship natural resources program, and seeks to realign the country’s economic and social development trajectory with the sound management of its rich natural resource base. A holistically integrated program, USAID ProParque focuses on consolidating the system of protected areas in Honduras and includes work in biodiversity and natural resource management, rural enterprise growth (tourism, forestry, agroforestry), climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and clean energy development (hydropower, biomass, biofuel). USAID/ProParque will improve Honduran biodiversity conservation, create jobs for Hondurans, and strengthen national capacity for mitigating and adapting to global climate change.

This Annual Report covers the second year of project implementation. It also meets the objectives of providing a comprehensive overview of the eighth quarter, and as such serves as Quarterly Report Number Eight. It consists of five principal sections – 1) a section on Technical Programming, including an overview of Year One (Y1) and detailed reporting on Quarter Four; 2) A section on Program Management; 3) a forward looking section focused on Quarter Five; 4) a Financial Report for the time period; and 5) Annexes.

The USAID ProParque project, with an anticipated timeline of five years, is the Honduran Mission’s flagship natural resources program, and seeks to realign the country’s economic and social development trajectory with the sound management of its rich natural resource base. A holistically integrated program, USAID ProParque focuses on consolidating the system of protected areas in Honduras and includes work in biodiversity and natural resource management, rural enterprise growth (tourism, forestry, agroforestry), climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and clean energy development (hydropower, biomass, biofuel). USAID/ProParque will improve Honduran biodiversity conservation, create jobs for Hondurans, and strengthen national capacity for mitigating and adapting to global climate change.

This Annual Report covers the first year of project implementation, meets the objectives of providing a comprehensive overview of the fourth quarter of Year One, and as such serves as Quarterly Report No. Four. It consists of five principal sections – 1) a section on Technical Programming, including an overview of Year One (Y1) and detailed reporting on Quarter Four; 2) A section on Program Management; 3) a forward looking section focused on Quarter Five; 4) a Financial Report for the time period; and 5) Annexes.

Resilience in the Sahel Enhanced is a United States Government initiative that aims to strengthen resilience in target vulnerable populations in the Sahel region so that crisis-based humanitarian assistance is required less frequently. REGIS-ER Project is one of the USAID partners carrying out the RISE initiative.

Second-year highlights

• 3800 hectares put under conservation farming, and 6000 hectares under farmer-managed natural regeneration, as these activities are scaled up and producers are already signing up for next year’s season
• Sustainability of water supply was improved as communes, local repair artisans, and REGIS-ER signed agreements that ensure manual pump repairs; 53 water points and 34 hand-operated pumps were repaired; 47 water management committees were trained
• CBSP including masons, welders, veterinarian workers, gardeners, and nursery managers as members of the private sector have earned 38.6 million FCFA ($US 67K) through contracts and sales of services and goods
• Self-managed credit and savings schemes (SECCA) set up in REGIS-ER Niger regions have reached more than a thousand households; recorded savings add up to 60 million FCFA ($US 104K) and loans of 205 million FCFA ($US 350K) have been disbursed to fund animal fattening, warehouse receipts, small commerce, purchase of inputs, fish sales
• More than 17,000 vulnerable stakeholders have been trained in climate change adaptation techniques that improve natural resource use and productivity
• The first local convention in Niger was integrated into the Commune Development Plan
• 1100 hectares of degraded lands were restored for tree or crop production by village producers in collaboration with World Food Programme
• More than 35,000 moringa and 38,000 baobab seedlings were distributed to vulnerable households for home gardening projects
• Community meals prepared in Mother-to-Mother groups are having an impact on behavior change; as one woman in Tibilindi village has said in Burkina Faso: “This is the first time that women from different households have eaten a meal together, from the same platter; this has made us into a closer group.”
• Husband schools were established in 136 villages of Niger and Burkina Faso, with more than 1,200 ‘model husbands’ identified to lead groups of men in learning about the ‘first 1,000 days’, mother and child nutrition, and family planning topics

