USAID Africa Trade and Investment Program MEL Plan

The MELP includes a program theory of change, a conceptual framework and a results framework with critical assumptions, a set of well-defined performance indicators, and a learning and evaluation plan. The indicators will identify successes and shortcomings in program activities, inform decisions to maintain or adjust course, and facilitate communication of results to USAID, counterparts, and other stakeholders. The MELP will rely on systematic collection, analysis, and reporting of information, both quantitative and qualitative. Information generated from the MEL system will allow program managers to make informed decisions on the overall management and performance of the project and provide a rationale for any needed changes in project implementation and/or design. The principles governing the ATI MELP are based on the USAID Automated Directives System (ADS) 201 Program Cycle Operational Policy and are consistent with the following: a tool for learning and adaptive management, alignment with Prosper Africa and USAID's strategies and processes, high-quality data, gender and youth inclusion, climate and environmental considerations, and communication. The USAID Africa Trade and Investment (ATI) program is a five-year, flexible buy-in mechanism managed by USAID's Bureau for Africa. As USAID's flagship effort under the Prosper Africa initiative and in line with USAID's Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Policy, ATI is a continent-wide program that will boost trade and increase investment to, from, and within the African continent, generating thousands of African and American jobs and delivering billions in exports and investment by 2026. To achieve development outcomes, ATI works across North and Sub-Saharan Africa, by mobilizing enterprise-driven solutions and supporting healthy business climates that are conducive to trade and investment. The program will focus on key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and services, and will engage with a range of stakeholders, including governments, private sector companies, civil society organizations, and local communities. The MELP will capture sex and age-disaggregated indicator data for ATI wherever possible, and lessons learned on inclusiveness through regular MEL implementation will be used to improve the design of interventions throughout implementation. ATI will consistently undertake data interpretation and analysis from a sex/gender perspective to identify tacit gender relations that affect development problems and solutions addressed by ATI. The MELP will also capture data and learnings so as to ensure ATI's implementation is environmentally-sound, particularly in the areas of agriculture, public health, and industry. With regards to these considerations, the MELP will capture data and learnings so as to ensure ATI's implementation is environmentally-sound. The MELP is designed to enable the communication of results achieved—or not—to advance organizational learning and tell ATI's story. A separate ATI communication plan illustrates the main approaches that the program will use to package and share results, from high-level development outcomes tracked through performance indicators to success stories of individuals and groups served by ATI collected through impact mapping. The MELP includes a set of well-defined performance indicators in the Performance Indicator Reference Sheets (PIRS), including descriptions of data collection and analysis methods. The indicators will be used to track progress towards the achievement of the program's target results, and will inform decisions to maintain or adjust course. The MELP will also include a Performance Indicator Table that will include expected targets once buy-ins are finalized. The MELP will rely on systematic collection, analysis, and reporting of information, both quantitative and qualitative. Information generated from the MEL system will allow program managers to make informed decisions on the overall management and performance of the project and provide a rationale for any needed changes in project implementation and/or design. The MELP will be implemented through a range of activities, including data collection, data analysis, and reporting. The program will also engage with a range of stakeholders, including governments, private sector companies, civil society organizations, and local communities, to ensure that the MELP is aligned with their needs and priorities. The MELP will be reviewed and updated regularly to ensure that it remains relevant and effective in supporting the program's goals and objectives. The review process will involve a range of stakeholders, including program managers, implementers, and partners, to ensure that the MELP is aligned with their needs and priorities. The MELP will also include a learning plan that highlights special studies and surveys that the project will undertake in support of a robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system. The learning plan will provide a roadmap for how ATI will integrate data and evidence to inform project decision making and adaptations that lead to better development results.