The inaugural WACA Marketplace took place on November 18 and 19th in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

The six WACA countries – Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Senegal, Sao Tome and Principe, and Togo – unbundled their coastal multi-sector investment plans into project ideas and pitched a total of 12 project proposals to potential financial and technical partners. Click here to hear what Professor Ochou, Coordinator of WACA in Cote d’Ivoire, has to say about the opportunities for scale-up.”

This first Marketplace saw multiple financial and technical organizations actively responding to the pitches and requests for technical assistance. The electronic version of the “WACA Marketplace Pitchbook” will be made available on this website soon. Donor partners like the Nordic Development Fund are keen on the WACA approach and on the prospects of cross learning, including on private sector and the Africa Guarantee Fund.

As part of the technical consultations, representatives of the civil society and youth developed a roadmap for the WACA Local Action and Community Engagement (LACE) program. Stay tuned for further information as the consultations proceed. Further discussions are expected as part of the March 2020 Forum of the Regional Coastal-Marine Partnership (PRCM).

Discussions with the WACA Private Sector Consultative Group were lively in particular around how to best prepare the future PPP’s that support coastal resilience, for which a first batch are to be presented at the next edition of the WACA Marketplace in 2020. The WACA Program was pleased to hear that coastal resilience is included in the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa’s work program. As explained here, the private sector is part and parcel of the solution for coastal resilience.

The Abidjan Convention led consultations on the proposed Resource Center aiming to facilitate access to coastal resilience data. The consultation solicited feedback, and gained support for the Resource Center’s proposed mission and governance structure, and concluded that Center will support the preparation of the State of the West Africa Coast report in preparation by the Centre de Suivi Ecologique. There is a strong role for technology in coastal resilience and economic development, and the Resource Center is envisaged to play a key role in using technology to promote knowledge and accessibility.

Finally, there was a productive discussion on the upcoming Compendium of Solutions for Coastal Resilience where both The Africa Center of Excellence for Coastal Resilience (ACECoR) at the University of Cape Coast and the French Research Institute for Development (IRD) are leading efforts. An online version for decision-makers and practitioners is expected easily in mid-2020.

Approximately 140 people participated in the first Marketplace, including those who joined via livestream. Interest in the WACA Marketplace was impressive. During the Marketplace, social media engagement reached over 10 million people with #WACAmarketplace hashtag and engaged directly with almost 10,000 people.

Stay tuned for updated from the four youth bloggers who attended the WACA Marketplace. These winners of the 2019 World Bank Blog4Dev Award will report on their views of coastal resilience and what is already underway with the WACA Program.

For question please be in touch with waca@worldbank.org.