The Challenge of Participation: Drafting Mauritania's PRSP (A) Net Present Value (NPV) / MBA Resources

Introduction to Net Present Value (NPV) - What is Net Present Value (NPV) ? How it impacts financial decisions regarding project management?

NPV solution for The Challenge of Participation: Drafting Mauritania's PRSP (A) case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. The Challenge of Participation: Drafting Mauritania's PRSP (A) case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Kitty Guckenberger, Sanjeev Khagram. The The Challenge of Participation: Drafting Mauritania's PRSP (A) (referred as “Prsp Mauritania” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Finance & Accounting. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Financial management, Policy, Strategic planning.

The net present value (NPV) of an investment proposal is the present value of the proposal’s net cash flows less the proposal’s initial cash outflow. If a project’s NPV is greater than or equal to zero, the project should be accepted.

NPV = Present Value of Future Cash Flows LESS Project’s Initial Investment

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Case Description of The Challenge of Participation: Drafting Mauritania's PRSP (A) Case Study

In the late 1990s, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, under heavy pressure to find ways to relieve developing countries of large volumes of accumulated public debt, devise a way they believe offers a way to link such debt relief with their long-term goal of decreasing world poverty. Aid allowing for reduction in debt would be linked to the development of a so-called Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan (PRSP), a blueprint for how nations would use the financial resources freed by debt relief both to increase economic growth and to decrease the number of persons in poverty. This case focuses on the development of such a plan in the West African country of Mauritania, a predominantly desert nation twice the size of France with a population of just 2.6 million. Specifically, the case describes the challenges faced by the government team charged with development of the PRSP as it grapples with a mandate that the plan be developed through a process of thorough public participation. Only recently democratic, and with a long history of military rule and ethnic and racial conflict, Mauritania posed difficult challenges for those seeking to involve the public. Although a wave of non-government organizations had developed in the 1990s, not all were considered either representative or legitimate. HKS Case Number 1623.0

Case Authors : Kitty Guckenberger, Sanjeev Khagram

Topic : Finance & Accounting

Related Areas : Financial management, Policy, Strategic planning

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for The Challenge of Participation: Drafting Mauritania's PRSP (A) Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10005124)	-10005124	-	-
Year 1	3468540	-6536584	3468540	0.9434	3272208
Year 2	3969086	-2567498	7437626	0.89	3532472
Year 3	3966435	1398937	11404061	0.8396	3330295
Year 4	3225164	4624101	14629225	0.7921	2554632
TOTAL			14629225		12689607

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2684483

In isolation the NPV number doesn't mean much but put in right context then it is one of the best method to evaluate project returns. In this article we will cover -

Different methods of capital budgeting

What is NPV & Formula of NPV,
How it is calculated,
How to use NPV number for project evaluation, and
Scenario Planning given risks and management priorities.

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Capital Budgeting Approaches

Methods of Capital Budgeting

There are four types of capital budgeting techniques that are widely used in the corporate world –

1. Internal Rate of Return
2. Net Present Value
3. Profitability Index
4. Payback Period

Apart from the Payback period method which is an additive method, rest of the methods are based on Discounted Cash Flow technique. Even though cash flow can be calculated based on the nature of the project, for the simplicity of the article we are assuming that all the expected cash flows are realized at the end of the year.

Discounted Cash Flow approaches provide a more objective basis for evaluating and selecting investment projects. They take into consideration both –

1. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Prsp Mauritania have higher preference for cash returns over 4-5 years rather than 10-15 years given the nature of the volatility in the industry.
2. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Prsp Mauritania shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of The Challenge of Participation: Drafting Mauritania's PRSP (A)

NPV = Net Cash In Flowt1 / (1+r)t1 + Net Cash In Flowt2 / (1+r)t2 + … Net Cash In Flowtn / (1+r)tn
Less Net Cash Out Flowt0 / (1+r)t0

Where t = time period, in this case year 1, year 2 and so on.
r = discount rate or return that could be earned using other safe proposition such as fixed deposit or treasury bond rate. Net Cash In Flow – What the firm will get each year.
Net Cash Out Flow – What the firm needs to invest initially in the project.

