The Role of Donor Requirements in Shaping Evaluation Demand in West Africa

The increasing institutionalization of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) across Africa has heightened the importance of understanding factors driving evaluation demand. This study examines how donor requirements shape evaluation demand in West Africa and their implications for national ownership, evaluation capacity, and evidence-informed policymaking. A qualitative systematic literature review was conducted, guided by Political Economy Theory and Evaluation Demand Theory, using approximately 30 purposively selected peer-reviewed articles, policy documents, and evaluation reports. Thematic synthesis was used to identify recurring themes related to donor influence, accountability frameworks, and evaluation demand. Findings show that donor requirements are a major driver of evaluation demand in donor-funded programs across West Africa. Accountability mechanisms, including predefined indicators, reporting obligations, and Results-Based Management frameworks, significantly influence evaluation priorities and practices. However, heavy reliance on donor-driven systems can constrain national ownership and limit the development of sustainable, locally grounded evaluation capacity. The study concludes that sustainable National Evaluation Systems require a balanced approach that aligns donor accountability with domestic learning needs, national development priorities, and locally owned evaluation processes. It contributes to evaluation literature by highlighting how donor requirements shape evaluation demand and the relationship between external accountability and national ownership in West African evaluation systems.