Evaluation Of The African Development Bank’s Program Based Operations: Energy Governance Cluster

The evaluation of the energy governance cluster Program Based Operations (PBOs) is one of seven components of a broader evaluation on the use of PBOs by the AfDB in 2012-2017. This evaluation examines eight PBOs focused on energy, which the AfDB approved and implemented in five countries (Angola, Burkina Faso, Comoros, Nigeria and Tanzania). The objective of this cluster evaluation is to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the eight PBOs, synthesize the results and draw relevant lessons for the future design and management of PBOs by the Bank. These lessons have relevance both for the organization of work in the energy sector as a whole, and for the design and management of PBOs (alias ‘Budget Support’), in general.

The rationale for focusing on the Energy sector is the fact that the PBOs in this sector are highly relevant to the Bank’s strategic priorities for the future – both because they align with the High 5, “Light Up and Power Africa”, and because the role of PBOs for energy sector reform is explicitly recognized in the Bank’s new structure.

Lessons Learned:

1. With the exception of Crisis Response Budget Support, PBOs should be structured as medium-term operations, based upon three to four tranches over the same number of years and, and should largely be a part of a sequence of multi-year PBO operations

2. Maximizing the effects of the PBO’s contribution to fiscal space requires the design and programming of PBOs to take into account the country’s immediate financial needs, and appropriate medium- and long-term structural reforms

3. The contribution to fiscal space is the most obvious benefit of PBOs and should therefore be used strategically to ease structural constraints in support of longer-term reforms.

4. For successful medium-term operations, the corresponding staffing and technical assistance infrastructure need also to be in place, based on strong Country presence by the Bank able to conduct a continuous, strategic and analytical dialogue.