The present Inception Report is a second step towards a comprehensive evaluation of the Bank's utilization of its Public Private Partnership (PPP) mechanism for the 2006-2016 period. It is consecutive to a stocktaking exercise which resulted in the presentation of a stocktaking report to the Board of Directors' Committee on Operations and Development Effectiveness (CODE) of the African Development Bank (thereafter AfDB or "the Bank"). The Stocktaking Report highlighted the lack of operational definition of the concept of PPP, the absence of framework or structure to guide the implementation of PPP operations, as well as the relatively modest level PPP financing characterized by its high concentration in the energy sector at the AfDB. The Stocktaking Report also recommended that a follow-up independent evaluation consisting of both a retrospective and prospective components of the Bank's utilization of its PPP mechanism is conducted.
The Inception phase of the follow-up evaluation included a scoping mission. The mission which aimed at assessing the available background information, identifying and assessing the quality of available data, identifying information gaps, as well as finalizing a suitable methodology, took place at the Headquarters of the AfDB's in Abidjan, from October 10th to 21st, 2016. The mission allowed multiple in-depth discussions with Task Managers within the department in charge of private sector operations (OPSD) and other relevant stakeholders within the Bank.