Step 1 – Understand the nature of the project and calculate cash flow for each year.
Step 2 – Discount those cash flow based on the discount rate.
Step 3 – Add all the discounted cash flow.
Step 4 – Selection of the project

Why Finance & Accounting Managers need to know Financial Tools such as Net Present Value (NPV)?

In our daily workplace we often come across people and colleagues who are just focused on their core competency and targets they have to deliver. For example marketing managers at Prsp Mauritania often design programs whose objective is to drive brand awareness and customer reach. But how that 30 point increase in brand awareness or 10 point increase in customer touch points will result into shareholders’ value is not specified.

To overcome such scenarios managers at Prsp Mauritania needs to not only know the financial aspect of project management but also needs to have tools to integrate them into part of the project development and monitoring plan.

Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 15%

After working through various assumptions we reached a conclusion that risk is far higher than 6%. In a reasonably stable industry with weak competition - 15% discount rate can be a good benchmark.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 15 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10005124)	-10005124	-	-
Year 1	3468540	-6536584	3468540	0.8696	3016122
Year 2	3969086	-2567498	7437626	0.7561	3001199
Year 3	3966435	1398937	11404061	0.6575	2607995
Year 4	3225164	4624101	14629225	0.5718	1843998
TOTAL					10469314

The Net NPV after 4 years is 464190

(10469314 - 10005124 )

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 20%

If the risk component is high in the industry then we should go for a higher hurdle rate / discount rate of 20%.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 20 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10005124)	-10005124	-	-
Year 1	3468540	-6536584	3468540	0.8333	2890450
Year 2	3969086	-2567498	7437626	0.6944	2756310
Year 3	3966435	1398937	11404061	0.5787	2295391
Year 4	3225164	4624101	14629225	0.4823	1555345
TOTAL					9497496

The Net NPV after 4 years is -507628

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9497496 - 10005124 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Prsp Mauritania to discount cash flow at lower discount rates such as 15%.

Acceptance Criteria of a Project based on NPV

Simplest Approach – If the investment project of Prsp Mauritania has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Prsp Mauritania can ACCEPT the project, otherwise they can reject the project. This means that project will deliver higher returns over the period of time than any alternate investment strategy.

In theory if the required rate of return or discount rate is chosen correctly by finance managers at Prsp Mauritania, then the stock price of the Prsp Mauritania should change by same amount of the NPV. In real world we know that share price also reflects various other factors that can be related to both macro and micro environment.

In the same vein – accepting the project with zero NPV should result in stagnant share price. Finance managers use discount rates as a measure of risk components in the project execution process.

Sensitivity Analysis

Project selection is often a far more complex decision than just choosing it based on the NPV number. Finance managers at Prsp Mauritania should conduct a sensitivity analysis to better understand not only the inherent risk of the projects but also how those risks can be either factored in or mitigated during the project execution. Sensitivity analysis helps in –

What are the uncertainties surrounding the project Initial Cash Outlay (ICO’s). ICO’s often have several different components such as land, machinery, building, and other equipment.

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

What will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

What are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

Some of the assumptions while using the Discounted Cash Flow Methods –

Projects are assumed to be Mutually Exclusive – This is seldom the came in modern day giant organizations where projects are often inter-related and rejecting a project solely based on NPV can result in sunk cost from a related project.

Independent projects have independent cash flows – As explained in the marketing project – though the project may look independent but in reality it is not as the brand awareness project can be closely associated with the spending on sales promotions and product specific advertising.

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Negotiation Strategy of The Challenge of Participation: Drafting Mauritania's PRSP (A)

References & Further Readings

Kitty Guckenberger, Sanjeev Khagram (2018), "The Challenge of Participation: Drafting Mauritania's PRSP (A) Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.