Evaluation of Japan’s ODA to Africa through the TICAD Process for the Past 10 Years <Overview>

Full text available here.
https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/oda/evaluation/FY2017/pdfs/ticad.pdf

Evaluation team members	Chief Evaluator	Katsuya Mochizuki Professor at the Department of International Cooperation, Graduate School of Toyo Eiwa University
	Advisor	Kiyoko Ikegami Chair of the Board of the Plan International Japan, and Professor at the School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health of Nagasaki University
	Consultant	Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc.
Evaluation period	July 2017 to February 2018
Field study country	Ghana

Background, Objectives, and Scope of Evaluation

The Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) is an international forum led by Japan that focuses on the development of Africa. The TICAD process is considered to provide the basis for Japan’s policies on the development of Africa. The evaluation study addresses the measures formulated based on Japan’s policies on assistance to Africa announced at the TICAD summit-level meetings held over the past 10 years.

Brief Summary of the Evaluation Results

1 Development Viewpoints

(1) Relevance of Policies (Rating: B “satisfactory”)

The relevance of Japan’s policies on assistance to Africa, in regard to consistencies with (1) international initiatives and development cooperation trends; (2) Japan’s relevant policies such as the Development Cooperation Charter; and (3) development needs of Africa, is generally high.

With individual policy documents and events, however, there is partial lack of clear consistency, which seems to be caused by a deficiency of explanations about Japan’s recognition of issues and the philosophical underpinnings of its policies on assistance to Africa.

(2) Effectiveness of Results (Rating: C “partially unsatisfactory”)^{Note 1. 2}

For the results and achievements made through Japan’s ODA to Africa in terms of (1) Input; (2) Output; (3) Impact; and (4) Achievements in the Case-study country (Ghana), the rating is generally high for (2) and (4) in the country, while the size of (3) is unknown due to a lack of significant analysis results. As for (1), the target of increasing the amount spent in assistance to Africa was achieved, but the input amount is insufficient considering the economic size of Japan in comparison with the average input level of major donors and the relevant international targets.

(3) Appropriateness of Processes (Rating: B “satisfactory”)

The appropriateness of processes for Japan’s policies on assistance to Africa was rated highly as a whole. However, for (2), it was pointed out in the evaluation study that there was still room for enhancement and improvement regarding information sharing between the government and assistance implementation organizations.

2 Diplomatic Viewpoints

From an economic perspective, the diplomatic importance of Japan’s policies on assistance to Africa seems to have increased step by step since 2008, when TICAD IV was held. The evaluation team verified the diplomatic effect of the policies in economic terms with regard to the (1) monetary value of Japan’s export to, import from and investment in Africa; (2) sales recorded by Japanese companies’ local subsidiaries in Africa; and (3) outlook for businesses run by Japanese companies targeting Africa. As a result, it was revealed that the economic effect or benefit of the policies had not yet been fully realized by Japan, but such effect might be forthcoming in the future as the amount of business conducted by Japanese companies in Africa is gradually increasing.

Recommendations

1 Documentation of Japan’s recognition of issues and philosophical underpinnings of policies with regard to assistance to Africa^{Note 3}

The documents on Japan’s policies on ODA to Africa (detailed later) lack explanations about the country’s recognition of issues faced by Africa and about the underlying philosophy that shapes the policies formulated to tackle these issues. It is therefore recommended to: (1) replace the current compact “resume”-like documents describing Japan’s policies on assistance to Africa with “reading materials;” or (2) create explanatory documents a posteriori in addition to the documents describing the policies on assistance to Africa, thereby remedying the deficiency of explanations and helping those involved in ODA and related fields and the general public to deepen their understanding of the policies.

2 Enhancement of regional/south-south cooperation

It is recommended that regional projects encompassing multiple countries in the region as well as south-south cooperation between African countries be fostered to enhance the sharing and transfer of development results across Africa. It is worthwhile to include descriptions on the “modality” in the documents describing Japan’s policies on assistance to Africa.

3 Enhancement of cooperation with other donors and the African Union

TICAD is an open forum held by Japan in partnership with the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the African Union Commission (AUC). Support from and collaboration with these international organizations would greatly help Japan achieve further results in its assistance to Africa. It is therefore recommended that Japan further enhance cooperation with other donors and the AU.

4 Promotion of TICAD namesake projects and facilities

For Japan to raise the level of interest among domestic companies in doing business in Africa in order to implement projects actually undertaken in the region and thereby bring about economic benefits to Japan as a result of its ODA diplomacy, the country needs to attract more attention to and interest in TICAD and its policies on assistance to Africa. To this end, it is recommended that the government further promote TICAD namesake projects and facilities as a means of increasing public awareness of TICAD and Japan’s policies on assistance to Africa.

5 Examination for the prompt implementation of core TICAD projects

Some point out that it takes a considerable amount of time for Japan to decide on the implementation of a development assistance project, and that accelerating the decision-making process would help increase Japan’s presence in Africa. It is therefore recommended that the government examine how to shorten the time required to make decisions on the implementation of projects in fields specified in the policies as core areas.

Note MOFA’s divergence of opinions against the third-party Evaluation Team’s opinions. Note 1, 2 and 3 are shown respectively on p. 16, p. 15, and p. 11 and p. 20 of the full text.
https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/oda/evaluation/FY2017/pdfs/ticad.pdf

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