Petrobras will Fund Environmental Projects

Reported by Peter Mello in Brazil

Accra Forum Adopts Agenda to Improve Efficiency
on Development Programs

A Three-day High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness ended on Thursday, 4 September in the Ghanaian capital of Accra with the adoption of an 8-page document entitled, "Accra Action Agenda to Improve the Efficiency of Development Business".

The Accra Agenda for Action is a product of an unprecedented alliance of development partners - developing and donor countries, emerging economies, the UN and multilateral institutions, global funds and civil society organizations. They all participated in discussions leading up to the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, hosted by the Ghanaian government and organized by the OECD and the World Bank.

Forum participants used the development goals set out in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness signed in 2005 as a baseline. Their discussions on the need to make aid more effective were based on consultations with more than 80 developing countries, all OECD donors and a large number of civil society organizations from around the world.

Evidence from a survey of 54 developing countries provided the factual basis for these discussions. Evaluations of how 8 recipient and 11 donor countries are implementing the Paris Declaration some three years after signing it also lent critical evidence of where action is needed.

Key points agreed in the Accra Agenda for Action include:

• Predictability - donors will provide 3-5 year forward information on their planned aid to partner countries.

• Country systems - partner country systems will be used to deliver aid as the first option, rather than donor systems.

• Conditionality - donors will switch from reliance on prescriptive conditions about how and when aid money is spent to conditions based on the developing country’s own development objectives.

• Untying - donors will relax restrictions that prevent developing countries from buying the goods and services they need from whomever and wherever they can get the best quality at the lowest price.

Source: African Development Bank news release, 5 September 2008

Strategic Level Attention to Project Management in the New Year

Reported by Getachew Teklemariam Alemu in Addis Ababa

The last Ethiopian year (2000), the year that has brought a relatively better national consensus, hope, happiness, joy and hyperinflation together to the daily life of Ethiopians, was actually the eve of the 3^rd Ethiopian Millennium.

According to the unique Ethiopian calendar (the Alexandria Coptic calendar), the year starts at 11^th of September of Gregorian calendar or on the 12^th of September in Gregorian leap year. The Ethiopian year is categorized into 12 months of 30 equal days, and a 13^th month of 5 or 6 days. Have you ever confronted a motto" 13 months of sunshine"? It is an international motto for the tourism sector of Ethiopia.

According to wikipedia, Ethiopia has an estimated population of 78,254,090. It's total GDP accounts 62.19 billion dollars. The Gini coefficient for Ethiopia is 30, and the HDI is 0.406 making it 169^th of the world countries.

Ethiopia has immense history and culture. If you have never heard anything about the 2^nd most powerful empire of early times (after the Roman Empire), the Aksumite Empire, you do really have missed one big element of history. If you have never seen a country of above 85 ethnicities living harmoniously, and experiencing their culture and tradition democratically, you have missed one side of natural beauty. If you have come through a science class which teaches about human evolution, but fails to mention about the oldest ever human ancestor discovered in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, the 5.9 million years old Lucy, you got to question the competency of the teacher. If you have never heard that there is one east African country, which has never been colonized, you have left one big chunk of knowledge behind.

Though the precious history that it has, Today’s Ethiopia is one of the poorest nations of the world (with a poverty prevalence of 38.7 %(2004/05)). Education is still a privilege for an Ethiopian rural child (with primary education enrollment of 68% (2004/05)). Gender disparity prevails in every sector (for example the ratio of female to male between the age of 15 and 24, who can read and write, was o.65 (2004/05)). Mothers and children are still of the highly vulnerable members of the society for many environmental risks (child mortality was 140 per 1000 children (2004/05), while the number of mothers accessing professional delivery services is only 11%). HIV/AIDS prevalence has reached 4.4%(2004/05). Access to potable water stays at 77%(2004/05).

As can be seen from the indicators, we have many problems that need integrated development endeavors. The only way to realize the endeavors on ground is through taughtfull Project planning, implementation, and management. Hence, we have to swiftly move forward in this direction.

