The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing $490 million to Bangladesh on two loan agreements for rural connectivity improvement, and improving urban governance and infrastructure.
For this, Sharifa Khan, Secretary of Economic Relations Division, and EdimonGinting, ADB Country Director for Bangladesh signed the agreements on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB, respectively on Monday.
An agreement was signed for a $300 million loan agreement to help achieve integrated and sustainable urban development to improve the livability of 88 pourashavas (municipalities), benefiting 7.6 million citizens in Bangladesh.
The programme, ‘Improving Urban Governance and Infrastructure’, aims to strengthen urban governance and provide capital investment for improved delivery of municipal services based on the Municipal Development Plan of Bangladesh.
“Climate resilient and sustainable urban development is key to transforming Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2030,” said the ADB Country Director.
Building on ADB's 20-year experience in urban governance and infrastructure improvement in Bangladesh, this programme will incorporate a performance-based approach to achieve further meaningful municipal reforms, he said, adding that efficient municipal services, improved capacity, better infrastructure and governance, and people’s participation will help accelerate a balanced urban growth in Bangladesh.
To strengthen institutional capacity for inclusive municipal governance, this results-based loan will help prepare and implement an urban governance improvement action plan in each participating pourashava and digitalize the monitoring and evaluation system, including the revenue management system.
It will also support specific interventions to promote women’s leadership role, pursue equity through budget earmarking for addressing the specific needs of women and the vulnerable, and adopt guidelines on climate-resilient and socially inclusive public spaces and facilities.
At least 900 kilometres (km) of stormwater drainage will be upgraded, 1,500 km of roads will be rehabilitated, and public facilities will be refurbished or developed considering the needs of women and the vulnerable population. The programme supports urban resilience by scaling the preparation and implementation of risk-informed master planning and investments, with climate financing amounting to 60 percent of the loan amount.
The programme will receive a $200 million co-financing from the AgenceFrançaise de Developpement, while the government has committed to contribute about $189 million to the project. In addition, ADB will provide technical assistance grants of $1 million from its Technical Assistance Special Fund and $1 million from the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific to support programme implementation, specifically the performance monitoring and evaluation and institutionalization of the criteria-based fund transfers to pourashavas.
Meanwhile, another agreement was signed for $190 million in additional loan for the ongoing Rural Connectivity Improvement Project that is upgrading rural roads, making agricultural areas more productive, and improving socioeconomic centres in rural Bangladesh.
This project will help improve access to social services and boost economic opportunities in the rural areas, while making communities more resilient to climate change and natural disaster,” said EdimonGinting.
“Through this project, ADB will expand and improve rural road networks by making the road design and construction more climate and disaster resilient. This project also helps improve transport efficiency in rural areas, boost agricultural productivity, and generate employment,” he added.
The ongoing project, approved in November 2018, has upgraded about 1,700 kilometres (km) of rural roads, strengthened the capacity of rural infrastructure agencies and road users and improved rural road master planning. More than 900 km of rural roads have been added to the original target since 2020.
This additional financing will further extend the improvement of another 1,350 km of rural roads with climate resilience design and improved safety features. The project also strengthens the capability of the Local Government Engineering Department in adopting the nature-based bioengineering solutions for climate change adaptation.
