Final report of the Mid-Term Evaluation of West Africa Trade Facilitation Programme (TFWA) - 10 2022

The Evaluation exercise was undertaken using evaluation questions related to each of the criteria described above and guided by the causal relationships in the Programme’s Theory of Change. The Evaluation was carried out through a summative and formative perspective. However, this exercise predominantly focussed on the summative aspect (backwards looking) which implied assessing achievements in hindsight, providing evidence on what has been achieved (or not) and the elements which contributed to it. The formative (forward-looking) perspective was be taken into consideration to inform future decision-making for the programme and providing indications and recommendations for the continuation of the project and or extension thereof.
The evaluation expected to answer the following set of questions related to the DAC evaluation criteria:

Relevance

• To what extent the components financed under the action and their design remain relevant to the overall objectives and strategy of the FA – as originally formulated and/or evolved over time; and in particular, relevance to ECOWAS and UEMOA priorities?
• To what extent do these components remain relevant to the context and the needs – including needs which are not covered?
• To what extent or not do the initial programme assumptions remain relevant and how does this affect future implementation?

Efficiency

• To what extent have the Implementing Partners been able to adapt their programming actions to issues related to the political economy of countries and subregions in achieving the programmes objectives?

Effectiveness

• How did the specific activities funded under the action contribute to the achievement of the expected results?
• What factors contributed/are contributing the most to the achievement of the expected results and which ones (if any) created/are creating obstacles to such achievements?

Early signs of impact

• To what extent early signs of impact have been or are going to be materialised?

Sustainability

• To what extent have the actions taken the appropriate measures to ensure a maximum degree of sustainability (financial, technical, institutional, and political)?
• What have been the key obstacles to building the ground for sustainability and what could be recommended to improve it in the future programming?
• What has been the effective role of ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions, member states and other stakeholders in the implementation of the TFWA programme so far and to what extent has the programme addressed or not, the structural shortcomings in terms of human resources capacity, coordination, interface with implementing partners and system strengthening of the ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions.