JULY 5, 2018 – The 2018 Aid Transparency Index Report (ATI), has ranked African Development Bank (AfDB) 4th among 45 development organizations that share transparent and open data on project impact, result and evaluation.
A statement signed by AfDB Chief Communication Officer, Mr Chawki Chahedi on Wednesday in Abuja, said the 2018 ATI report had lifted the bank by six positions since 2016.
According to Chahedi, ATI has been the only independent organisation measuring transparency in the world’s major development and humanitarian agencies.
“The improved ranking reflects the bank’s operational capabilities, the efficacy of its systems and processes, including a strict adherence quality reporting, disclosure of its programmes, projects, aid and financial interventions.’’
He said that it was a laid down procedure that organisations provide information on the objectives of their operations.
“But only four Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) like the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank and AfDB publish details of their pre-project impact appraisals, evaluations and review documents and results.’’
The statement also quoted AfDB President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina as saying “proactive stakeholders relations and governance anchored on transparency are critical and at the heart of the impact-driven work that makes the AfDB Africa’s leading DFIs’’.
“The latest ranking on the global aid transparency index reflects the bank’s alignment to its strategic priorities and unwavering commitment to Africa’s development and transparency agenda.”
The Bank said a signatory to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) since April 2011, the bank had recently launched a new projects portal, publishing data according to IATI’s international standards on transparency.
It said the aim was to make information about its development spending easier to access, use and understand.
The bank said open data supporters had endorsed the index, adopted by the United Nations, African Union, European Union, the United States government and other international and regional bodies.
Chahedi, however, noted that the report identified some challenges to the open data momentum, which includes the shrinking “civic space’’ needed for citizens and Civil Society Oorganisations (CSOs) to engage in decision making.
The chief communication officer said the report also listed increasingly scarce assistance from development partners, and the changing development landscape, adding that they pose a fresh set of fiscal, regulatory, technical and ethical challenges for global transparency efforts.