REGIS-ER’s first year of operation involved classic start-up activities: signing leases and buying furniture for offices in the Niamey and Ouagadougou headquarters and in the seven regions where satellite offices are located; procurement of equipment, materials, vehicles and motorcycles; recruiting more than 160 staff in two countries at all levels and with many specialties; the selection of some 16 communes as work zones and assigning villages to facilitators; carrying out diagnostics for village needs and planning for how to meet them; strategic planning and collaboration with FFP and other partners; assisting SAREL in its startup; signature of sub-contracts; development of strategies specific to each component; training regional and field cluster teams in teambuilding, technical approaches, reporting, administration procedures, and gender and environmental considerations; elaboration of the monitoring and evaluation plan; implementation of key activities to start off each component; and elaboration of the 2014-2015 workplan. Given the complexity and time required to set up REGIS-ER in two countries, many of the targets are at less than 20% for year one. For some targets, the project will be able to catch up over the next four years. For others, it will require a readjustment of targets – planned for March 2015.

Highlights from the year

Market/moringa gardens are an opportunity for REGIS components to work together while addressing tenure issues for women and nutrition for their families. REGIS-ER has added 58 women’s gardens to its growing list of sites. Several gardens in Tillabéri-South were set up towards the end of USAID-Arziki Project, and are currently at different stages of development. Each site’s gardeners have specific needs in organizational skills, marketing information, farming techniques, and irrigation systems.

REGIS hired six village garden technicians and trained them in advanced gardening techniques and in assessing and organizing groups. Supervisory responsibilities for the 58 gardens have been divided among the village technicians, who will be monitored by REGIS facilitators and Regional Specialists. The objective is to upgrade all the garden groups and their sites, tailoring interventions to their needs so that they can establish oasis and moringa gardens.

Moreover, the gardens will serve as focal points for training in health, nutrition, and sanitation given by Health component’s behavior change subcomponent, and a place where Mother to Mother groups can meet.

As for all gardens in REGIS-ER, land tenure questions will be addressed by the Governance component. And for each site where a solar or Volanta pump will be installed, a title deed will be required.

The central and field teams in all seven regions have been implementing activities at a noticeably faster pace compared to last year, thanks to field experience gained, logistics in place, and better knowledge of conditions on the ground. The quarter’s results are more reflective of the effort put into the project by all components.

Highlights

• Visit to Iguéfane oasis garden by Niger’s Prime Minister to appreciate the productive garden beds and solar-powered pump put in place by Albarka women’s group with assistance from USAID|REGIS-ER
• Final signature of Tondikandia’s local convention by the Prefect of Filingué, covering more than 220,000 hectares
• Training of local artisans in fabrication of rippers and identification of lead farmers for Conservation Agriculture in all villages in BF and Niger
• Partnership signed with World Food Program for soil restoration activities in Sabon Machi commune in Maradi
• Initiation of the Ecole des Maris (Husband Schools) and Safe Space platforms that address family planning, health, nutrition, and hygiene issues
• A strong beginning for farmer-managed natural regeneration this season in Burkina Faso, with more than 1,000 men and women receiving FMNR training including information about its role in adaptation to climate change
• Startup of REGIS-AG as the project moved into offices secured by REGIS-ER and had several consultative meetings with our staff to harmonize approaches and initiate contacts

Points of Convergence

• Meetings between REGIS-ER, Mary Stopes International, and ECHO Humanitarian Assistance in Burkina Faso to define collaboration and possibilities for synergy in health and nutrition activities
• Participation in a Moringa promotion event organized by WA-WASH project, with a view toward setting up future smaller fairs to promote enriched products
• Participation in Ouaga by Country Rep and Technical Staff in meeting of FFP Partners hosted by CRS
• SPRING-sponsored Digital Green productions of health-related videos in Guidan Roumdji and Aguié with collaboration between Sawki/Mercy Corps, Lahia/Save the Children, and REGIS-ER
• Sawki and REGIS-ER joint exchanges by component to share and homogenize approaches
• Mapping by REGIS-ER of 78 villages ready to adopt the community-led total sanitation process with FFP partners Helen Keller, Save the Children, and Water/Sanitation for Africa; 27 villages are now going through the process and will be prioritized for grant money from REGIS-ER

