The African Development Bank's (AfDB) Development Evaluation Week was launched on Monday, November 7, 2016 at the institution's headquarters in Abidjan, under the theme: "Driving Africa's Transformation" that attracted evaluation experts and development practitioners from across the World.

The first day was dedicated to a workshop on impact evaluation and a Knowledge Café on the use of evaluation. On Day 2, Côte d'Ivoire's Minister of Planning and Development, Nialé Kaba was the guest of honour at the opening ceremony. In her address on behalf of the country's Prime Minister, Daniel Kablan Duncan, she stressed the importance of evaluating the progress of the Bank's "High 5" priorities: Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa. "These are all fundamental to transforming the continent," she said.

During the high-level discussion which followed, panellists gave their point of view on how well the continent is moving forward, and debated the priorities to make the transformation happen. The moderator of the session, Erik Nyindu, Vox Africa News Director, stressed the need to showcase what works and what has been done well, giving the example of Cape Verde. "How do we federate the will of a nation to move forward collectively?" he asked.

According to Batio Bassière, Burkina Faso's Minister of the Environment, "The AfDB should work at transferring the responsibility of the High 5 priorities to African countries themselves and improve the conditions under which to implement them."

Kako Nubukpo from the International Organisation of La Francophonie asked, "How can we create a climate of trust among pan African organisations? And people's trust of their country's elite? We must start by making political leaders aware that evaluation is not like an audit. More than the outcome of an evaluation, what is important is the learning process which accompanies it."

The Development Evaluation Week will also be dedicated to reflecting on how to improve the quality of life for Africans; and discussing how evaluation can be useful in climbing the High 5s learning curve. What works and what does not in development?

Development effectiveness is a long-standing focus area for the AfDB. Its own Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) is organising Evaluation Week, with support from the Republic of Korea and the Government of Canada.