ONGOING: Synthesis report on the validation of 2018 Project Completion Reports (PCRs)

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, or “the Bank”) undertakes self-evaluations of its public sector projects through Project Completion Reports (PCRs) prepared by the appropriate operations departments at the end of the project cycle. Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) subsequently reviews a sample of these PCRs on an annual basis and produces a Project Completion Report Evaluation Note (PCREN) for each PCR reviewed as well as a synthesis report on the yearly PCREN cohort. Independent validation of Bank Management’s self-assessments of private sector operations (called Extended Supervision Reports) is undertaken as a separate exercise.

For the year 2018, 65 PCRENs will be completed using the standard PCREN template. The sample covers PCRs in the following sectors: Finance (3), Environment (5), Social (5), Agriculture (6), Transport (7), Water Supply and Sanitation (8), Power (9), and Multi-Sector projects (22). The evaluation team will assess the quality of each of the 65 PCRs and validate their associated project performance. Field visits will be undertaken for seven of the projects.

The Synthesis Report will assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the Bank’s projects and will inform decisions by the Bank’s Board of Directors and Management regarding future programming and the delivery of the High 5s and the Bank’s Ten Year Strategy 2013-2022. The overall objective of the validation exercise is to assist the AfDB’s staff and Management in improving the quality of the PCR system and the design and implementation of future operations, through the provision of pertinent ratings, conclusions, lessons learned and recommendations. It also contributes to IDEV’s database on project performance and PCR quality. The results of the Synthesis Report will be disseminated widely to the AfDB Board, Management and staff as well as the public mainly through discussions, workshops, printed reports, IDEV’s Evaluation Results Database (EVRD) and the AfDB website.  

Task manager: Foday Turay, Chief Evaluation Officer