The Government of Bolivia plans to increase access to infrastructure services in poor rural areas through its Rural Infrastructure Development Program. In support of this initiative, the World Bank is providing an IDA credit of approximately US $20 million to the Government through the Decentralized Infrastructure Rural Transformation Project. The first phase of this program will focus on the electricity and information / communication technologies (ICT) sectors. GPOBA’s Technical Assistance funds have been allocated towards incorporating OBA mechanisms into the Government’s plans for service expansion.

This project is now closed and successfully achieved the main objective of informing the design and development of OBA elements for the Bolivia Rural Access project which aims to increase access to infrastructure services in poor rural areas.

With GPOBA’s assistance, the Government of Bolivia has developed model bidding documents and service contracts which intelligently apply output-based payment mechanisms.

GPOBA has been involved in the design and development of OBA elements of Bolivia’s Rural Access project. Namely, GPOBA has helped:

• Design the processes for allocating OBA subsidies.
• Draft model OBA contracts.
• Advise on target areas for OBA schemes.
• Design operating procedures for scheme administration.
 

Dana Rysankova