Lebanon and the World Bank on Monday signed a $150 million loan deal to support the country's drive to transform its digital infrastructure.
The Digital Acceleration Project aims to enable easier access to government services for Lebanese people, many of whom currently rely on paper services or travelling to ministries to deal with issues.
The loan will “improve the delivery of high-impact public services through digital transformation of the public sector”, the World Bank said. It added that this would be achieved “through enhanced digital platforms and data capabilities”.
The deal was signed by the World Bank's new regional director, Dalia Khalifa, and Lebanese Minister of Finance Yassine Jaber in Beirut.
Mr Jaber said the digital transformation project was “a fundamental pillar for modernising the public sector” and the efficiency of public services.
Harvard-educated economist Kamal Shehadi was appointed as Lebanon's first Minister of Technology and Artificial Intelligence last year by the government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, in part to push for digital transformation.
The $150 million loan was approved by World Bank directors in January. Since the start of the year, Lebanon has been engulfed in the latest round of war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The country is also still dealing with the effects of the 2019 economic crisis, described as one of the worst in modern history by the World Bank. Its state infrastructure – including its telecoms and internet services, as well as water and energy networks – is dilapidated and in dire need of investment and upgrading.
The World Bank priced Lebanon's reconstruction costs last year at $11 billion.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has said Lebanon remains dedicated to reaching an agreement on a programme with the International Monetary Fund, local media reported in July. Lebanon reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF in 2022 that would give the country access to roughly $3 billion in funding. Beirut's government at the time failed to achieve the reforms required to unlock it.
The IMF last month said its engagement with Lebanon focuses on two tracks: one consisting of managing the conflict's effect on the economy, with the second related to the programme requested last year. The fund said discussions on the programme remain focused on reforms in the banking sector and the government's medium-term fiscal strategy.
The World Bank said in January that the project would include the “provision of secure and efficient infrastructure for hosting government data” and investments in Lebanon’s overall cybersecurity.
