According to the Bank’s website, the Objective of the Program is to increase access to sustainable and clean energy in Madagascar and improve financial performance of JIRAMA.

ASCENT Madagascar is a Program for Results (PforR) designed to operationalize the Government's commitments under the National Energy Compact, which is Madagascar's roadmap to achieving the Mission 300 targets. The Operation will emphasize the dual priorities of utility viability and accelerated access expansion. It will contribute to improving the financial performance of the utility (JIRAMA) while providing support to expand electricity access to the grid. the program also supports government efforts to scale up decentralized renewable energy solutions for last mile access in rural areas through minigrids, off grid, standalone systems and productive use of energy solutions. It includes the promotion of clean cooking technologies to increase their access to households across the country. The Investment Project Financing (IPF) component of ASCENT Madagascar complements the PforR by financing investments, technical assistance, and institutional strengthening support to sectoral institutions and the Compact Delivery and Monitoring Unit (CDMU) that cannot be captured through disbursement linked indicators. This also includes a training and professional Integration program, Program Coordination and Implementation Support.

Environmental risk is rated as Low as activities under the IPF component focus primarily on technical assistance, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation systems, and program coordination, rather than large scale civil works. The IPF component of the Program involves only finance investments and Technical Assistance (TA) that cannot be captured through DLIs including institutional capacity building. These activities may generate downstream risks. Minor environmental risks may arise from the use of office facilities, data systems, electronic equipment, and survey tools, including the generation of electronic waste, and from field level activities linked to monitoring, verification, and training. These risks are expected to be site specific, low in magnitude, and readily mitigated through good practices in waste management and occupational health and safety.

Social risk is rated as Moderate. The social risks associated with the IPF component are limited, as the activities consist of Technical Assistance (TA) Type 3, strengthening borrower capacity for CDMUs and sectoral institutions, along with institutional strengthening, analytical work, training, and implementation support to initiatives like the skills-to work program. The IPF finances no civil works, land acquisition, or direct community-facing investments. As a result, potential adverse impacts are expected to be minimal. The key social risks identified, whose risk profile is expected to range from low to moderate, include: (i) Labor and working conditions, including consultants to be recruited for the Multi Tier Framework ( MTF) surveys; (ii) potential exclusion of vulnerable groups, including during the surveys, along with elite capture of project benefits, particularly in the selection of beneficiaries for the Sub-component 2- skills to jobs program, which could potentially lead to conflict as well; (iii) SEA/SH risks, which are further described below; (iv) data privacy risks, related to the access and handling of the user data collected.

Total Project Cost: US$ 909.52 million
IDA Credit (Loan Commitment): US$ 250.00 million
Borrower/Recipient: US$ 659.52 million

CONTACT POINT - World Bank

Task Team Leader: Monali Ranade
Title: Lead Energy Specialist
Email: mranade@worldbank.org

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