Cubango-Okavango River Basin (CORB): Financing Innovation in Transboundary Waters (WB-P513349)

Countries
  • South Africa
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
B
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
May 7, 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
Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM)
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Law and Government
  • Water and Sanitation
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Grant
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 10.00 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.
Grant Amount (USD)
$ 10.00 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)
$ 10.00 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 13, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Oct 20, 2025

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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 support the capitalization of the Cubango-Okavango River Basin Fund (“CORB Fund”) towards sustainable development in the Cubango-Okavango river basin (“CORB”). Component 1 focuses on the CORB Fund's capitalization. This component will support the consolidation and expansion of the CORB Fund as an innovative financial mechanism, and advance collaboration towards its long-term sustainability. It includes (1.1.) the establishment and implementation of the CORB Fund's governance, operational tools, and systems, (1.2.) the implementation of stakeholder coordination and engagement for long-term sustainability of the CORB Fund, (1.3.) support to the CORB Fund's communication and knowledge management, and (1.4.) CORB endowment fund capitalization. Component 2 focuses on developing the CORB Fund's pipeline for potential investment. This component will focus on the development of the CORB Fund's pipeline of investment to address the priority areas identified by Angola, Botswana and Namibia in the CORB, laying the foundation for larger/more complex investments in the future. The component's activities will focus on two complementary areas of support: (2.1) preparing the CORB Fund Financing Roadmap as well as project concepts at pre-feasibility and feasibility level for potential investment; and (2.2) enhancing capacity on economics of biodiversity to inform investment. The development of the pipeline for potential future investment will be conducted with close engagement with the Ministers of Finance of Riparian countries to ensure high level buy-in and engagement participation in the preparation of the Fund's long-term capitalization and development into the role as a regional financial institution. Component 3 focuses on project management, monitoring and evaluation (M&E).

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: S

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

Total Project Cost: US$ 10.00 million

Commitment Amount: US$ 10.00 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: Anders Jagerskog 

Title: Senior Water Resources Management Specialist 

Email: ajagerskog@worldbank.org 

TTL Contact: Diego Juan Rodriguez 

Title: Lead Economist 

Email: drodriguez1@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

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