13Evaluation of Japan’s Individual Grant Aid (Brief Summary)(Non-Project Grant Aid to the Republic of Togo in FY 2013)Local officials and the evaluation team at the health center reconstructed with counterpart funds.Evaluators (Evaluation Team)Chief Evaluator: Hiroshi Sato, Chief Senior Researcher, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade OrganizationAdvisor: Yasushi Katsuma, Professor, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies (GSAPS), Waseda UniversityConsultant: Global Link Management, Inc.Target Period2013 - 2017Evaluation PeriodJuly 2018 - March 2019Field Survey CountryThe Republic of Togo / Cote d’Ivoire (Location of the Embassy of Japan) Background, Objectives, and Scope of the Evaluation MOFA implemented “Non-Project Grant Aid to Togo in 2013 (1.1 billion Japanese yen)” to support Togo’s economic and social development as well as poverty reduction. The main objectives of this evaluation are to improve the management of ODA through the PDCA (plan-do-check-act) cycle and to fulfill accountability to the people of Japan. Brief Summary of Evaluation ResultsDevelopment Viewpoints(1) Relevance of Policies (Rating B: Satisfactory) Given the status of development indicators for Togo, the objective of this grant is relevant to Japan’s Development Assistance policy, country assistance strategy, Togolese development policy, and the international development agenda. The worldwide rise in oil prices in 2012 justified the use of the grant to import petroleum products for social stability. However, it seems that there was room to consider the procurement of products other than gasoline to further enhance the effectiveness of grant aid for poverty reduction.(2) Effectiveness of Results (Rating B: Satisfactory) This grant was provided in the amount and period, as stated in the Exchange of Notes (E/N), and gasoline was procured. As planned, gasoline was sold for domestic use, and nearly the same amount as the estimated revenue from the sales was deposited as the counterpart funds. Although verification of the effect on poverty reduction is limited to the scale of this grant, the counterpart funds were used in the health, education, and agricultural sectors. During the grant implementation period, the country’s poverty and social indicators improved, and this grant can be considered as one of the contributing factors for this improvement.(3) Appropriateness of Processes (Rating C: Partially Unsatisfactory) Although this grant was promptly and smoothly implemented, some issues were identified from the perspective of PDCA cycle reinforcement as well as public relations. Specifically, the grant records that include how the grant preparation reflected lessons learned from past similar grants, were not available. Further, Japanese stakeholders visited Togo only when the Exchange of Note was signed since Japanese do not stay in Togo. In addition, no information was available on how Japanese stakeholders discussed the use of the counterpart funds with the Togolese government and what they discussed with other donors.Diplomatic Viewpoints(1) Diplomatic Importance This grant was prepared just before the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which was when Togo was a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and coordinating closely with Japan in international scenes. Accordingly, the diplomatic importance of this project was extremely high because the Government of Japan considered this grant necessary in strengthening bilateral relations.(2) Diplomatic Impact This grant contributed to Japan becoming the second after France among OECD countries in terms of the total amount of ODA to Togo in 2013. The Togolese government has appreciated dialogues with the Japanese stakeholders throughout this grant as having contributed to strengthening bilateral relations. However, the only publicity was at the beginning of the grant, for the signing ceremony of the E/N. While this grant had no direct benefits for Japanese companies and organizations, MOFA considers that it will contribute to an environment conducive to the entry of Japanese companies and organizations through economic and social development and the stabilization of Togo, in the long term. Recommendations(1) Improvement in the Preparation of Grant Aid Implemented by MOFA In the preparation document for grand aid titled “Economic and Social Development Program” (formerly Non-Project Grant Aid), MOFA should include the following information: the reasons for selecting the sector and type of items to be procured, the expected outcome, and the lessons learned from previous grants. Ideally, information on procurement items by region and country would also be compiled as a reference for discussions with the recipient country. Preferably, MOFA would review the appropriateness of the typical procured item list along with experts in light of the current international priority agenda toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).(2) Improvement of Monitoring and Recording from Delivery of Procured Items to Sale Before procurement, Japanese stakeholders should check and record the following: the typical routes used in the distribution (selling) of goods to be procured, the anticipated amount of revenue for the government (as counterpart funds), and their consistency with the intention of the grant. At the time of delivery and preparation of the final report, the procurement agency should record the latest available information, including reasons when it differs from the previous information. MOFA should also consider making the procurement agents’ final reports available for the public if the recipient governments agree, taking into consideration the background of introducing ex-post evaluation (both internal and external) since FY 2017.(3) Improvement of Information Sharing on Counterpart Funds MOFA should strengthen information sharing over the use and application of counterpart funds in advance with the recipient government. In addition, MOFA should disclose information on the general outline of the counterpart funds, basic rules on use, and reporting methods in English. As for new grand aids, it should disclose information on whether the E/N includes a chapter on counterpart funds on the MOFA’s website.(4) Strengthening Consultation and Information Sharing about Japan’s Grand Aid to Countries with no Japanese Embassy in the Country The Embassy should compile the information on all grant aid implemented by MOFA, including the list of names of the projects and programs funded by the grants and the counterpart funds. Such comprehensive information should be shared with the recipient government and used for further consultation with the recipient government as well as ODA stakeholders during limited visit opportunities. As part of efforts to strengthen publicity, it could also be useful to hold events periodically to share all Japan ODA information with wider audiences, including the grants implemented by MOFA as well as JICA. Furthermore, it is worth a consideration to allocating officers’ training courses in Japan, taking into consideration countries with no Japanese Embassy as fostering human resources with knowledge and experiences related to Japan.Note: The following was prepared by ODA Evaluation Division based on the report provided by the evaluation team.Full text is available here:https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/oda/evaluation/FY2018/pdfs/togo.pdf
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