From the Executive Director
This year was a special one for J-PAL Africa, marking the tenth anniversary of our regional hub in Cape Town. Over the last decade, J-PAL Africa has advanced evidence-based research and policymaking in seventeen African countries with multiple governments and partners. We are proud of our role in fostering a now thriving, diverse ecosystem of actors across the continent, focused on generating and using rigorous evidence in order to better serve the most vulnerable. See our timeline for details of our work to date.
As we look back on what has been an exciting and eventful journey, we have also taken time to reflect on what we have learned in using evidence to inform policy on the continent. In this blog post, we highlight key learnings, including:
- Randomized evaluations are a piece of the puzzle but not the whole picture. Combining evidence with economic theory, local knowledge, and data, as outlined in the generalizability framework, is what enables policymakers to make better informed decisions and better designed programs.
- Working with stakeholders to “get implementation details right” is critical to ensure that programs remain evidence-informed as they roll out to beneficiaries—from evidence to policy to practice. A philosophy of continuous learning can support the process of refining implementation and should be encouraged.
- The challenges policymakers face are complex. The process for evidence adoption is a long and winding one, and complete contextualization can take time—strap in and prepare to be a long-term partner.
Looking ahead into 2022, the prospects for J-PAL Africa are inspiring. With ongoing projects across the continent through our Digital Identification and Finance Initiative, our newly launched Adolescent Girls’ Education and Empowerment portfolio, our labor research in South Africa, and our work building a pipeline for African Scholars, I am excited to grow our efforts across the continent to continue to fight poverty using rigorous evidence.
J-PAL Africa Leadership
The Year in Review
Teaching at the Right Level became an independent organization
Over the last twelve months, Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) Africa, which began as a joint venture between J-PAL and the NGO Pratham, registered as a Kenyan organization. The TaRL Africa team continues to support partners and organizations to use the evidence-based Teaching at the Right Level approach to address the learning crisis, exacerbated by COVID-19 school closures. It is being implemented in more than ten African countries, reaching over one million children.
Advanced access to digital financial services through DigiFI
J-PAL Africa's first research initiative, the Digital Identification and Finance Initiative (DigiFI Africa), has funded thirteen studies (four randomized evaluations and nine pilots) across seven countries that aim to support better public service delivery, governance, and financial inclusion.
In 2021, the team built policy relationships and developed research projects across sub-Saharan Africa, with particularly exciting opportunities forthcoming in West Africa. In April, the team hosted a virtual event to highlight evidence on the impacts of mobile money and digital financial services on household poverty. In September, DigiFI also participated in the G7 Partnership's annual event on Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion in Africa during the 75th UN General Assembly, as one of its key pillars.
Launched the Girls' Education and Empowerment project
Our work to keep girls in school during the pandemic has transformed into a broader project to support policymakers in advancing gender equity in education. In October, we launched a Girls' Education and Empowerment Portfolio that aims to support government partners to design policies and programs that bridge the gender gap in enrollment. For example, we are working with federal and state ministries of education in Nigeria to design the life skills component of a US$500 million World Bank-funded Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment. In the future, we will support research generation on gender-specific barriers to enrollment, filling a critical research gap for effective policymaking.
Facilitated uptake of job search tools in South Africa
J-PAL Africa disseminated research results to inform scale-up of effective labor market policies in South Africa and Ethiopia, making it easier for job seekers to find jobs. For example, effective reference letter and job search “action plan” templates, originally designed and evaluated with South Africa’s Department of Labor, were adapted and taken up by two leading South African employment promoting organizations, reaching over 1.5 million job seekers. In Ethiopia, J-PAL Africa worked with Mercy Corps to adapt these templates as part of a wider initiative to reform job center and public employment services.
The Year Ahead
Expand our work in West Africa
Over the next year, J-PAL Africa will expand our work and partnerships in West Africa. DigiFI will continue to build relationships with governments in several countries including Benin, The Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo, in efforts to generate new evidence on effective digital identification and digital financial services. Our girls’ education portfolio has projects in Niger and Nigeria, with plans to expand to Benin, Liberia, and Togo.
Create new opportunities for African scholars
The African Scholars Program aims to increase the participation of local researchers in the economics profession through addressing context-specific needs such as research funding, mentorship support, and training. Pioneered by DigiFI in 2019, we added an additional program through J-PAL’s Jobs and Opportunity Initiative in 2021 to support African Scholars involved in employment research, and supported the launch of J-PAL South Asia's Indian Scholars Program.
In 2022, as part of our strategy to strengthen the pipeline of African researchers interested in randomized evaluations, we will build more comprehensive education and training programs to grow research capacity on the continent. This will include courses, networking and research development events, information and opportunities for prospective PhD students, and collaboration with others working in this space to share learnings and align our efforts.
Credits:
Anton Scholtz | J-PAL/Pratham