Country Assistance Strategy (CAS)

Background on Country Assistance Strategy

The Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) is the most important World Bank country document. It is tailored to the needs and circumstances of each country and lays down the World Bank Group's development priorities, as well as the level and type of assistance the Bank will provide for a period of three years.

The CAS preparation is a participatory process. Before the adoption, key elements of the strategy are discussed with government representatives; and to ensure the widest possible involvement, public dialogues are also held, with Internet-based discussions taking place in many countries.

However, the CAS is not a negotiated document. Any differences between the country's own agenda and the Bank's strategy are highlighted in the CAS document. A progress report is issued in the intervening year. More information is available at the World Bank CAS website.

Madagascar Country Assistance Strategy

On April 3, 2007, the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors discussed the new Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for Madagascar. This document serves as a roadmap for World Bank Group assistance to the country for the period 2007 - 2011. It supports the government’s program – the Madagascar Action Plan.

The World Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy supports the areas of the government program that have the highest priority, in which the World Bank Group has a comparative advantage. The World Bank Group’s strategy focuses on removing bottlenecks to sustainable and shared growth, anchored in good governance, with corresponding improvements in welfare indicators. The specific sets of results supported by the CAS are organized around two main pillars. The first concentrates on activities that will help remove constraints to investment and growth in rural and urban areas. The second brings together activities geared toward improving the scope and quality of service delivery.

The World Bank support program encompasses budget support (Poverty Reduction Support Credits); sector-wide operations; investment projects; public-private partnerships; and analytical and advisory activities.

The forthcoming report – Country Economic Memorandum – on growth will enrich the current growth diagnostics and help fine-tune future World Bank Group interventions, specifically the future growth operations. It will continue to provide integrated assistance through the Growth Poles Project. The Watershed and Irrigation project is financing investments in irrigation infrastructure and supporting marketing and other services to increase agricultural productivity and diversification. The Bank Group will continue its comprehensive transport program and will finance upgrades to the telecommunications sector, such as development of a national backbone connected to the regional communications network via the East Africa Submarine System (EASSy). This is being supported by a regional IDA project that was approved in early March 2007.

The Bank Group will continue its efforts to improve the energy sector. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International development Association (IDA) are working together with the government on a concession arrangement (Affermage) for the power company JIRAMA and on attracting private companies to generate and sell electricity. IDA will continue to assist the government in improving its business climate and bring in more foreign direct investment as well as in strengthening the financial sector. Madagascar’s membership in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) will be supported through the Mining Project. A supplemental credit and a follow-on IDA project in the environment sector are also planned.

IDA, jointly with other donors, will continue to assist the government in its efforts to achieve universal enrollment in primary education, increase completion rates, and improve the quality of education at all levels. The primary avenue for assistance is the Education for All Fast-Track Initiative with Africa Catalytic Fund resources. IDA assistance will also include a future investment operation in post primary education and review of the labor market. In health, it will help the government make further progress on reducing child and maternal mortality by offering access to reproductive services, reducing child malnutrition, improving the availability of clean water and sanitation services, and keeping HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted disease rates under control. This will be achieved through current operations in health and HIV/AIDS and a new series of health operations. IDA will continue to work with the government on institutionalizing the nutrition program and extending nutrition support sites nationwide initially through the nutrition project and then through general budget support. IDA will help the authorities decentralize the provision of basic services. It this regard, it will provide financial support for the Local Development Fund which is a new mechanism for financing local infrastructure that builds on the experience of the Community Development Project.