Lebanon obtains World Bank funding to boost delivery of digital public services

The Lebanese government has secured $150 million from the World Bank to implement the Lebanon Digital Acceleration Project (LDAP), an initiative which aims to strengthen the delivery of digital public services for the country’s citizens.

This is one of two projects for which the country is getting a total of $350 million in financing to implement project activities in the areas of social protection, economic empowerment and digital transformation.

The other project, dubbed Social Safety Net Enhancement and System Building Project, will be funded to the tune of $200 million.

A recent World Bank release announcing the funding says that both projects will help the government meet the “basic needs of the poor and vulnerable during its economic and financial recovery and improve the delivery of high-impact public services through digital transformation of the public sector.”

The idea, according to the bank, is to help the country better deal with recovery from the various crises it has faced, and which have deepened poverty and weakened the government’s capacity to effectively deliver public services to citizens.

As explained by the bank, the LDAP will make it easier for citizens to access government services and find economic opportunities more easily and securely. It is also designed to “empower businesses and entrepreneurs through a more secure digital environment and expanded market access, and enable the government to improve service delivery and operational efficiency through enhanced digital platforms and data capabilities.”

The project is also meant to support the building and strengthening of data and cybersecurity infrastructure, strengthening of foundations for more trusted digital transformation and the putting in place of essential platforms needed for an effective digital government ecosystem. It is understood that as part of this project, a fully digital ID system is envisaged.

Select services adjudged to have the potential to enhance government efficiency and transparency will also be digitized and tested in a pilot as part of the project.

For the $200 million project, the objective is to boost Lebanon’s social protection delivery system and facilitate how the government reaches beneficiaries with cash transfers.

In remarks following approval of the funding package, the World Bank Division Director, Middle East Department, Jean-Christophe Carret, said: “Lebanon is witnessing a fragile recovery. The World Bank’s new financing package is designed to deliver broad, high-impact benefits across society by advancing social protection, economic inclusion, and digital transformation.”

He added that “these efforts will strengthen Lebanon’s economic recovery, job creation, and the country’s ability to deliver high-impact public services to all its citizens.”

A milestone for Lebanon’s digital transformation

Also commenting on the project approval by the World Bank, Lebanon’s Minister of Administrative Reform, Fadi Makki, said it was a milestone for the country’s digital transformation journey.

In a LinkedIn post, Makki appreciated partners and all government structures that worked to get the project approved, and vowed that the next steps must now be hastened so as to get the loan agreement papers validated by parliament, for field implementation to begin.

“Today, we stand at a pivotal turning point. Through strategic investments in data hosting and cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, legal and regulatory reform, digital platforms, high-impact e-services, and capacity building, LDAP will lay the foundations for a genuine whole-of-government digital transformation,” the minister stated.

“Its impact will go far beyond technology. It will strengthen public institutions, empower citizens, and support economic recovery and growth, which are what our flagship project Reinventing Government 2030 strives to achieve,” he affirmed.

The LDAP is scheduled to run till June 2031.

The Lebanese government also plans to invest substantially in AI and DPI development in the next two years.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  digital inclusion  |  digital public infrastructure  |  funding  |  government services  |  Lebanon  |  Lebanon Digital Acceleration Project (LDAP)  |  social protection  |  World Bank