Sector Results and Learning:
Energy

The FS initiative was designed to help address the high cost of connecting, however the activity achieved about 37 percent of its goal of connecting 35,000 households by the time of the follow-up survey. If the FS initiative had been implemented in all T&D communities, it seems likely that Activity would have reached nearly three quarters of its goal.

Build in time and flexibility in support of long-term change management: Reform interventions should be of sufficient duration and flexibility to respond to obstacles and new information, and to adapt to changing circumstances. In line with the evaluation’s finding suggesting reduced focus on deliverable quality and greater focus on outcomes, experience on the PSRP clearly demonstrated the challenges associated with implementation of activities designed to achieve sound technical goals. It is critical that MCC and its partners at MCA give sufficient consideration to implementation modalities in addition to identifying needed technical fixes. The PSRP experienced numerous difficulties where recommendations or new policies were not implemented due to lack of uptake by partner organizations, driven in part by inadequate implementation strategies and in part by lack of demand and accountability for change. Contractor terms of reference should be designed to allow ample time and effort for long-duration, on-the-ground support where technical assistance (TA) can align with opportunities to support ‘learning-by-doing,’ in parallel with ongoing sector initiatives (e.g. tariff reviews) so that partners can actively apply new skills and consultants can adequately follow through on key initiatives. In addition, TA and capacity building efforts should be tailored to enable a learning and feedback process whereby consultancies can identify, adapt to and address emerging issues. In Malawi, initial results yielded useful information that could inform future TA, but shorter, less flexible interventions meant the information could not be used to influence activities that were underway or already completed.

To be successful, reform programs require continuous stakeholder engagement by both MCA and MCC staff (including the Resident Country Mission), particularly as many critical reform interventions do not fit neatly within the bounds of specific technical assistance activities. Engaging with the general public (including citizen groups) is also important to generate support for Compact initiatives and to avoid creating backlash where Compact activities are not well understood. These efforts should ideally be led by the host-country stakeholders but with Compact encouragement.

Work closely with local organizations to ensure capacity for post project monitoring and follow-up. MCC should identify, and in some cases provide training for, local entities that can assume responsibility for following up and monitoring proper use of solar panels as well as facilitate access for participants to technical maintenance and spare components.

When program “treatment” and/or implementation occurs prior to EIF or early in the program implementation period, independent evaluator assessments of implementation progress can be useful and can be used to inform programmatic decision-making and budget reallocations. This baseline/interim evaluation was timed at a point where other activities had already started and therefore contained both data establishing a baseline for certain outcomes, as well as interim findings assessing progress-to-date on implementation.  MCC was then able to use and learn from these early findings to support project implementation. Going forward, MCC may consider collecting interim evaluation data early in the implementation period to capture early learning.