Evaluation Team

This report was prepared by a team comprising Messrs. Joseph Mounda, Evaluation Officer and Abdessattar Chennoufi, Consultant, under the supervision of Mr. Mohamed Hedi Manai, Manager, Projects and Programmes Evaluation Division, following a mission to three CEMAC country members (Gabon, Cameroon and Congo) from 26 October to 6 November 2009. Questions related to the report should be referred to Mr. M. H. Manai at m.manai@afdb.org or Mr. J. Mounda at j.mouanda@afdb.org

Objective

The project goal is to contribute to consolidating the capacity in the Central African Region to manage development projects. The specific project objective is to improve ISTA services in training, development project analysis and management

Main Findings

•  The project satisfactorily achieved the expected outputs, especially the ISTA strategic development plan and specialized information resources. However, ISTA’s strategic development was not backed by an implementation plan describing the needed material and human resources or planning. Only the academic aspects of the strategy were taken into account. As a result, the ISTA degree changed to a DESS and was subsequently replaced by a Master’s degree following the shift to the LMD system. The use of the equipment procured by the project had a positive impact on the academic and pedagogic conditions of students trained at ISTA. This further helped to revitalize and reposition the Institute.

• However, these results were obtained at the cost of doubling the implementation period from three to six years. Furthermore, the academic reform did not go far enough to transform ISTA into a centre of expertise in its initial niche area, community development and poverty reduction. This created the need to update the strategy by conducting a new study in 2009 to transform ISTA into a centre of excellence of specialized training.

• Project impact sustainability is in doubt in view of the: (i) inability to renew the physical assets procured by the project such as computers, reprographic equipment and teaching aids that have already undergone nearly five years of use; (ii) fiscal structure imposed by CEMAC; (iii) loss of staff trained; and (iv) exogenous factors (e.g. the economic conditions of countries in the region and the fact that the demand for training induced by the exposure given to ISTA by the project is benefiting other institutions). Overall, project performance is deemed unsatisfactory.

Main Lessons

• Apart from the existence of a strategic vision for building the Institute’s capacity, the sustainability factors such as socio-political support, formal commitment of regional or national bodies, institutional, financial and economic viability and adjustment to change must be examined and taken into account prior to any decision to be taken by the Bank.

• The quantitative and qualitative inputs and contributions of the qualifying training, continuous training and assistance towards revitalizing training for the staff of development management administrations are pre-requisites for making a regional capacity institution a reference one.

• The efficiency of a regional capacity building institution will improve provided it reflects the realities of the socioeconomic development of the region and regional development strategies.

• The content development of tertiary education curriculum constitutes a necessary, though not sufficient condition, for any regional capacity building institution which seeks to become a centre of excellence. The adaptation of new development concepts and the launch of research programmes in community development, poverty reduction and mainstreaming of cross-cutting dimensions (environment, gender, climate change) also constitute pre-requisites.

• The success of a regional capacity building institution is measured by the level of integration of its activities with public administration human resource development goals in the region.

• Apart from the political will of regional decision-makers, sufficient and sustainable financial resources are needed to guarantee the viability and sustainability of the regional capacity building institution, modernization of teaching equipment and aids, and to addressn the need for the diversification and expansion of its activities as well as its transformation into a centre of excellence.

Main Recommendations

Recommendation(s) to the Beneficiary:

• Revisit ISTA’s staff recruitment policy starting from the 2010 financial year, to enable the Institute to make the necessary recruitment to replace the teaching and support staff about to go on retirement.

• Continue to grant permanent teachers international civil servants status in order to attract skilled lecturers and provide ISTA optimal number of required permanent per student thus enabling the intitution to strengthen its effectiveness. 

• Review ISTA’s organization and staffing regulations based on the data from the repositioning strategy endorsed by the June 2009 seminar by observing the standard ratio of one permanent teacher to thirty students, for a total of 300 students. The ISTA staffing regulations should help to recruit 10 permanent teachers with the necessary degrees and qualifications to teach postgraduate courses.

• Transform ISTA into a major centre of excellence, designed to contribute to the implementation of the Regional Economic Programme through qualifying training, studies, continuing education and support to public and private promoters.

• Ensure the incorporation of a sub-programme into the ISTA development programme, devoted to the effective operationalization of ISTA’s incomegenerating activities to contribute to its self-financing.

• Ensure that the ISTA curriculum includes specialized courses in planning techniques, regional economic integration and poverty reduction projects and, more specifically, projects to protect vulnerable social groups (hitherto completely absent from ISTA programmes);

• Regularly identify human resource needs and qualifications by country, monitor the origins of applicants for training at ISTA and the job assignment of graduates on their return.

• Ensure the formulation of a Regional Continuing Education Plan (PRFC) for development professionals through a recurrent regional study (for example every three years), whose implementation would be entrusted to ISTA.

Recommendation(s) to the Executing Agency:

• Give solid academic, pedagogic, organizational and financial content to the strategic objectives for diversifying and expanding its activity;

• Outline a short- and medium-term action plan that would raise ISTA from its current situation to the target situation defined by the 2009 strategic study.

Recommendation(s) to the Bank:

• A rebalancing of the ISTA budget to ensure that in future it contains a capital budget guaranteeing at least the regular renewal of key equipment and teaching aids, and updating the Documentation Centre

• A significant increase of the operating budget aimed at expanding and diversifying the objectives of ISTA activities geared towards implementing the REP