The World Bank, together with otherdonors, has launched a program for promoting informationsystems in Sub-Saharan Africa. Because of the importance ofgeo-referenced information systems in resourcedecision-making, a systematic review of the Bank portfolioin Sub-Saharan Africa has been carried out from Fiscal Year(FY) 1988 to FY 1993. This review assesses if the Bankcommitment to developing geo-referenced information systemshas been translated into its operation; draws anddisseminates lessons; and formulates recommendations. Themain findings are as follows: 1) the World Bank commitmentto developing geo-referenced information systems is not yetreflected in its operations. 2) Investment in geo-referencedinformation systems has been concentrated in only a fewcountries and projects. 3) There are no clear trends ininvestment over time; but differences appear among CountryDepartments, some of them focusing more on the developmentof geo-referenced information systems than others. 4) Landtitling, and more recently, environmental planning seem tostimulate investment in geo-referenced systems. The reportends with recommendations to promote and develop informationsystems in Africa and to promote and develop informationsystems within the Bank and donor agencies.
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