Report evaluates 10-year operations of African Development Bank

The Comprehensive Evaluation of the Development Results (CEDR) of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) was published last month by the Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) of the bank. The report is an evidence-based assessment of AfDB's operations across sectors and countries in Africa over the past decade.

AfDB said the report is of unprecedented scope, as it measures the relevance, effectiveness, sustainability and efficiency of its lending and non-lending activities in both the public and private sectors. A total of 169 projects were examined in 14 countries: Nigeria, Cameroon, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, and Zambia.

One of the key findings from the report is that AfDB's capacity to propose adequate responses to country needs has improved over the 10-year period of review. The CEDR also shows that the bank is considered a valued partner at country level and, in several instances, it offered a combination of dialogue, knowledge and lending to provide positive outcomes.

The evaluators also found that beyond its role as a financing institution, the bank did not succeed in positioning itself as an influential policy-making advisor. The evaluators, therefore, recommended that the bank should strategically reposition itself to provide the right combination of analytical work, dialogue and financing instruments. IDEV also advised the bank to strengthen its performance and accountability frameworks and the quality of supervision for its public and private sector operations.