Poverty is our urgent agenda, thus all our resources (financial, human, technological, regulatory...etc) shall be tailored to projects, which would result in a higher impact on poverty reduction per total investment. Further, we have to focus more on maximizing the benefit of each project with regard to eradicating poverty. Both of the dimensions need strong project management knowledge base. Thus, in the New Ethiopian year, 2001, enhancing our project management competency, and its contribution to our prior agenda of reducing poverty shall be our national target.

On behalf of the managing editor of pmforum.org and pmworldtoday.net, the two popular online project management resources, David L. Pells, and all the pmforum team, I, an international correspondent of PMForum and PM World Today in Ethiopia, wish a happy and prosperous New Year to all Ethiopians.

World Bank Announces $258 Million for Programs
& Projects in Costa Rica

The World Bank Board of Directors has endorsed a new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Costa Rica, which envisages a lending program of up to US$258 million between August 2008 and December 2010. The new arrangement was announced in Washington, DC on 4 September 2008.

The new partnership is based on a streamlined lending program for priority programs such as secondary education, prevention of catastrophic risks, telecommunications reform, and the comprehensive development of infrastructure in the country. Additionally, the partnership includes an expanded program of analytic and advisory activities tailored to country demands and that would be more responsive to emerging needs.

"The new partnership strategy for Costa Rica will support key areas of development for the country including competitiveness, disaster management and secondary education." said Laura Frigenti, World Bank Country Director for Central America. "The strategy includes a combination of traditional and innovative financial instruments, technical assistance and fee for services.” she added.

This will be accomplished by supporting the following operations:

• A catastrophic risk deferred draw-down operation (US$65 million), which will provide Costa Rica a quick source of funds in the event of a major natural disaster, thus allowing a real time response to address emergency needs.

• A telecommunications reform project (US$13 million) intended to bring global experience to modernize the telecommunications sector.

• A secondary education and skills development project (US$80 million), complementing ongoing efforts by the Education Quality and Efficiency Project, which is improving the relevance of secondary education to labor market demands. This will be accomplished through a revamping of the curriculum, pedagogical methods, teacher training and updated equipment and technology.

• Puntarenas integrated infrastructure development project (US$100 million) to be designed after the Puerto Limon operation approved in 2008. The project seeks to transform the Puntarenas area (including the nearby Caldera port) into a regional center of economic growth by revitalizing the port and urban environment, leveraging the interface and synergies between the port and the city, and increasing economic opportunities for the poorest households in this area.

• Technical assistance particularly in the poorest areas, with the objective of focalizing social assistance, competitiveness, domestic debt market development, pension’s assets management, and consolidation of health system reform.

In addition, the World Bank will support Costa Rica’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through support from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPC) to help design positive incentives for emissions reduction. This will build on the ongoing dialogue in the context of the payment for environmental services initiative.

As part of the new partnership strategy, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), will continue working in the financial, infrastructure, health, education and agribusiness sectors.

The strategy is the result of a series of consultations with representatives of the Costa Rican government, civil society organizations, academic institutions, and political parties. The period covered by this CPS includes the remaining term of the administration of President Oscar Arias plus an additional period of seven months to prepare the succession of this strategy with the new government in 2010.

The World Bank is a source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. It consists of two institutions owned by 185 member countries—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). The IBRD focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries, while IDA focuses on the poorest countries. Together they provide low-interest loans, interest-free credit and grants to developing countries. Established in 1944, IBRD is owned and operated for the benefit of its 185 member countries. Established in 1960, the IDA aims to reduce poverty by providing interest-free credits and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities and improve people’s living conditions. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.

For more information on the World Bank's work in Costa Rica, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/costarica.

US DOE Commits US$67.5 Million to 15 Solar Energy Projects

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that 15 projects have been selected for negotiation of award under the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), Advanced Heat Transfer Fluids and Novel Thermal Storage Concepts for Concentrating Solar Power Generation. These 15 new projects, for up to approximately $67.6 million, will facilitate the development of lower-cost energy storage for concentrating solar power (CSP) technology.