Discussions are underway with Sawki in Maradi (Mercy Corps) and CRS in Zinder to see how REGIS ER can train and monitor CBSP/extension agents who will work with FFP partners to introduce CF/RNA in communes where REGIS ER is not currently working. For now, the idea is being tested on a small scale at selected sites. If it is successful, the approach will be expanded to include other communes next year.

The Resilience in the Sahel Enhanced or RISE is a United States Government strategy that aims to strengthen resilience in vulnerable populations in the Sahel so that crisis-based humanitarian assistance is required less frequently. The REGISER project is one of the USAID partners carrying out the RISE strategy.

USAID defines resilience as the ability of people, households, communities, countries, and systems to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from shocks and stresses so they become less chronically vulnerable and more able to achieve inclusive growth. The overall objective of USAID|REGIS-ER is to increase the resilience of chronically vulnerable populations in marginal agriculture and pastoral zones in the Sahel regions of Niger and Burkina Faso. In the broader context, USAID investments in resilience seek to address the root causes of this chronic vulnerability through nutrition-led agriculture and livestock rearing, better health and hygiene, stronger governance and natural resource management, and awareness of climate change impacts and adaptation to them.

Highlights

• In spite of long-term contact between beneficiaries and humanitarian projects that tends to reduce adoption of resilience activities, CF and BDL have been well-received and actively pursued in our zones.
• Community-based solution providers (CBSP) are beginning to contribute substantially to project performance results through techniques and technologies being promoted with sustainability in mind.
• Local Conventions are being implemented in three communes of Niger and two in Burkina Faso.
• Disaster risk management training has begun and the partnership with World Food Programme has been realized through field activities now underway.
• Husband Schools and Safe Spaces are being set up and Mother-to-Mother groups are meeting as platforms for adoption of best health, nutrition, and hygiene practices.
• The outgoing Chief of Party and Finance and Administration Director handed over their posts to newly hired staff in an orderly way.

Points of Convergence

• FFP partnership and collaboration were strengthened as the U.S. ambassador to Burkina Faso visited ViM project sites in Kaya.
• REGIS-ER teams contributed to value chain studies and regional workshops carried out with REGIS-AG.
• Livelihoods and Governance components worked together on securing land tenure for growing crops, doing combined technical training in farmer-managed natural regeneration and conservation farming
• Governance and Health Components worked together on integrating nutritious plants into farmer-managed natural regeneration and preventing malnutrition through improved biofortified seed and oil.
• Four REGIS-ER staff members took part in the “make me a vector of change” workshop held by Save the Children in Maradi.
• Health and Governance Components identified 460 pregnant and breastfeeding women along with 712 children who are eligible to receive WFP assistance during the hungry period between March and July.
• The Project is actively participating in health sector regional meetings and was in charge of organizing the district health meeting in Filingué this quarter.

Lessons Learned

• After more than one year of intervention in the Sahel, it has become clear that every opportunity must be taken to speak with the beneficiaries about the resilience approach and the need for them to commit to be the main actors in their own development.
• Grant applications and payments to communities must be made in a timely way for soil and water conservation work.
• BDL or bioreclamation of degraded lands is being re-oriented toward agricultural production as an objective of water harvesting.
• Partnerships with other organizations will help to increase results achieved for indicators.
• Regional teams need to be trained in all aspects of project activities.
• Community health platforms (MtM, EdM, and Safe Space) require close supervision especially at the startup of activities. To assure that they function correctly, a system for supervision must be set up using local community resource persons.