Evaluation of the AfDB’s Implementation of its Non-Sovereign Operations (2014-2020)

Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) has conducted an evaluation of the African Development Bank Group’s (AfDB or “the Bank”) implementation of its Non-Sovereign Operations (NSOs) over the period 2014-2020. NSOs are operations that the Bank supports through its private sector lending window. Over this period, the Bank approved a total of 194 non-sovereign transactions valued at USD 11.192 billion. This evaluation follows on from IDEV’s 2020 Evaluation of the AfDB’s Private Sector Development Strategy 2013-2019. The aim of the evaluation was to assess the relevance of the AfDB’s institutional arrangements for NSOs, its effectiveness and efficiency in delivering on its NSO agenda and to identify lessons to inform the implementation of the Bank’s 2021-2025 Private Sector Development Strategy, as well as other related Bank strategies.

The evaluation found that the Bank’s current organizational arrangement had the potential to facilitate public-private coordination, as some sector departments were well integrated, with good coordination mechanisms among NSOs and public sector operations. However, staffing levels were not well aligned with the portfolio size and sector composition despite efforts undertaken in the context of a recent Bank right-sizing exercise. The evaluation also noted that despite the use of powerful accountability mechanisms, the supervision of NSOs remained problematic. This was due to heavy focus on administrative and fiduciary issues,  little progress towards a culture of development effectiveness, the composition of supervision teams, and a lack of comprehensiveness of reporting.

The evaluation highlighted lessons around assessing and strengthening clients’ capacities, internal collaboration, coordination and communication within the Bank, and the expansion of the Bank’s role and contribution beyond financial additionality.

Task manager: Boubacar LY, Evaluation Officer