National Highway Network Development in Balochistan Project

Lack of project allocation and/or firm funding sources during implementation and post-project operation can jeopardize the establishment of auxiliary services and other components initially planned to maximize project benefits. The project mandated the development of five community facilitation centers (CFCs) along the project roads to overall create opportunities for the economic uplift of the local population by improving local market hubs and improving their linkage to national markets. Although the government agreed to execute the CFC component at appraisal and loan signing; it was not part of the approved project cost. Furthermore; an initial decision by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office to include the component in its grant allocation was overwritten by budget reprioritization due to COVID-19. Therefore, the CFC component was not implemented. For future projects, project teams should ensure that (i) all components are approved by the government before
making them part of project outputs and (ii) evaluate the capacity of counterpart government agencies to execute, operate and maintain the component to ensure sustainability.