Established in 2014, EPRADI (Evaluation Platform for African Development Institutions) is a bilingual knowledge-based multi-stakeholder forum and mutual learning hub with an integrated Community of Practice (CoP), that aims to harmonize evaluation methods and practices among sub-regional development institutes; as well as contribute to enhancing the quality of evaluations and evaluation best practices in member institutions.
Membership is open to the evaluation units of all Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in Africa. Current members are: Banque d’Investissement et de Développement de la Communauté Economique Des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BIDC/EBID); Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD); Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA); Commission de l’Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA); Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA); East African Community (EAC); and, Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (PTA Bank).
The CoP, comprised of the Heads/Representatives in charge of the evaluation function of RECs and DFIs, strives to meet virtually quarterly and in person annually. The CoP through its work, enhances and advances:
- Promotion of an evaluation culture within respective organizations / institutions to foster quality and professionalism and increase the contribution of the evaluation function to the achievement of our development objectives and results.
- Collaboration with the Evaluation Cooperation Group in strengthening the evaluation function; and
- Sharing of experiences and good practices in evaluation, leading ultimately to adoption of efficient and cost effective evaluation methodologies and to undertaking joint evaluations
The core objectives of EPRADI, notably, promoting an evaluation culture to enhance and advance the contribution of the evaluation function to the achievement of development objectives and results; strengthening evaluation functions; and sharing experiences & practices in evaluation, align well with the Bank’s High-5s, which are themselves intrinsically linked to the SDGs and the global compact on development. Invariably, EPRADI’s efforts and the Bank’s High-5s both aim to improve the quality of decision- and policy making such that they both support the continent’s transformation agenda to foster development and improve the livelihoods of Africa’s populace.