In September 2010, the Bank adopted a new mechanism for assessing its performance. It is called the "One Bank" Results Framework.
The "One Bank" system is part of the Bank's continuing steady improvements in the use of Results Measurement Frameworks (RMFs) to assess its three financing windows - the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund and the Nigeria Trust Fund.
The "One Bank" RMF was founded on the principle that the planning, monitoring and assessment of results should be implemented as a continuum across all areas and sectors of the institution.
The RMF includes indicators to measure policy-based operations, regional operations and private sector operations as part of a single reporting framework covering all the Bank's interventions.
This new RMF is a more accurate gauge of the Bank's effectiveness in promoting sustained development in its Regional Member Countries (RMCs). It is also the anchorage for the new Annual Development Effectiveness Report, to be launched in 2011.
The Bank works hard to make sure its core effectiveness principles get translated into concrete actions across its departments and operations. It is formulating a road map to improve its performance on aid effectiveness. This will put into operation the Bank's endorsement of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action.
The roadmap will set out specific actions to be taken in five mutually reinforcing areas:
- Building corporate priorities and institutional arrangements
- Monitoring the institution's progress on aid effectiveness
- Reviewing Bank policies, practices and incentives
- Operationalising guidance on policies, processes and practices
- Extending the Bank's outreach on aid effectiveness
Managing for Results at Country Level: Helping the RMCs manage for development effectiveness is high on the Bank Group's agenda.
As part of this task, the Bank supported the setting up in 2007 of the African Community of Practice on Managing for Development Results (AfCoP-MfDR). AfCoP-MfDR is one of the channels for disseminating knowledge and best practice on how to manage for sustainable development results.
It has more than 1600 members from 91 countries, including 43 African countries. The members are from public administration, parliaments, civil society, the private sector, academia, the media and the donor community.
During 2010, the Bank supported the creation of eight national Communities of Practice (COPs). They are in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Zimbabwe.
These COPs are autonomous bodies in partnership with national finance and economic ministry.
They act as change agents instilling the results culture at national level in order to produce measurable poverty eradication results.
Managing for Results at the International Level: The Bank is active within several working groups under the umbrella of the OECD's Working Party on Aid Effectiveness.
It is helping to draw up the agenda for the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, scheduled to take place in Busan, Korea, in late 2011. Ahead of this, and with NEPAD and the AUC, the Bank organised the Second Regional Meeting on Aid Effectiveness, South-South Cooperation and Capacity Development, held in Tunis in November, 2010, and attended by approximately 170 delegates from across Africa.
It adopted a new perspective - to promote a vision of development that puts finance for development not aid at the core.
Progress on the introduction of Quality Assurance and Results-Oriented Operational Tools
Stronger Quality-at-Entry Assessment: Substantial progress has been made. The Readiness Review (RR) tool was rolled out to all lending operations in 2010. Also, quality-at-entry standards were developed to help project teams to design quality operations. An RR tool for assessing the quality-at-entry of Country Strategy Papers was developed for implementation in early 2011.
Also, a pilot initiative was launched to promote better understanding of post-approval readiness issues, especially those related to delays in first disbursement.
Enhanced Quality and Results Orientation throughout the Project Cycle: In 2010, two initiatives were made to support results-oriented reporting and quality project implementation.
They related to the revision of the results-based logical framework (RLF) for operations, and to the preparation of revamped Implementation Progress and Results (IPR) reports.
The new simplified RLF, which is harmonised with the OECD/DAC results chain terminology, will ease participatory project design and results-based monitoring throughout the project cycle.
The IPR will promote a project monitoring approach that is focussed on results, based on quantitative evidence, and on dynamic and outcome-oriented actions. It will be supported by a revised project performance rating system.
The new approach will also support decentralisation and boost the roles and responsibilities of field office on project performance monitoring.
Information Technology Support: The Bank has taken several initiatives to strengthen its information systems to support more dynamic portfolio management.
The continuing SAP functional upgrade will let operations capture information on the achievement of outputs and outcomes. It will also allow operations to report on Key Performance Indicators on such areas as procurement, disbursement, ageing projects and better risk monitoring.
In addition to the SAP upgrade, the Bank is developing a Results Reporting System to track its contribution to development outcomes.
