Recovering Delayed Donor-Funded Projects Training in Kuala Lumpur

Descripción del programa

Externally funded projects rarely fail in one moment. They slip a few weeks at a time: a long design review, a challenged procurement, a compensation payment waiting for counterpart funds. By the time slippage shows in a progress report, much of the implementation period has gone. Recovering Delayed Donor-Funded Projects Training in Kuala Lumpur is a five-day programme for the teams who have to turn such projects around.

Uganda’s own monitoring shows the scale of the task. The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development’s January 2026 review of externally funded projects found that 48 of the 59 projects it monitored (81.3%) were behind schedule. The most frequent causes were delayed procurement, acquisition of right of way and weak contract management, followed by poor planning and readiness and inadequate counterpart funding.

The same report shows how wide the gaps can be. The World Bank-financed Electricity Access Scale-up Project (EASP) had reached 16% physical progress by 30 November 2025 with about 60% of its five-year period elapsed, a schedule performance index of 0.21, and 317,663 of 1,223,500 targeted connections. The Irrigation for Climate Resilience Project stood at 22% physical progress with 95% of its time used. Slow loan absorption carries a direct cost: the Auditor General’s report for the year to June 2024, as reported by the Daily Monitor, put commitment fees on unused loans at Shs73.9bn in 2023/24 alone.

The programme follows a recovery cycle: diagnose the slippage, clear procurement and right-of-way bottlenecks, control contracts and claims, address counterpart funding and undrawn balances, decide whether restructuring is justified, and manage the PIU against a results-based recovery plan reported to the Ministry of Finance and the financier.

Each team leaves with a draft recovery plan, a restructuring decision note and a monthly performance dashboard.

El programa fortalece la capacidad institucional en

• Separating physical, time and disbursement slippage
• Earned value analysis and performance indices
• Early warning indicators and project readiness reviews
• Procurement planning and complaint management
• Right-of-way acquisition and RAP payment sequencing
• Contract management, notices and variation control
• Claims, extension of time and contractor default
• Counterpart funding forecasts and budget requests
• Commitment fee exposure on undisbursed balances
• Restructuring and closing-date extension requests
• Results-based recovery plans with milestones and owners
• PIU staffing and performance agreements
• Monthly reporting to the Ministry of Finance and financiers

Most causes in Uganda’s monitoring reports are systems issues shared by many agencies, and the programme treats them that way.

The Growing Importance of Recovering Delayed Donor-Funded Projects

Delays now carry a visible fiscal cost. According to the Daily Monitor’s reading of the Auditor General’s report, Uganda’s undisbursed loan balance reached Shs14.6 trillion at June 2024, an average of Shs78.2bn a year went on unused loans over the six years to June 2024, and 17 loans reviewed showed average utilisation of 36.7% with time overruns of almost two years. Every month of slippage on a large credit adds to that bill.

The energy sector shows why recovery skills matter. The EASP report notes that medium- and low-voltage construction had not started, pending detailed designs and the procurement of line contractors and bulk materials, while procurement of 410,000 connection materials and 135,000 ready boards was still under way. In August 2026, AllAfrica reported the State Minister for Energy telling Parliament that only Shs18bn of the Shs40bn needed for compensation had been released, delaying wayleaves, and that some local suppliers of connection materials were not meeting their obligations.

Las organizaciones necesitan cada vez más profesionales capaces de:

• Calculating earned value, SPI and CPI from contract data
• Building realistic recovery schedules from the critical path
• Unblocking procurement without breaching financier rules
• Sequencing compensation, wayleaves and works mobilisation
• Assessing contractor claims fairly and promptly
• Forecasting counterpart funding needs a year ahead
• Quantifying commitment fees and the cost of delay
• Preparing evidence-based restructuring requests
• Setting PIU performance targets and reviewing them monthly
• Writing concise reports for permanent secretaries and task team leaders

Strong project recovery systems help organisations:

• Reduce commitment fees on undrawn balances
• Protect financing that might otherwise be cancelled
• Deliver connections, irrigation and services to citizens sooner
• Avoid repeated extensions that only move the problem
• Control cost overruns from exchange rates and claims
• Use scarce counterpart funds where they release most progress
• Give the Ministry of Finance reliable data for decisions
• Capture lessons for the next project’s design

Timing matters. The Ministry of Finance concluded that EASP would not be completed by its 30 June 2027 closing date on current trends, and recommended extending the Kabuyanda works while rescoping other irrigation outputs. Such decisions are better made early, on clear analysis, than in the last months before closing.

