Eastern and Southern Africa - Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience Project

Overview & Synopsis

Ratings of the Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience for Eastern and Southern Africa were as follows: outcome was satisfactory; Bank performance was satisfactory; M&E quality was substantial. Lessons and recommendations include the following: maintaining long-term engagement in transboundary basins, even when political conditions are misaligned, preserves cooperation pathways and enables rapid reengagement when opportunities arise; organizing regional operations across multiple implementing agencies and cross-cutting thematic areas can enhance efficiency and results when supported by strong inter-institutional coordination mechanisms and sustained participation of member countries; ensuring continuity of the technical task team is vital to maintain institutional memory and coherence, while fiduciary support should be more centralized or coordinated, with designated World Bank focal points providing parallel oversight across agencies to reduce transaction costs and improve compliance and learning; building continuity between predecessor and successor operations through joint technical design and early co-development strengthens project coherence and implementation quality; perception-based indicators for governance-focused regional projects should be complemented by outcome-focused measures that track national uptake, such as integration of regional tools into country systems and planning processes; and financial sustainability must be integrated at design by assessing countries’ willingness and ability to finance regional services and by strengthening traditional and innovative funding mechanisms for river basin organizations to reduce dependence on development partner financing.