Ethiopia Among Exemplary African Countries in Implementing Policy Evaluation, Says AfrEA President

Addis Ababa, June 17, 2025 (ENA) -- Ethiopia is one of the exemplary countries in Africa in implementing policy evaluation, African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) President Miche Ouedraogo told ENA.

The African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) is celebrating its 25th Anniversary in Addis Ababa, marking a significant milestone in its journey of capacity building, knowledge exchange and evidence-based policymaking.

Opening the anniversary of AfrEA, Planning and Development Minister Fitsum Assefa noted that Ethiopia remains fully committed to deepening its evaluation ecosystem as robust monitoring and evaluation systems are indispensable for tracking progress and making necessary corrections.

 

In an exclusive interview with ENA, AfrEA President Miche Ouedraogo said Ethiopia is doing well in terms of implementing policy evaluation.

“Ethiopia is one of the countries in Africa which is exemplary in the way it is implementing policy evaluation in the country.”

The president underscored that evaluation must serve Africa's development agenda, emphasizing for Africa-led evaluation supported by digitalization.

Having evidence and the data is essential for any policy or any initiative or strategic development initiative on the ground in Africa, he pointed out.

Stating that all the countries are not following the same path, Ouedraogo said each country has its own development process and national evaluation capacities.

Regarding future prospects in Africa’s evaluation system, the president stated that advancing endeavors in technology and innovation is one of the prospects where we should see ourselves in the coming years.

According to him, taking advantage of artificial intelligence, and also innovation technologies, is crucial to make sure that they can provide innovation in the area of public policy evaluation.

The AfrEA's 25th anniversary is being observed under the theme: “Celebrating 25 Years of Excellence in Africa-Rooted Evaluation: Building a Stronger Future Together.”