Who Should Attend This Recovering Delayed Projects Training?

Este programa está dirigido a:

• Project coordinators and PIU managers of externally funded projects
• Component managers and deputy coordinators
• Procurement specialists in PIUs
• Contract managers and resident engineers
• Financial management specialists and project accountants
• Monitoring and evaluation specialists
• Safeguards, RAP and wayleaves officers
• Aid liaison, budget and debt management officials
• Planning officers in line ministries
• Utility staff delivering donor-financed energy projects
• Water for production and water supply project teams
• Accounting officers and their technical advisers
• Internal auditors and steering committee secretaries
• Supervision consultants supporting PIUs

Teams of three to five from the same project gain most, because the recovery plan is built jointly across roles.

Recovering Delayed Projects Training Objectives

Upon successful completion of this Recovering Delayed Projects Training, participants will be able to:

• Diagnose whether a project’s slippage is physical, time-related or financial
• Apply earned value measures to explain the gap between plan and progress
• Identify the critical procurement and right-of-way actions on the recovery path
• Prepare a complaint-resilient procurement recovery schedule
• Set up a compensation and wayleave tracker linked to works sequencing
• Manage notices, variations and claims under standard works contracts
• Decide when to cure, terminate or re-procure a non-performing contract
• Forecast counterpart funding needs and present them to the budget process
• Estimate commitment fees and the cost of each month of delay
• Prepare a restructuring or extension request with credible evidence
• Design a results-based recovery plan with milestones and accountable owners
• Run a PIU performance dashboard reported monthly to the Ministry of Finance and financiers

Each objective is linked to a tool completed during the week.

Contenido y estructura del programa

Recovering Delayed Projects Training Methodology

Short expert inputs are followed by work on real figures from published monitoring reports and participants’ own projects, so every session ends with something usable.

El programa combina:

• Short presentations on recovery tools and financier requirements
• Analysis of published Ugandan monitoring data
• Earned value calculations on spreadsheets
• Root-cause mapping in project teams
• Claims and termination simulations
• Commitment fee and counterpart funding modelling
• Restructuring option appraisal
• Peer review of recovery plans
• Role play of steering committee and financier meetings
• Personal 90-day action plans

Participants should bring their latest progress report, procurement plan and financial report, which are treated confidentially.

Resultados esperados

Upon completion of this Recovering Delayed Projects Training, participants will be able to:

• Present a clear diagnosis of why their project is behind schedule
• Report physical, time and financial progress on a consistent basis
• Prioritise the procurement and land actions that release most progress
• Manage contract claims and contractor performance with proper records
• Estimate the fiscal cost of delay, including commitment fees
• Make a reasoned case for or against restructuring
• Agree a recovery plan with dated milestones and named owners
• Report monthly in a format the Ministry of Finance and financiers can act on

Institutions gain a common recovery method they can apply across their portfolio.

Institutional Application of Recovering Delayed Projects Training

Este programa ayuda a las organizaciones a fortalecer:

• Portfolio monitoring of externally funded projects
• Project readiness criteria before loan approval
• Procurement planning and complaint handling
• Land acquisition and compensation funding
• Contract management and claims procedures
• Counterpart funding planning in the budget cycle
• Attention to undisbursed balances in debt management
• Restructuring and extension decision rules
• PIU staffing and performance management
• Reporting lines to the Ministry of Finance

Los participantes regresan con herramientas prácticas para mejorar:

• Slippage diagnostic worksheet
• Earned value calculator
• Procurement recovery schedule
• Right-of-way and compensation tracker
• Claims register and notice log
• Commitment fee and cost-of-delay estimator
• Restructuring decision note template
• Recovery plan and monthly dashboard

Before nominating staff, institutions can use Risalat’s free project health check to identify where a project is most at risk, and the procurement maturity diagnostic to test procurement systems. Monitoring teams may also find the M&E and MEAL assessment useful when redesigning recovery dashboards.

