African Development Bank opens Evaluation Week focused on cross-border growth

Held under the theme “Catalysing Development Impact Across Africa’s Borders,” the timing reflects a wider continental push to turn major policy frameworks into tangible outcomes.

The African Development Bank Group has launched its 7th Development Evaluation Week, bringing together policymakers, evaluators, development experts, and partners to assess how regional integration across Africa can be strengthened using evidence from completed projects and ongoing initiatives.

The gathering focuses on a simple challenge that continues to shape Africa's development trajectory: borders still act as costly barriers to growth, limiting trade, slowing movement of goods and services, and reducing opportunities for businesses and workers to scale across markets. The event aims to move beyond theory and examine how integration can function more effectively in practice.

Held under the theme "Catalysing Development Impact Across Africa's Borders," the timing reflects a wider continental push to turn major policy frameworks into tangible outcomes. The African Continental Free Trade Area, launched in 2019, has created the world's largest free trade zone on paper, but implementation remains uneven as countries work through infrastructure gaps, regulatory alignment, and market fragmentation.

Focus on turning continental plans into real economic gains

The programme connects closely with Africa's wider development agenda, including the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa and the African Union's Agenda 2063. These initiatives depend heavily on coordination across countries, where roads, energy systems, and trade rules need to function together rather than in isolation.

Organised by the African Development Bank's Independent Development Evaluation unit in partnership with its Regional Integration Coordination Department, the week is designed to assess cross-border projects that have already been completed. The aim is to understand which approaches delivered results, where progress stalled, and what lessons can improve future investments.

Officials say the emphasis is on evidence-driven decision-making, with findings expected to feed directly into how governments and development institutions design and deliver regional projects.

Wider lens on people, markets, and climate resilience

The discussions go beyond infrastructure corridors and trade routes, with sessions exploring how integration affects labour markets, youth employment, and economic opportunity across the continent. One focus is on how Africa's demographic trends can be turned into economic gains through better regional coordination of skills, mobility, and investment.

Trade and industrial development also feature prominently, with attention on how cross-border systems can support manufacturing growth and attract investment at a scale that single markets often struggle to achieve.

Climate resilience is a major theme on the final day, with participants reviewing evidence on scaling successful environmental and adaptation strategies across borders. The goal is to identify practical approaches that can be replicated across regions facing similar climate pressures. The week will conclude with a set of outputs intended to carry findings beyond the event itself, including a priority action brief and a digital knowledge platform designed to support governments and institutions working on regional integration projects.