Unlike commercial banks, the success of development banks like AfDB cannot be measured merely by turnover or profit. They must mobilize extra funds and syndicate financiers for development, and primarily show success by the much harder-to-measure development outcomes of programs, projects, knowledge work, policy dialogue and advice, capacity building and training. The Board of Directors depends on IDEV independent evaluations, on learning from them, and on a critical assessment of the AfDB's work.
Key accomplishments in 2019
For IDEV, 2019 was a year of helping the Bank and its Regional Member Countries to transform experience into knowledge and learning through independent evaluations, and supporting them to achieve their development goals through the lens of the AfDB’s High 5 Priorities, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the African Union Agenda 2063. IDEV delivered 13 evaluation products, conducting and facilitating evaluations, knowledge sharing events, and capacity development activities in more than 26 countries in Africa.
IDEV’s evaluations informed high-level discussions and decisions, such as those on the Bank’s 7th General Capital Increase and the 15th replenishment of the African Development Fund. It also introduced new evaluation products that responded to the Board of Directors’ and Bank Management’s expressed knowledge needs, and its evaluations contributed to the continuous improvement by the Bank of its systems, processes and mechanisms for delivering on its mandate.
The report is available in French and English and is presented in more detail on a dedicated webpage: idev.afdb.org/en/AR2019
Download the 2019 Annual Report
Key accomplishments in 2018
In 2018, IDEV focused on delivering evaluative knowledge; engaging with Bank operations departments, stakeholders and partners to improve its knowledge products and build a culture of evaluation; and responding to evaluation needs, demand and changes.
Notably, IDEV:
• Delivered a record 15 evaluations products, two of which were particularly pertinent for informing decision-making at the AfDB, namely the evaluation of the AfDB’s Program Based Operations and that of the Quality Assurance across the Project Cycle.
• Strengthened its engagement with Bank operations staff as well as other stakeholders. We held three capitalization workshops, where Bank staff and evaluators discussed evaluation findings to learn what worked, what did not work, and why. The Development Evaluation Week 2018 attracted more than 450 participants from across the globe.
• Remained responsive to changing needs and demand by accommodating additional requests (six in total) for evaluations.
IDEV continued to build evaluation capacity within the Bank and on the continent through various initiatives and partnerships. It also made efforts to strengthen the evaluation function at the Bank, including through a self-assessment, an Independent Peer Review, and a quality assessment of its evaluations products, to draw lessons and further improve the quality and impact of its work.
The report is available in French and English and is presented in more detail on a dedicated microsite: http://idev.afdb.org/page/2018-annual-report
Key accomplishments in 2017
Faced with capacity constraints, IDEV did not manage to deliver as many evaluations as in previous years. Nevertheless, we delivered nine influential reports, five of which concerned the Bank’s “High 5” priorities, contributing to learning and accountability in these areas. Two other evaluations aimed to contribute to improving institutional efficiency and effectiveness across the Bank. IDEV also held two knowledge events on private sector development in Kenya and South Africa and organized three sessions at the AfrEA biennial conference. We produced 114 new knowledge products in 2017, and distributed more than 18,000 copies of our publications.
We also made great strides in building evaluation capacity within the Bank (by organizing trainings and webinars) and in regional member countries by working together with governments and through initiatives such as Twende Mbele, a partnership among Benin, South Africa and Uganda to improve monitoring and evaluation; and by hosting the Secretariat of the African Parliamentarians’ Network on Development Evaluation.
The Annual Report is available in English and French. An interactive version of this report is also available at idev.afdb.org/annualreport2017.
Key accomplishments in 2016
In 2016, we built on the momentum gathered over the previous years, delivering 13 high level evaluations that included two impact evaluations. Once again, this is the greatest number of evaluations that IDEV has completed in its 30-year history. The crown jewel of IDEV’s work in 2016 was the Comprehensive Evaluation of the Bank’s Development Results (CEDR). It was the most ambitious evaluation ever and the first of such scale in Bank history. The CEDR was predominantly informed by 14 country strategy evaluations – seven of which were delivered in 2016 – and 169 individual project results assessments.IDEV’s engagement in the complex, ever-shifting world of knowledge management continues to grow. We launched and participated in several knowledge-sharing and outreach events in our ongoing efforts to enhance the conduct and use of evaluations. Key among these were the AfDB Development Evaluation Week that we hosted in Abidjan and which was attended by over 250 participants.
Key accomplishments in 2015
IDEV delivered 12 high-level influential evaluation reports, up from the previous record of nine in 2014. In 2015, IDEV delivered more reports than it has in any year in its 30-year history. IDEV also delivered on evaluations ranging from project-level to corporate; further scaled-up evaluation coverage and quality, promoted the use of evaluative knowledge, and strengthened evaluation systems in the Bank and in the RMCs.
Key accomplishments in 2014
IDEV delivered 9 of 13 planned reports as of December 31, 2014. Another 13 evaluations were initiated and carried over for delivery in 2015. All this was achieved despite a 9% budget cut in 2014. IDEV reinforced outreach, dissemination and learning initiatives throughout the Bank and pioneered evaluation capacity building initiatives in AfDB Regional Member Countries (RMCs).