Pertinencia y aplicación regionales

África

Uganda’s Ministry of Finance reports that 48 of 59 externally funded projects were behind schedule in its January 2026 review. EASP had made 186,765 grid connections against 515,280 anticipated by 31 October 2025, and the World Bank’s Uganda portfolio snapshot lists USD 381.27m of the project’s USD 568m commitment as undisbursed. The irrigation project’s closing date has moved from the April 2026 shown in the Ministry’s report to 30 April 2028 in the World Bank snapshot, which gives time to recover only if the extension is used well. Since the Umeme concession ended on 31 March 2025, UEDCL has run national distribution for about 2.2 million customers while facing vandalism, cable theft and outages reported by the Energy Minister in October 2025.

Similar issues appear across the region. Rwanda’s Auditor General, presenting the report for the year to June 2025 to Parliament in May 2026, flagged delays in starting financed projects, low disbursement rates and weaknesses in procurement and contract management. The 2023/24 audit of Rwanda’s Energy Access and Quality Improvement Project recorded 2,300 of 3,100 targeted smart meters delivered. In Angola, the World Bank’s representative said in June 2024 that two of the national portfolio’s projects, including the Electricity Sector Improvement Project, were rated unsatisfactory.

Asia

Malaysia’s experience, described in the host profile below, shows how a central unit with clear definitions, monitoring systems and intervention powers can keep a large public project portfolio moving.

Oriente Medio

PIUs in the Middle East managing financed works face the same choices on procurement, claims and extensions.

Everywhere, recovery follows the same sequence: measure honestly, clear the critical path, control contracts, fund essentials and report against an agreed plan.

Perfil del país anfitrión: Malasia

Kuala Lumpur is Malaysia’s capital and commercial centre, with modern conference facilities, good urban rail and hotels at moderate cost, a comfortable setting for mixed teams to plan recovery away from daily pressures.

Malaysia is a useful benchmark because it treats delayed projects as a whole-of-government management issue. The Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) in the Prime Minister’s Department coordinates implementation, evaluates projects and troubleshoots problems, using monitoring systems such as MyProjek, SKALA and iPantau as well as drone-based site monitoring. A project more than 20% behind schedule, or with no work on site for over 60 consecutive days, is classed as a ‘sick project’ and becomes a candidate for intervention. In March 2022 the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) told Parliament that 178 of 6,755 monitored projects were classed as sick, with 92 receiving or having received ICU intervention, and a national committee to facilitate development projects had been set up in December 2020. Clear thresholds, regular data and a defined intervention route are the elements this programme helps participants build.

There are no direct flights between Entebbe and Kuala Lumpur; most travellers connect once through a Gulf hub such as Dubai or Doha. Entry rules for Ugandan passport holders are published on the Immigration Department of Malaysia’s visa requirements page; because procedures can change, participants should confirm the current requirement with the nearest Malaysian mission before booking. Malaysia also asks arrivals from yellow fever risk countries to present a vaccination certificate, so participants should carry theirs. Risalat provides invitation letters and visa advice for every registered participant.

Recovering Delayed Projects Training Deliverables

Risalat acompaña a los participantes antes, durante y después del programa.

