2.2  Administrative history  In 1965 the World Bank established an office in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to be the World Bank “permanent mission” for Western Africa.  Its mandate was to assist governments in the Western Africa region in identifying and preparing projects for Bank Group financing, especially in the agricultural and transport sectors.  Over the next years, World Bank offices were established in some of the countries of the Western Africa region (Nigeria and Zaire 1970, Ghana 1971,  Upper Volta 1974,  Cameroon 1975, Mali 1976, Senegal 1978, Niger 1981, Togo 1983) with direct lines of reporting to Bank headquarters not to Abidjan.  The Abidjan office became a regional office with a coordinating role, as well as a country office for the Ivory Coast.

2.4  Source   Transferred from the Ivory Coast Country Office

3.1 Scope and content   The records are fragmentary.  The majority of the files concern the establishment of World Bank offices in the countries of the Western Africa region, visits by senior officials of the Bank, including President Robert McNamara, and projects managed in Guinea.  In addition, there is one administrative file containing instructions on reporting to Bank Headquarters; one file of correspondence with the Eastern Africa regional office, primarily on administrative issues; and one file on speeches given by the President and a memorandum prepared by the African group of Governors of the Bank for the 1977 annual meeting along with a copy of the briefing for the President on the issues in the memorandum.

The country files consist  of correspondence with other World Bank offices, press releases announcing the opening of the offices, evaluations of the offices, and instructions on coordination between the country, the regional offices, and the Bank headquarters.   These are interesting primarily for the perspective of the regional office on coordination issues.

The visit files include agendas,  correspondence setting up meetings with the Government for the visitor, briefing materials, short resumes of the careers of persons the visitor was scheduled to meet, back-to-the-office reports on the events of the visit, reports of discussions, and clippings. 

The files on the two Guinea projects, one an agricultural development project  (Cr. 1635-GUI) and the other on agricultural services (CR. 1636-GUI), include a note from an internal auditor from Headquarters, explaining that the Headquarters files on the projects are thin (“there are months in which little or nothing is on file”) so he asked the Abidjan office to send in the project files.  The two projects supported a program of “decentralized technical support for smallholders” and assistance to a reorganized agriculture ministry.

3.3  Accruals   Accruals are expected

3.4 Arrangement  Arranged in one series:
                                          Administrative matters.  1984.  1v.
                                          Country coordination
                                              Cameroon.  1975-1983.  1v.
                                              Ghana.  1971-1983. 1v.
                                              Mali.  1977-1983.  1v.
                                              Niger.  1980.  1v.
                                              Nigeria.  1970-1988.  1v.
                                              Senegal.  1978-1983.  1v.
                                              Togo.  1985.  1v.
                                              Upper Volta.  1974-1983.  1v.
                                              Zaire.  1978-1980.  1v.
                                          Permanent Mission in Eastern Africa [correspondence].
                                              1965-1979. 1v.
                                          Projects
                                              Guinea Agricultural services projects Cr. 1636-GUI.  1985-1989.  2v.
                                              Guinea Gueckedou  Cr. 1635-GUI.  1985-1990.  3v.
                                          Speeches – Annual Meetings.  1976-1977.  1v.
                                          Visits
                                              McNamara [Robert].  1969, 1973, 1977-1978.  1v.
                                              Chenery [Hollis].  1971.  1v.
                                              [Knox, A. David].  1980-1981.  1v.

4.1 Conditions of access  Records are subject to the World Bank Policy on the Disclosure of Information

4.2 Conditions of reproduction  Records are subject to the World Bank Policy on Copyright

4.3 Language/scripts English, French

5.3  Related units of description WB IBRD/IDA 01, Country Operational Files, 1946-1998; WB IBRD/IDA 05, Records of the Africa Regional Office

7.2 Rules or conventions     Internal World Bank Group Archives rules
7.3 Date(s) of descriptions  2004-06-25