Partnership (and cofinancing)

It is agreed that cofinancing partners ought to be updated regularly on key milestones and developments of the TA project, but this does not constitute a lesson.

Cofinancing partner was updated regularly on key milestones and developments of the TA.

Another internal lesson could be that when introducing additional funding midway through implementation—such as the TASF in this project—the TA needs to closely plan and monitor activities so that the overall TA project implementation is not delayed.

The key lesson for ADB is to assess partner capacity and provide detailed guidance on operational procedures to manage expectations and to make the partnership effective.

When building a new partnership, it is important to carefully assess partners’ capacity, provide prior guidance on ADB’s required procedures and expectations, and select the right partnership modalities to avoid the unexpectedly high transaction costs to make the partnership work.

The project was funded by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. The CPA was the implementing agency. ADB administered the funds and the Government of Bangladesh provided in-kind support. The TA provides a positive example of partners’ coming together in effective collaboration.

This is more of a description of what happened during the implementation than a lesson or recommendation

Fluctuations in committed and in effective financial contributions from the PRIF partners led to some uncertainties in allocating resources and in budgeting assistance programs. It was not possible to process the European Investment Bank planned cofinancing commitment of $1.1 million equivalent due to legal issues preventing the ability to conclude a cofinancing mechanism and agreement with ADB. During the TA period, ADB built on the constructive working relationship with the Governments of Australia and New Zealand.

For a development project with such apparently clear potential economic benefits, it would be helpful for the TCR to provide clearer evidence as to why the operation was dropped and why mitigation did not occur in a timely manner.

The TCR lesson is useful. Capacity development activities should look to identify opportunities to partner with other donors. This TA partnership with FAO (handbook and MOOC implementation) generated greater and more cost-effective results than would otherwise have been possible.