According to the DOE announcement, the projects support President Bush's Solar America Initiative, which aims to make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity by 2015. As the lead agency for President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative, DOE is spurring widespread commercialization and deployment of clean solar energy technologies.

"Harnessing the natural and abundant natural power of the sun and more cost-effectively converting it into energy has enormous potential to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide greater stability in electricity costs," DOE Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy John Mizroch said.

CSP systems utilize the heat generated by concentrating and absorbing the sun's energy to produce electric power. A CSP plant with storage can operate during periods of intermittent sun and produce electricity for extended periods without the sun. With thermal storage, the CSP plant is also able to better match its electricity production with demand. This enables solar power to be provided to homes and businesses whenever needed, day or night. In addition, thermal storage can lower the levelized cost of electricity from a CSP plant.

Selected projects are expected to promote DOE's goal of reducing the cost of CSP electricity from 13-16 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) today with no storage to 8-11 cents/kWh with six hours of storage by 2015, and to less than seven cents/kWh with 12-17 hours of storage by 2020.

Proposals were selected from the following categories:

• Advanced heat transfer fluids research and development (R&D);

• Thermal energy storage R&D; and,

• Thermal energy storage near-term demonstration.

DOE has selected seven companies and six universities for funding under this award. In total, DOE will provide up to $35 million over four years, subject to annual appropriations; with cost-share, the total public-private investment will be up to approximately $67.6 million for the selected projects:

Advanced Heat Transfer Fluids Research and Development

• Symyx - Deep Eutectic Salt Formulations Suitable as Advanced Heat Transfer Fluids (Sunnyvale, Calif.) Symyx will use a high throughput combinatorial approach to identify advanced heat transfer fluids. The objective is to find eutectic salts that can operate within a temperature range of 80°C to 500°C with a significantly increased heat capacity. (Up to $2.3 million)

Thermal Energy Storage Research and Development

• Abengoa - Advanced Thermal Energy Storage for Central Receivers and Supercritical Coolants (Lakewood, Colo.) Abengoa will determine if supercritical heat transport fluids in a power tower plant, in combination with ceramic themocline storage, offers a reduction in levelized energy cost relative to a baseline nitrate salt concept. (Up to $1.9 million)

• Acciona - Sensible Heat, Direct, Dual-Media Thermal Energy Storage Module (Henderson, Nev.) Acciona will design and validate, at the prototype level, a sensible heat storage module in which the heat transfer fluid flows through a solid storage media. (Up to $690,000)

• City University of New York (CUNY) – A Novel Storage Method for Concentrating Solar Power Plants Allowing Operation at High Temperatures (New York, N.Y.) CUNY will develop a new storage method that utilizes carbon dioxide as the heat transfer fluid and solid ceramics for storage. This concept enables higher operating temperatures which will, in turn, lower the cost of the system. (Up to $1.9 million)

• General Atomics – Thermochemical Heat Storage for Concentrating Solar Power (San Diego, Calif.) General Atomics will explore the use of thermochemical cycles to store solar heat. Selected systems will undergo experimental feasibility studies. (Up to $2.4 million)

• Infinia Corporation – Innovative Application of Maintenance Free Phase Change Thermal Energy Storage for Dish Engine Solar Power Generation (Kennewick, Wash.) Infinia will demonstrate the practicality of integrating a thermal energy storage module with a dish stirling engine, enabling the system to operate during cloud transients and to provide dispatchable power for four to six hours after sunset. Infinia will demonstrate the concept on 40-50 dish-engine systems at DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories. (Up to $9.4 million)

• Lehigh University (LU) – Novel Thermal Energy Storage Technologies for Concentrating Solar Power Generation (Bethlehem, Pa.) LU will explore the containment of phase change materials in order to operate at temperatures near 400°C. (Up to $1.5 million)

• Terrafore – Heat Transfer and Latent Heat Storage in Inorganic Molten Salts for Concentrating Solar Power Plants (Riverside, Calif.) Terrafore will explore the potential of dilute eutectic mixtures of inorganic salts to be effective phase change materials in a thermal storage system. They will examine the flow and heat transfer properties of selected salt mixtures, as well as, design a compatible heat exchanger. (Up to $1.8 million)

