Mauritania: Evaluation of the Country Strategy and Program (2011-2020)

Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) has carried out an evaluation of the Country Strategy and Program of the African Development Bank Group (“the Bank”) in Mauritania over the period 2011-2020. During this period, the Bank financed 24 projects in Mauritania, worth USD 218 million, in 7 sectors of intervention: industry, mines, quarries; transport; agriculture; finance; water and sanitation; social sector; and the multisector. The purpose of this evaluation is to enable the Bank’s Management to: (i) report to stakeholders the outcomes achieved with the resources provided; and (ii) improve its development effectiveness by learning lessons, particularly to guide the preparation and implementation of the next Mauritania CSP for 2023-2027.

The evaluation found that all the pillars of the CSPs were aligned to the country’s priorities and 87.2% of approved projects during the period had their objectives aligned with one of the components of national strategies. The involvement of civil society, beneficiaries, the private sector, and universities, was limited to the validation of strategic choices during policy dialogue but not at operational level. However, poverty was reduced as planned from a rate of 42% in 2008 to 31% in 2014 as well as extreme rural poverty from 40.8% to 25.1% over the same period and the country partly achieved the objective of a more inclusive and greener growth. The evaluation assessed the sustainability of the Bank’s strategies and programs as satisfactory overall. However, there is room for improvement to ensure sustainability of achievements and mobilization of financial resources for recurrent costs in addition to the monitoring of implementation of environmental and social management measures. 

The evaluation recommended to the Bank to improve the articulation between the targeted objectives at national and pillar levels and the expected results of the operations during programming and implementation, to foresee mechanisms that ensure the sustainability of benefits right from the design of Bank operations and monitor their effective implementation. The Bank was also advised to improve the mainstreaming of cross-cutting issues in the CSPs and the Bank’s operations, in particular gender equality promotion and women's empowerment, youth employment, fragility and resilience, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and private sector development.

Task Manager: Debazou Yantio, Principal Evaluation Officer