By Toby McIntosh
After a delay of a year, the World Bank has disclosed 14 key reports about a six-year-old road-building project in Mozambique.
The document dump request came in response to a request by Eye on Global Transparency for “aide memoires” about the $260 million project now nearly finished after six years.
Aide memoires are the most important periodic evaluations that the Bank prepares about the progress of its projects. They are not routinely made public and requests for them are usually rejected.
The newly released aide memoires concerning the Mozambique project provide far more detailed information than previously disclosed. The project is now nearing a largely successful conclusion, according to the most recent aide memoire, dated May 29, 2026. However, the document reveals problems encountered along the way and concerns for the future.
Getting the documents took a year, for reasons not explained by the Bank.
Delays in Processing Access Request
On Sept. 19, 2025, EYE asked for the aide memoires associated with the Integrated Feeder Road Development Project (P158231), approved by the Bank’s Board in 2018. The main goal of the project was to enhance road access to rural areas in Mozambique.
Then the delays began. The Bank promises in its Access to Information Policy to usually reply to requests within 20 business days. Instead, the Bank provided monthly updates such as “… we are following up with the relevant staff” and “… hope to wrap this up soon….” EYE wrote an article in June about the slow handling of this request.
As the one-year anniversary approached in early September, EYE filed an unusual “delay is denial” appeal to the World Bank’s independent Access to Information Appeals Board. It is still pending.
Suddenly a Positive Answer
Then, on Sept. 17, the Bank wrote EYE to say that 14 aide memoires had been posted online, mostly in late August.
Disclosure of aide memoires is rare. EYE has estimate that disclosure occurs only about 10 percent of the time. The Bank actively opposes their release, saying they are contain deliberative information and should not be disclosed.
In its handing of another 2025 EYE request, the Bank Access to Information Committee on Sept. 10 said aide memoires for a project in Lesotho were deliberative and not disclosable.
The committee did not mention an important distinction made in a series of past decisions at the next layer of review, the Bank’s Access to Information Appeals Board (AIAB). The Board has ruled that aide memories that don’t contain deliberative material must be disclosed.
However, in the case of the 14 Mozambique aide memoires, the Bak exercised it’s prerogative to release documents and Mozambique agreed.
A Bank official explained to EYE:
Aide Memoires are considered deliberative information and, as such, are restricted. The Bank can, however, apply here its prerogative to disclose if both the Bank and the Government agree to do so.
In this case, she said:
“… the Bank assessed the AMs and concluded they could be disclosed. The Bank then approached the Government of Mozambique to obtain its agreement to disclose them – which was received.”
Under Bank policy, approval for release must come from both the Bank and the affected government.
Disclosure Shows Value of Aide Memoires
The newly disclosed aide memories are mostly fact-filled, with some evaluations.
According to the 16-page May aide memoire, the project is rated “successful.” But it also hints at issues encountered during the six-year project and indicates concerns about the future.
EYE is no expert on Mozambique, or on roads projects. The goal of encouraging more transparency is to facilitate review by those affected.
But even an amateur review finds points of interest in the last aide memoire. For example:
- When “direct selection” was used to hire consultants, meaning there was no competitive bidding, the value of the contracts was seven times the initial estimated cost ($1.6 billion vs. $12.6 million).
- “There are concerns regarding the sustainability of the investments in road infrastructure under the project,” the report says, because the government “has not provided a financing plan for maintenance” The aide memoire says, “Without maintenance, the benefit on investment will be lost.”
- There’s a major review to come. The aide memoire also outlines evaluation work to be undertaken, including an Implementation Completion and Results Report (ICR) Mission to be done this month.
Contrast With More Minimal PublicReports
The aide memoires contain significantly more information than the more frequent Bank reports about projects. Implementation Status and Results Reports (ISRs). These typically are eight pages long, with charts on goals and progress, but little evaluative discussion. The aide memoires run at least twice as long.
There are 31 ISRs on the Mozambique roads project. The most recent ISR is from June 2026.
ISRs are routinely put online, without the need to make an access request.
Overall, there are now 132 documents concerning the roads project on the Bank website (here). These also include procurement plans, audit reports and the original Project Appraisal Document.
The disclosure of the aide memoires for the Mozambique project provides a unique opportunity to see the content of aide memoires at a time when the Bank seems more determined to restrict their release. Complicating access is the Bank’s refusal to use redaction to provide disclosure for purely factual material they contain. (For more see EYE’s September 2025 analysis.)
Forthcoming: an article on the Bank’s total denial of a request for aide memoires about a project in Lesotho and EYE’s forthcoming appeal to the AIAB.