• Texas Engineering Experiment Station – Molten Salt Carbon Nanotube Thermal Energy Storage for Concentrating Solar Power Systems (College Station, Texas) Texas A&M will create a suspension of carbon nanotubes in a molten salt material in order to improve thermal stability, heat capacity and thermal conductivity in the thermal region of 500°C to 600°C. (Up to $1.9 million)

• University of Alabama (UA) – Novel Molten Salts Thermal Energy Storage for Concentrating Solar Power Generation (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) UA will develop low melting point molten salt storage media with high thermal energy density for sensible heat storage. (Up to $1.9 million)

• University of Arkansas (UA) – Development and Performance Evaluation of High Temperature Concrete for Thermal Energy Storage and Solar Power Generation (Fayetteville, Ark.) UA will examine the characteristics of ultra high performance concrete, particularly its performance in temperatures up to 600°C. (Up to $770,000)

• University of Connecticut (UConn) – Novel Thermal Energy Storage for Concentrating Solar Power (Storrs, CT) UConn will embed thermosyphons, a method of passive heat exchange based on natural convection, and/or heat pipes with phase change materials to determine if they can significantly reduce thermal resistance within those materials. (Up to $1.8 million)

Thermal Energy Storage Near-Term Demonstration

• Abengoa – Reducing the Cost of Thermal Energy Storage for Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plants. Abengoa (Lakewood, Colo.) will analyze cost reduction opportunities for several new concepts using an indirect two-tank molten salt design as the baseline of comparison. The goal will be to identify a concept that can achieve a 20-25 percent cost reduction from the baseline. (Up to $12.5 million)

• Acciona – Indirect, Dual-Media, Phase Change Material Thermal Energy Storage Modul. Acciona (Henderson, Nev.) will design and validate at the prototype level, and then demonstrate an 800 MW four-hour thermal energy storage system using phase change material. The project will be integrated into Acciona’s 64 MW trough plant in Boulder City, Nev. (Up to $22.5 million)

• US Solar Holdings – CSP Energy Storage Solutions – Multiple Technologies Compared (Boise, Idaho) US Solar Holdings will explore two or more utility-scale energy storage technologies. These will include a thermocline single tank storage system and sand shifter –a two silo thermal mass storage system. The projects will be built and integrated with the Arizona Public Service CSP plant – a one MW parabolic trough plant in Red Rock, Ariz. (Up to $4.35 million)

Source: DOE press release, 19 September 2008

World Bank Group Commits US$4.5 Billion to East Asia Pacific Development Programs & Projects

The World Bank Group has announced in Hong Kong that it has committed loans, grants and credits totaling US$4.5 billion to support development across the East Asia Pacific region during fiscal year 2008. This was US$200 million more than the previous fiscal year, reflecting increased support for the region.

Jim Adams (pictured at left), World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific, said the region’s strategy focuses on scaling up the World Bank Group’s engagement to address the changing demands of middle income countries while also working to support countries dealing with the impacts of inflation, fragility and conflict.

"The East Asia and Pacific region is the most dynamic in the world and our strategy needs to reflect the evolving challenges of such a diverse range of economies," Mr. Adams said. "Most East Asian countries are well positioned to navigate the global slowdown because of investments made in structural reforms in the past 10 years, but the food price crisis and climbing oil prices have dealt a blow to poor people in a number of the region's client countries."

The Bank's East Asia and Pacific region has placed strong emphasis on lending to countries to help strengthen their public institutions, develop infrastructure, support community building, and improve human capital. Examples include:

• In China , where energy demand is outstripping supply, a $200 million loan will help catalyze large-scale domestic financing to increase the efficiency of energy-intensive industries, while a $191 million loan in Liaoning Province will finance a project to demonstrate energy efficiency and environmental performance of heating and gas services.

• In Vietnam, a $155 million credit from the Bank Group’s International Development Association (IDA) and a $9.8 million grant from the Global Environment Facility are helping the city of Hanoi to improve urban air quality and expand mass transit public transport.

