West Africa Coastal Areas Blue Economy and Resilience Program (WB-P509153)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Benin
  • Mauritania
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
A
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Mar 17, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Republic of Benin
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Law and Government
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 207.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 207.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 240.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Oct 17, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Jan 29, 2025

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Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to bank's website, the approved project aims to strengthen the health and resilience of coastal and marine assets through infrastructure investments, including nature-based solutions, ecosystem restoration, and improved management and monitoring of marine and coastal resources. These investments, alongside activities to enhance government capacity, will provide the enabling conditions and groundwork for job growth. It will also create jobs in the blue economy by facilitating financing, technical assistance, and market development for the scale up and creation of blue enterprises, alongside infrastructure investments in relevant sub-areas. WACA+ is structured around three interlinked components, each aligned with relevant national coastal development plans and blue economy strategies. These components are: (i) strengthening governance and institutions; (ii) enhancing coastal resilience; and (iii) facilitating coastal economic development.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

Environmental and Social Risk: H

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Total Project Cost: US$ 240.00 million

Commitment Amount: US$ 212.00 million 

IBRD + IDA Commitment: US$ 207.00 million 


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Task Team Leader: Berengere P. C. Prince

Title: Lead Natural Resources Management Specialist 

Email: bprince@worldbank.org 

TTL Contact: Veruschka Schmidt 

Title: Senior Environmental Specialist 

Email: vschmidt@worldbank.org 

TTL Contact: Jana Malinska 

Title: Senior Private Sector Specialist 

Email: jmalinska@worldbank.org 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To submit an information request for project information, you will have to create an account to access the Access to Information request form. You can learn more about this process at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information/request-submission

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. Information on how to file a complaint and a complaint request form are available at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org/how-to-file-complaint

How it works

How it works