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Report of the World Bank Task Force on Capactiy Development in Africa

This report of the Task Force on Capacity Development in Africa analyzes four decades of capacity development experience in Africa and offers key messages for African countries and their international partners that should underpin a renewed effort to develop, use, and retain capacity for development in Sub Saharan Africa. 

It also presents specific recommendations of how the World Bank, as a leading development agency in the region, should step up its analytical, financial, and operational contribution tocapacity development as part of a coordinated international effort under the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

The Task Force was set up by Mr. James D. Wolfensohn, then President of the World Bank, and the African Executive Directors following a discussion with the African Governors of the World Bank at the Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C., in 2004. The report was prepared under the auspices of the of. ce of the Managing Director (Shengman Zhang), the World Bank Africa Region (Gobind Nankani), and the World Bank Institute (Frannie Leautier).

The Task Force’s remit was to review the recent experience with Bank support for capacity development in Africa and to suggest practical ways for African countries and their international partners, including the Bank, to address the capacity agenda more forcefully and with a greater sense of urgency.

The report includes five annexes that cover the consultations, the literature review, and the country and portfolio evidence collected by the  country and portfolio evidence collected by the Task Force. It also includes a note on the World Bank Institute’s capacity development activities in Africa. All documents, including some 20 country case and thematic studies, are published on this site.

Download the report - Available in English (PDF 1.3 MB). Version française