Source: African Development Bank Group
(L-R) Rufus N. Darkortey, Executive Director at the African Development Bank representing The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Sudan, alongside Neil Cole, Financing Manager for South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Project Management Unit, Office of the President, Guillaume Le Bris, Head of Infrastructure and Energy, ILX Fund Management, Karen Rot-Münstermann, Evaluator General at African Development Bank Group, Adesoji Adelaja, John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor in Land Policy, Michigan State University and Global Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center, David Kevin (DKL) Lumbila, Division Manager at the African Development Bank, Dr. Eric Kehinde Ogunleye as Director of African Development Institute, African Development Bank, during AM2025: Harnessing Africa’s Financial Capital.
Independent evaluations are essential to unlocking Africa’s domestic financial capital and driving reforms that deliver real development impact. This was the central message from a side event organized by the Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) function of the African Development Bank Group, held during the Bank’s 2025 Annual Meetings in Abidjan.
The event, titled “Harnessing Africa’s Financial Capital for Development: Evidence from Independent Evaluations,” brought together evaluators, policymakers, economists, finance professionals, and private sector actors to explore how evaluation findings can strengthen resource mobilization, public financial management, and the efficient use of capital.
Opening the session, Karen Rot-Münstermann, Evaluator General of the Bank, emphasized the urgency of tapping Africa’s vast domestic capital in light of declining foreign aid and investment flows. Drawing from the Bank’s 2025 African Economic Outlook, she cited an annual loss of around $600 billion due to illicit financial flows and inefficiencies, while underscoring Africa’s potential to mobilize and retain up to about $1.43 trillion annually through better policies. “There is money in Africa,” she said, quoting AfDB Vice President and Chief Economist, Professor Kevin Urama. “It’s about mobilizing and valorizing it.”
Madhusoodhanan Mampuzhasseril, Division Manager at IDEV, presented key findings from three recent evaluations: a synthesis on public financial management, an impact evaluation of a public finance modernization project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and an evaluation of the Bank’s use of its public-private partnership mechanism. These findings emphasized the need for robust legal frameworks, effective IT systems, strong coordination mechanisms, and adaptation to local contexts.
A panel discussion moderated by Dr. Eric Ogunleye, Director of the Bank’s African Development Institute, featured diverse perspectives.
Rufus N. Darkortey, Executive Director at the Bank, illustrated how evaluation has driven impactful reforms in his constituency including The Gambia and Liberia, where it supported reforms that doubled the tax-to-GDP ratio and improved fiscal management. “All of that would not have been possible if evaluation had not been playing a driving role,” he emphasized.
Neil Cole, representing South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Unit, emphasized that resource mobilization must be matched with effective absorption and alignment with national priorities. “Evaluation helps us detect capacity gaps before we act,” he noted, calling for reforms grounded in evidence and institutional realities.
Representing the private sector, Guillaume Le Bris of the ILX Fund emphasized that pension-backed investments rely on credible data and institutional trust. “Evaluation is essential to de-risking investment and aligning capital with development outcomes,” he said. ILX, which has mobilized over $1.7 billion from Dutch and Danish pension funds, co-invests exclusively with multilateral development banks in emerging markets. Le Bris noted that robust evaluation systems are essential to attracting and retaining large-scale private capital.
Kevin Lumbila, Division Manager in the Bank’s Governance and Economic Reforms Department, shared results from a public finance modernization project in the DRC where integrated financial systems, new tax offices, and improved working conditions for staff led to better service delivery and a 10 percent average annual increase in revenue in participating provinces. “When citizens saw improvements like roads and waste collection, their willingness to pay taxes grew,” he explained. These outcomes, later captured in IDEV’s evaluation, demonstrate the power of adaptive, context-aware design in driving reform.
Prof. Soji Adelaja of Michigan State University, emphasized that evaluation must be embedded from the design stage, enabling meaningful adaptation. “You can’t evaluate what you didn’t set up to learn from,” he said, describing evaluation as not only a tool for accountability but also a strategic instrument for storytelling that builds public trust and boosts both public and private financing.
Panelists discussed the role of civil society and high-net-worth individuals in financing development. Prof Adelaja pointed to Nigeria’s successful raising of $340 million in a single day from private citizens, citing trust and transparency as key enablers.
Closing the session, Dr. Ogunleye urged stronger domestic resource mobilization and institutional capacity, noting that no country has developed solely on external aid. “Evaluation is not a luxury—it is a necessity. Smarter policies, better implementation, and fairer outcomes all begin with evidence,” he stressed.
The session made a compelling case for elevating evaluation as a central pillar in Africa’s financial reform agenda. It reaffirmed IDEV’s commitment to connecting evaluation with action that enhances Africa’s financial resilience and development effectiveness.