Antes del programa

• Evaluación previa del participante
• Project Recovery Readiness Assessment
• Project Recovery Resource Pack
• Materiales de lectura preparatoria
• Apoyo y asesoramiento gratuitos para el visado
• Recogida en el aeropuerto y asistencia de bienvenida
• Alojamiento con desayuno
• Cena de bienvenida y networking

Durante el programa

• Kit de formación de Risalat (bolsa, botella, taza, camiseta, gorra, funda de pasaporte, bolígrafos, cuaderno, imán y llavero)
• Comprehensive Project Recovery Training Manual
• Slippage Diagnostic Worksheet
• Earned Value Calculator
• Right-of-Way and Compensation Tracker
• Claims Register and Notice Log
• Commitment Fee and Cost-of-Delay Estimator
• Restructuring Decision Note Template
• Talleres prácticos y simulaciones
• Debates en grupo y aprendizaje entre pares
• Almuerzo y refrigerios diarios
• Acceso completo a las instalaciones de la sede de formación
• Mini Pad / tableta con materiales didácticos digitales
• Visita de campo (cuando proceda)
• Recorrido turístico por la ciudad

Después del programa

• Certificado de finalización
• Reconocimiento a la participación en programas de Risalat
• Materiales de consulta posteriores a la formación
• 12-Month Recovery Plan Template
• Monthly PIU Performance Dashboard
• Apoyo posterior a la formación y orientación de seguimiento
• Informe del programa

Ministries, PIUs and utilities can request an in-house version built around their own portfolio. Request a tailored proposal and Risalat will design it with your team.

Common Challenges in Recovering Delayed Donor-Funded Projects, And How This Training Helps

How can we tell whether our project is really behind schedule or just reporting badly?

Day 1 compares physical, time and disbursement measures and introduces earned value, so teams can see whether a low percentage reflects real delay or simply payment timing. The EASP figures show how an SPI of 0.21 tells a clearer story than a single progress figure.

How can we stop procurement from eating most of the implementation period?

Day 2 builds a recovery schedule around the critical packages, tracks each approval step and plans for complaints from the start, so a challenged award does not stop every other activity.

How should we handle compensation when counterpart funds arrive late?

Day 2 links compensation payments to the works sequence, so scarce funds go first to the sections that let contractors start. Day 4 then shows how to present the full counterpart requirement in the budget process.

How do we deal with a contractor or supplier that is not performing?

Day 3 covers notices, cure periods, performance security and termination, and the workshop based on the Kabuyanda dam shows how to plan re-procurement so the site does not stay idle.

How can we put a figure on the cost of delay for decision makers?

Day 4 estimates commitment fees on undrawn balances and exchange rate effects, giving accounting officers a clear number to weigh against the cost of corrective action.

How do we know whether to request an extension or a restructuring?

Day 4 tests each option for achievability and value. An extension is justified only when a credible recovery plan shows the objectives can still be met in the extra time.

How can the PIU report in a way the Ministry of Finance and financiers trust?

Day 5 produces a monthly dashboard tied to the recovery baseline, with dated milestones and owners and escalation thresholds similar to Malaysia’s sick project trigger.

Preguntas frecuentes

¿A quién se dirige este programa?

Coordinators, procurement, finance, engineering, safeguards and M&E staff of PIUs running externally funded projects, together with Ministry of Finance, line ministry and utility officials who oversee them.

Why focus on Uganda's projects?

The Ministry of Finance's January 2026 review found 48 of 59 externally funded projects behind schedule, and published figures for projects such as EASP and the Irrigation for Climate Resilience Project give realistic material for recovery exercises.

Does the programme cover World Bank and AfDB restructuring?

Yes. Day 4 covers closing-date extensions, reallocations, partial cancellation and results framework changes, and how to build the evidence a financier and the Ministry of Finance will expect.

Why is it held in Kuala Lumpur?

Malaysia's Implementation Coordination Unit monitors public projects against clear thresholds and intervenes in 'sick projects', a useful benchmark for portfolio recovery, and Kuala Lumpur is reachable from Entebbe with one connection.

Can we bring our own project data?

Yes, and it is recommended. Teams apply each tool to their own progress reports, procurement plans and financial data, which are treated confidentially.

¿Puede impartirse el programa de forma interna?

Yes. Ministries, PIUs and utilities can request a tailored version through Risalat's proposal form, delivered in Uganda or at another hub.

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