• In Indonesia , a $200 million loan will support policy reforms in the country’s infrastructure sector. Two Bank-supported urban and rural poverty reduction programs worth $409 million will support the government’s effort to reach all of Indonesia’s 70,000 villages with the community-driven and -monitored service delivery program. In education, an $86 million Bank loan is supporting the government’s effort to upgrade the qualifications of over 1.4 million teachers and create world-class educational institutions.

• In Papua New Guinea , a $17-million loan is supporting the country’s work to strengthen governance and accountability in mining sector institutions and to empower local people in mining communities to monitor the delivery of programs and services.

• In Cambodia , a new Poverty Reduction and Growth Operation, supported by a $15 million IDA grant, is helping improve the country’s public financial management.

• In Mongolia , a country on the verge of a major minerals boom, the Bank is supporting the governments implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and is finalizing preparation of an IDA project to help the government set up a financial and regulatory framework for managing the mining and extractive industries in an environmentally sustainable and transparent way.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) - the Bank Group’s private sector arm – committed $1.63 billion for 60 projects in East Asia and Pacific in FY08, an increase of 73 per cent over FY07. IFC is focusing advisory and investment services on strengthening its impact in the poorest countries and lagging regions of middle-income countries that have not participated in the region's growth, as well as on climate change. Nearly half of the projects IFC delivered in FY08 were in the poorest countries of the region, and the volume of financing to climate change-related projects increased by 78 per cent over FY07 to $407 million, in areas such as solar equipment manufacturing, renewable energy, and an expansion of the ground-breaking energy efficiency finance program in China.

Also active in the region is the Bank Group’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which has provided US$1.2 billion in political risk insurance or guarantees for more than 50 projects in East Asia since its inception. These guarantees have ranged from less than $200,000 for a project in China to US$118 million for an investment in the Philippines. Guarantees issued by the agency have covered investments in the financial services, manufacturing, oil and gas, power, transportation, telecommunications, and water sectors across the region, helping to promote inward foreign direct investment.

"Foreign direct investors can play a critical role in reducing poverty—by building roads, providing clean water and electricity, and above all, providing jobs,” said James Bond (pictured right), MIGA's Acting Executive Vice President. "We are committed to promoting socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable projects in the region to help address constraints in financial sector development, health services, and infrastructure, and manage scarce resources and environmental challenges."

Source: World Bank press release, 17 September 2008

British Prime Minister calls for new Global Financial System
to end Market Turmoil

Reported by Miles Shepherd in London, UK

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom called for a new global financial system to bring an end to the current economic turmoil, laying out five principles on which the order should be based as he addressed the UN General Assembly’s annual high-level debate.

"This has been an era of global prosperity. It has been an era also of global turbulence," Gordon Brown said at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Friday 26 September. To bring an end to the culture of irresponsibility, "we must now build a new global financial order founded on transparency, not opacity; rewarding success, not excess; responsibility, not impunity; and which is global, not national."

He proposed five key principles for all nations to abide by:

1. transparency and improved accounting standards;

2. sound banking practices and more effective regulation;

3. increased responsibility to be taken by senior management;

4. integrity; and

5. oversight of global capital flows.

Mr. Brown also urged urgent action to tackle what he called the “global scramble for resources” by addressing the problem of high commodity prices and “taking tough decisions on energy security and climate change.” To this end, he said he will host a global energy summit in London to push for agreement on key issues later this year.

Cooperation among nations is more important than ever, he said, as it is the only vehicle through which "we can make the most of the world’s scarce resources and harness the power of our ever great interdependence for our common good."

Resorting to isolationism and protectionism is not the solution to the crisis holding the world in its clutches, the Prime Minister said. "It is only by maintaining our open, flexible and dynamic economies that we can best secure people’s jobs, homes and standards of living in a global age."

