Project: Economic Analysis of the Advancing Citizen Engagement (ACE) Project, Rwanda

Project Overview The World Bank-funded "Advancing Citizen Engagement (ACE)" project, implemented by Spark Microgrants in partnership with the Government of Rwanda, aimed to improve livelihoods for 35,053 households (approximately 76,000 people) and strengthen the capacity of communities and government for citizen engagement in 249 villages. The project combined sustainable livelihood microgrants for rural villages with capacity building for officials and communities on inclusive, participatory planning through a Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP).

My Role & Methodology As one of the lead external consultants (Aman Farahi and Arthur Byabagambi), my role was to conduct the detailed economic analysis of the ACE project. This encompassed an integrated project appraisal adhering to Government of Rwanda guidelines, which included analyzing financial cash flows, economic resource flows, stakeholder impacts, and risks.

Key methodological aspects included:

• A 10-year analytical horizon with a 13% discount rate.

• Application of Rwanda's commodity-specific conversion factors to translate financial prices into economic prices.

• Primary data collection from a sample of microgrant activities (e.g., livestock acquisition, shelter costs, recurrent expenses).

• Modeling overall program-level benefits based on changes in median household assets, savings, and food insecurity.

• Detailed Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) for specific microgrant activities like livestock rearing and a community loan scheme, incorporating direct costs (livestock, feed, veterinary services) and opportunity costs (land, labor, environmental externalities like GHG emissions).

Key Findings & Economic Impact The economic analysis revealed significant positive impacts across the program:

• Overall Program Benefits: The project demonstrated positive incremental benefits, with the average value of household assets more than doubling (an increase of RWF 135,583) compared to the without-project scenario. Household savings were RWF 10,775 higher, and food insecurity was projected to decrease by an additional 3.6% due to the project.

• Microgrant Activities: All analyzed microgrant activities showed a positive economic impact, with benefit-to-cost ratios (BCR) ranging from 1.04 for Bull rearing to a notable 4.2 for the community loan scheme. The overall ACE project achieved an economic BCR of 1.45 and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 40%.

• Scalability: The analysis explored scale-up scenarios, estimating that expanding the program to 3,000 communities (from the initial 249) would cost approximately USD 25 million and generate a net economic benefit of USD 1.3 million.

• Fiscal Considerations: While economically beneficial, the project generates minimal direct revenue for the government (less than 1% of project costs), indicating that 99% of costs require financing, primarily through grants or loans under various funding scenarios.

Sample Analysis & Disclaimer

[Download Sample Economic Analysis (PDF)]

• Disclaimer: This document is provided as a sample of my analytical work for portfolio review purposes only. It is a draft version and should not be cited or distributed. The final, official economic analysis is contained within the comprehensive Project Appraisal Document (PAD) available from the World Bank Operational Website.