Join us for an immersive experience at the Africa LEADS Workshop, where the World Bank’s Eastern and Southern Africa Region (AFE) and the Development Impact (DIME) department unite to foster a culture of evidence-based development. This event is a gateway to understanding how integrated research and collaborative efforts can transform and empower development for greater impact.
Africa LEADS
The overlapping crises of climate change, food insecurity, pandemics and conflict require a step change in our approach to international development. The AFE Region and DIME are responding to this challenge through the Africa LEADS [Learn. Adapt. Scale.] program. The program offers a framework for projects to (i) collectively Learn from each other and through impact evaluation research; (ii) wire in the ability for projects to Adapt based on this evidence, and (iii) Scale the most effective approaches across the region. To do this, the program uses trial-and-adopt technology and real-time data to enhance project impact in vital areas of Food Security, Digital Development, Education, Energy, Jobs, and Water across the region.
The trial-and-adopt approach emphasizes iterative trials and rapid adoption of successful ideas in collaboration with local agencies, empowering them to tailor solutions to their unique challenges. By taking a portfolio approach, abstractions from these local solutions can be replicated and scaled across programs and contexts. This can double the impact of development finance, allowing limited resources to reach further and achieve more, ultimately improving lives across Africa and the world.
Workshop Objectives
The workshop marks the launch of the Africa LEADS program. The event will bring together approximately 30 project teams working on selected World Bank-financed operations in the Eastern and Southern Africa region. Countries participating include Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zambia. The workshop will focus on sharing the latest global evidence for each sector and strengthen client capacity to create and use high-quality impact evaluation research and data in the design and delivery of their projects.
The workshop is structured to facilitate a comprehensive learning journey, offering:
Integration of Global Evidence: Sharing curated evidence to inform project design, ensuring interventions are both innovative and evidence based.
Cross-sector and Cross-country Learning: Encouraging knowledge exchange across diverse projects and thematic areas to foster adaptable and scalable solutions.
Advanced Impact Evaluation Technology: Introducing cutting-edge methods and tools in M&E and impact evaluation practices, aligning with global best practices.
Cohesive Learning Agenda: Developing a learning agenda that provides a framework for testing and adaptation across project designs to help maximize development impact through a regional portfolio approach.
