Unlike commercial banks, the success of development banks like the African Development Bank 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 AfDB's Board of Directors depends on IDEV independent evaluations, on learning from them, and on a critical assessment of the AfDB's work. IDEV produces an Annual Report which summarizes its work and presents its achievements.
Key accomplishments in 2022
In 2022, the first year of its 2022-2024 work program, timely independent evaluation insights on what works well and areas for improvement added value to the African Development Bank’s strategic priorities, country engagement, and corporate products and processes.
IDEV delivered 11 evaluation products, providing guidance and support for the development of the Bank’s new Ten-Year Strategy, its long-term investment program, and its objective to build resilience in African member countries. We also pursued our mission to build an evaluation culture through capacity development and partnerships, and through our flagship biennial event “AfDB Development Evaluation Week,” held on the topical theme of “Building a stronger and more resilient Africa”.
As we pursue our 2022-2024 Work Program, IDEV remains committed to adding further value to Africa’s development.
The report is available in French and English and is presented in more detail on a dedicated webpage.
Download the 2022 Annual Report
Key accomplishments in 2021
The year has been one of exceptional coordination between IDEV and African Development Bank Management to achieve the timely delivery of evaluative evidence.
Our 13 evaluation reports delivered in 2021 cover a wide spectrum of Bank activities, including policies, strategies and investment operations, but also "soft" contributions such as policy dialogue, knowledge management, and economic and sector work. Indeed, achieving development results in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals calls for more focus on these indirect development pathways. Our work was closely aligned with and responsive to the Bank's need to account for these contributions.
Throughout the year, IDEV provided relevant evaluative knowledge and participated in discussions on new Bank policies, strategies and frameworks, including the Trust Fund Policy, the Water Policy and Strategy, the Green Growth and Climate Change Policy and Strategy, the Private Sector Development Strategy, the Public-Private Partnerships Framework, the Sovereign Operations Restructuring Policy, and the Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in Africa.
In 2021, IDEV continued its focus on the effective communication of its evaluation findings, lessons and recommendations. Different information types, from key messages to in-depth analyses, were packaged to reach different target audiences. Evaluation Capacity Development is also an important activity for IDEV and 2021 was no exception. In 2021, IDEV not only organized knowledge events, but also leveraged events organized by other Bank departments and external partners to disseminate and increase the use of evaluation results.
The report is available in French and English and is presented in more detail on a dedicated webpage.
Download the 2021 Annual Report
Key accomplishments in 2020
2020 was an unprecedented year for the AfDB and its independent evaluation function. As COVID-19 spread across the globe, our world changed and a new reality took hold.
In this new working environment, IDEV demonstrated resilience, adaptability and responsiveness by continuing to deliver and remaining engaged and attentive to demands.
In fact, it exceeded its target for 2020 by delivering a record 20 evaluation products, contributing to learning and accountability for achieving the Bank's High 5 priorities. IDEV delivered 17 evaluations, 2 validation synthesis reports and its first Management Action Record System report, which tracks the implementation of evaluation recommendations by the Bank.
In focusing on the Bank’s priority areas, IDEV’s evaluations have proven timely and influential, by identifying what works well and areas for improvement, and providing clear guidance for new policies and strategies. The influence of IDEV evaluations went well beyond the Bank to reach national stakeholders in regional member countries.
IDEV organized eight (virtual) knowledge events to capitalize on the findings, lessons and recommendations from various evaluations, including the AfDB Development Evaluation Week, held fully virtually under the theme: “From Learning to Transformational Change in Africa: Accelerating Africa’s delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Decade of Action.” IDEV also continued to pursue partnerships and support Evaluation Capacity Development in the Bank and on the continent.
2020 was a special year for IDEV as it also marked 40 years of the evaluation function at the AfDB. In 40 years, evaluations have influenced so many policies, strategies, programs and processes that it is now an essential part of how the Bank operates.
The report is available in French and English and is presented in more detail on a dedicated webpage: idev.afdb.org/en/AR2020
Download the 2020 Annual Report
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.
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).