GEI Attends African Evaluation Association’s 25th Anniversary Celebration

From June 16–18, the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI) attended the 25th anniversary conference of the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA25) in Addis Ababa. The event brought together evaluation leaders, practitioners, and policy makers from across the continent and beyond.
 

Over three days, the GEI team, with colleagues from the Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA) and Francophone Africa (CLEAR-FA), hosted a booth that served as a hub for conversation, connection, and collaboration. The team engaged with partners in the evaluation field, from government officials to young emerging evaluators, all united by a shared vision: making evidence matter in Africa’s development.

Dugan Fraser, Program Manager of GEI, delivered virtual remarks during the Inaugural Session, where he reflected on the importance of evaluation in Africa’s rapidly evolving governance landscape. “Evaluation isn’t just about accountability, it’s about using evidence to drive better decisions, deliver real results, and ultimately, improve lives,” he said. Mr. Fraser emphasized the importance of asking tough questions about effectiveness and value for money and the need to move from collecting data to using it.
 

The AfrEA25 program featured high-level plenaries, thematic sessions, and youth-focused events. One of the highlights was the panel on “Strengthening Evaluation Capacity in English-Speaking Africa.” The session, moderated by CLEAR-AA, explored how national systems can decentralize evaluation, include emerging evaluators, and build champions, especially among youth and women. Parallel sessions also spotlighted capacity development in Francophone Africa, the role of regional development banks, and climate-smart development evaluations.
 

During the conference, GEI reconnected with key partners including the Republic of the Congo’s Minister for State Reform, Luc-Joseph Okio, who reaffirmed his government’s commitment to building a robust evaluation system. With support from CLEAR-FA and GEI, Congo has completed a diagnostic of its monitoring and evaluation system and is actively building capacity – a great example of what political will and partnership can achieve.

AfrEA25 also marked important milestones including the launch of the Handbook on Made in Africa Evaluation and a closing plenary that reaffirmed Africa’s commitment to Agenda 2063.

What’s Next? Join GEI in Nairobi!

GEI is keeping the momentum going with an upcoming on-site training in Nairobi. From November 3–7, the International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET), GEI’s executive training program, will offer a hands-on course designed to build practical skills in evaluation and tailored specifically to the African context. The course welcomes both newcomers to evaluation and those seeking to deepen their expertise.

Registration is now open at www.ipdet.org