Abstract
Background: There has long been an assumption that Africa has low levels of impact evaluation capacity and that when impact evaluations are conducted in the region, they need to be led and conducted by researchers from the North. The Africa Centre for Evidence at the University of Johannesburg conducted a scoping study on impact evaluation capacity in sub-Saharan Africa to test this assumption. Methodology: We used a multicomponent design, which included a systematic author search, desk review, online survey (with 353 respondents) and key informant discussions. Results: Contrary to previous assumptions, we found a large number of researchers with impact evaluation capacity across sub-Saharan Africa. We identified 490 impact evaluation publications, to which 1520 unique African researchers from 34 countries had contributed. South Africa had the most impact evaluation researchers who had published, followed by Kenya and Uganda, illustrating a concentration of capacity in Southern and Eastern Africa. Authors largely resided within schools of public health and health science faculties at universities. The study showed that modules and elements of impact evaluation training had been offered in 32 countries, indicating more training opportunities than anticipated, although formal, accredited training in impact evaluation was mostly presented outside Africa. Conclusion: Contrary to previous assumptions, widespread capacity to conduct impact evaluations exists in sub-Saharan Africa, reducing the need for researcher capacity from the Global North to deliver impact evaluations in the region. However, our evidence suggests that capacity gaps exist in non-health sectors, creating an opportunity for further capacity support in these areas.
Highlights
As the demand for impact evaluation evidence increases across Africa, so do calls for greater capacity to undertake these technically complex evaluations
Our research has provided a detailed account, based on various data sources, of the regions and institutions in sub-Saharan Africa where there is evidence of impact evaluation capacity
The study found evidence of collaboration between local African institutions and international research organisations, and nascent local capacity where the production of impact evaluations is by local teams
Summary
As the demand for impact evaluation evidence increases across Africa, so do calls for greater capacity to undertake these technically complex evaluations. There is a widespread assumption that a lack of human and institutional capacity exists in sub-Saharan Africa to conduct impact evaluations (Althsuler & Staats 2019; Van den Berg, Naidoo & Tamondong 2017) and a suggestion that because much of the financial support, and evaluation capacity, to conduct impact evaluations comes from the Global North, local capacity is not being developed (Goldman et al 2018; Manning, Goldman & Licona 2020; World Bank 2009). The literature acknowledges an increased demand for, and use of, impact evaluation results in sub-Saharan Africa, including by governments (Goldman et al 2018; 1.Defined here by the Royal Geographical Society (https://www.rgs.org/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?nodeguid=9c1ce781-9117-4741-af0aa6a8b75f32b4&lang=en-GB). The Africa Centre for Evidence at the University of Johannesburg conducted a scoping study on impact evaluation capacity in sub-Saharan Africa to test this assumption
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