Evaluation shows World Bank Group underperformed in efforts to reduce corruption but overall operations improve

The International Evaluation Group (IEG) has released its report after evaluating the World Bank Group (WBG), consisting of the World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) from 2008 to 2010.

According to the IEG, the WBG had a “shortfall in achieving key public sector reform objectives, including reducing corruption and civil service reform.”

The WBG’s overall effectiveness is also lower in countries with weak public sector management, suggesting a need for the WBG to augment its approach and prioritize engagement in this area, the evaluation team observed.

At the World Bank, IEG said while supervision of completed operations improved, there was a decline in project quality at the time of approval due to factors such as weaknesses in political economy assessments and poor results frameworks.

It noted that the IFC, where a transformation in its business model is taking place, evaluations indicate that overall work quality in investments remain strong, although there were some persistent weaknesses in its upfront project appraisal and structuring.

For MIGA, evaluations found that the strategic relevance of the operations it supported has been high, although there is scope for improving aspects of its work quality.

85 percent of WBG operations broadly aimed to help expand economic opportunities.

In order for the three WBG institutions to strengthen results monitoring and reporting, IEG said the challenges to be addressed include “ensuring that aggregate indicators are not overly influenced by larger countries, ensuring that costs associated with achieving results are adequately reflected; and ensuring the quality of the underlying data.”

By Ekow Quandzie