Virtual, September 24, 2025 — The Independent Evaluation Department (IEvD) of the Islamic Development Bank and the Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) of the African Development Bank jointly organized a virtual learning event to share findings and lessons from their recent evaluations of Counterpart Funding. The event brought together senior officials, evaluation experts, and development practitioners from both institutions, as well as partners from the World Bank.

The session opened with remarks by Karen Rot-Münstermann, Evaluator General of IDEV at AfDB; Mohameden Mohamed Sidiya, Director of IEvD at IsDB; and Caroline Kende-Robb, Senior Director, Corporate Strategy and Policy Department at AfDB. “This joint initiative is a continuation of the well-rooted collaboration between IDEV and IEvD and is aligned with the Evaluation Cooperation Group’s endeavor to promote cooperation, complementarity, and synergy between the evaluation departments of multilateral development banks” IEvD Director Mohameden Sidiya stressed in his remarks. The other speakers underlined the critical role of Counterpart Funding in enabling country ownership, leveraging resources, and strengthening the effectiveness of development operations.

Presentations followed, with Ehtisham UL Hassan, Senior Evaluation Specialist at IEvD, presenting key insights from IsDB’s Special Review on Counterpart Funding (2010–2020), and Samson Houetohossou, Principal Evaluation Officer at IDEV, sharing the main findings and recommendations from AfDB’s Counterpart Funding evaluation (2009–2022). Their reflections provided a comparative perspective on how CF has influenced project design, financing, and sustainability across different contexts.

The event included three panel discussions, as follows:

·       Round 1 examined the impact of CF on project performance, featuring insights from Aissa Sarr Toure (AfDB), Prajesh Bhakta (AfDB), Ehtisham UL Hassan (IsDB), and Nabil Ghalleb (IsDB).

·       Round 2 focused on policy innovations and implementation challenges, with contributions from Joseph Kouassi N’Guessan (AfDB), Michael Kahiti (Kenya’s National Treasury), and Asad Qazi (IsDB).

·       Round 3 explored future directions for enhancing country ownership and project sustainability, with perspectives from Dominique Puthod (AfDB), Asad Qazi (IsDB), Hammad Hundal (IsDB), and Felicitas Chi Cho Atanga (AfDB).

Adding a global dimension, Neesha Harnam, Senior Operations Officer at the World Bank, presented the institution’s perspective on operational efficiency and effectiveness. The central question the discussants attempted to address was, how we ensure that counterpart funding remains a tool that facilitates development effectiveness rather than becoming a bottleneck that impedes progress.

The session concluded with a Q&A that engaged participants in lively exchanges on the way forward. Nur Abdi, Associate Manager at IEvD, facilitated the session and provided key takeaways, while Madhu, Division Manager of IDEV2 at AfDB, delivered the closing remarks. More than 185 staff from both IsDB and AfDB from both HQ and Regional Hubs/Offices attended then webinar.

The event highlighted the shared commitment of IsDB and AfDB to strengthen learning from evaluations, enhance operational efficiency, and support member countries in achieving more sustainable development outcomes through effective counterpart funding mechanisms.