Source: UN Daily Digest, 26 September 2008

Star Studded Concert in Jordan to help finance Projects in Afghanistan

Reported by Ammar Mango in Amman

A star-studded line-up of artists will perform at next month's United Nations-backed memorial concert and ceremony in Jordan to honour the late Luciano Pavarotti, it was announced by the Italian tenor's widow at a press conference in Milan on 16 September. Andrea Bocelli (pictured below right) and Sting are among the luminaries of classical and pop music slated to play at the concert, which will take place next month on Mr. Pavarotti's birthday in Petra, the renowned World Heritage site in Jordan.

According to the United Nations, the funds raised will go to projects in Afghanistan focusing on the most vulnerable, mostly women and children, of the 5 million refugees returning from Pakistan, Iran and neighboring States to the eastern provinces of their country. These projects are jointly run by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The projects will include school building programmes; the provision of health, skills and literacy training; and the construction of micro-hydropower and irrigation canals to bring electricity and improve agricultural production in Afghanistan. The event will also be supported by Italy, who announced a donation of over 2 million euros for the joint UNHCP-WFP project in Afghanistan, and hosted by Princess Haya Bint al Hussein of Jordan.

"For over 10 years, until his death in September 2007, Maestro Pavarotti actively supported UNHCR projects in Kosovo, Pakistan, Zambia and Iraq," the agency said in a joint press release with WFP.

"UNHCR remembers the Maestro as a unique artist, an extremely generous man and a friend. Luciano Pavarotti was one of the greatest supporters of UNHCR’s work, using his amazing talents to raise awareness of refugee issues around the world," added Radhouane Nouicer (pictured at left), UNHCR Director of the Middle East and North Africa Office in Geneva.

"Millions of Afghans live in dire poverty. In particular returnees, who after many years arrive home needing everything: food, shelter and a future,” also noted Susana Rico, WFP director in Afghanistan. "The spirit of the great Maestro Pavarotti brings people together, even now. We will always remember him for his extraordinary efforts to help reach those in need."

Other musicians on the list of performers announced by Mr. Pavarotti’s widow, Nicoletta Mantovani, included Jovanotti, Zucchero, Laura Pausini, Angela Gheorghiu, Andrea Griminelli, Cynthia Lawrence and Roberto Alagna, and the concert will be conducted by Eugene Kohn.

AfDB Approves US$ 320 Million Credits to Standard Bank and Nedbank of South Africa for Infrastructure Projects Finance

Reported by Jaycee Krüger in South Africa

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Tunis have approved two lines of credit totaling US$ 320 million to Standard Bank of South Africa (SBSA) and Nedbank, both based in South Africa to provide long-term funding for infrastructure, industry and natural resource projects in Africa, outside South Africa.

According to the AfDB news release, the loans will provide both banks with long-term funding. Whilst the international "sub-prime" credit crisis has not directly impacted financial market liquidity in South Africa, it has increased the cost of long-term funding. The funding received will further diversify and enhance the capital base of both banks.

According to Mandla Sizwe V. Gantsho, AfDB Vice President for Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration, "the approval of these loans is very timely, given the current difficulties in the financial markets arising from the sub-prime lending crisis. Africa's infrastructure development cannot be put on hold by such difficulties. The AfDB is playing a rightful and strategic role, by being instrumental in supporting strong South African financial institutions to make sure that they can continue playing their infrastructure financing role across Africa and contributing to the achievement of development outcomes for the whole Continent."

Mr. Gantsho is the former CEO of the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), and moved to ADB two and a half years ago serving not only South Africa and the SADC Region, as he did when he was at DBSA, but the entire African Continent.

Under the approvals, SBSA, one of Africa's largest banks with a strong continental presence, will receive up to US$ 220 million line of credit to help feed its project finance operations on the continent. Nedbank will receive US$ 100 million to fund its project finance portfolio in Africa. The bank is considered to be among the most creditworthy institutions on the continent with an investment-grade credit rating.

Mark Weston, Managing Director and Joint Head of Investment Banking at Nedbank Capital said, "Nedbank are pleased to once again be working with AfDB and securing a meaningful US Dollar Line of Credit to support Nedbank's project financing activities into the continent. This aligns with our strategy of selectively expanding our activities into Africa outside of South Africa."