Middle East & North Africa development of smes exports through virtual market places

Project Financing

96. 
    The proposed Project is a grant financed by the MENA Transition Fund established by the Deauville partnership for transition countries of the MENA region in the amount of US$ 3 million. The partner agencies (TSIs) will provide in kind support, mainly the provision of office space and logistics.
    

97. 
    The Grant will be entirely managed by ITC without prior allocation to TSIs. The RIA will be responsible for managing the Project funds and all related financial transactions. Payments will be processed by ITC.
    

Cost by Component / over 3 years	Transition Fund (USD) –Initial Proposal	Transition Fund (USD) Revised Proposal	Country Co-Financing (USD)
Component 1. Institutional reform Morocco Tunisia Jordan	300,000 100,000 100,000 100,000	300,000 100,000 100,000 100,000
Component 2: Export markets accessed through VMPs by SMEs Sub-component 2.1- Capacity building and outreach Sub-component 2.2 Registration and coaching of SMEs	3,100,000 200,000 2,500,000	1,335,000 100,000 1,235,000	In kind- to be estimated
Component 3: Sub-component 3.1: VMP Partnerships Sub-component 3.2. Business Intelligence Development Sub-component 3.3. Certification	1,820,000 1,500,000 200,000 120,000	1,020,000 700,000 200,000 120,000	In-kind support from VMP providers
Component 4. Project Management and Evaluation Sub-Component 4.1. Project Management Sub-Component 4.2. Impact and evaluation assessment	540,000 510,000 30,000	270,000 240,000 30,000	In-kind TBD
Bank supervision costs	200,000	42,000	n.a.
Miscellaneous Expenses	100,000	n.a.
Total Project Cost	5,760,000	2,989,000

F.KEY RISKS AND MITIGATION MEASURES

Risk Ratings Summary Table

Stakeholder Risk	Moderate
Regional Implementing Agency Risk
Capacity	Low
Governance	Low
Project Risk
Design	Moderate
Social and Environmental	Low
Program and Donor	Low
Delivery Monitoring and Sustainability	Moderate
Other (Optional)
Overall Implementation Risk	Substantial

Overall Risk Rating Explanation

98. 
    The overall risk for this operation is substantial due mostly to transition countries context and the volatility of the political, security, and governance environment. However, unless major turmoil occurs, it is not expected that changes in institutions/government reshuffling will affect the project once launched.
    

Risk Mitigation

99. 
    The project’s approach, mainly working through networks at country level, facilitates its implementation even in the event of changes at government level. The moderate risk at project design level will be mitigated by the partnerships with ITC and its presence and knowledge in the three countries of both, trade institutions, and private sector associations.