Why projects are failing in Africa (part 1)

The August 2012 edition of Project Management Journal has a research paper in it about why international development projects are failing in Africa. The lessons could be useful to other projects in different environments too. Lavagnon A. Ika, a researcher from the University of Ottawa in Canada, picks out 4 reasons why projects fall into development traps and ultimately run the risk of failure. These are:

• One-size-fits-all
• Accountability for results
• Lack of project management capacity
• Cultural issues

Let’s look at each of those in turn.

One-size-fits-all

The researcher concludes that international development projects suffer from the same problem as many projects elsewhere – the project management approaches used are prescriptive and don’t allow for flexibility. Standard procedures that must be followed regardless of the size and objectives of the project, such as those in use at the World Bank, mean that project managers lack the ability to work flexibly and tailor methods to suit the local environment.

Partly this is due to the fact that the charity model that funds many international development projects means that accountability and visibility are key. Structured approaches provide this level of accountability through gate reviews, rigorous planning using tools like Seavus Project Viewer and financial management. This is great, but it can stifle the social and cultural elements of getting a project done.

Accountability for results

“There is too much emphasis within aid agencies on strong procedures and guidelines, which leads to a culture of ‘accountability for results’ and of little attention to ‘managing for results’,” writes the researcher.

Again, this comes down to the procedures in place to manage projects. The need to show how funds from donors have been spent overrides the need to actually make progress towards achieving the project’s deliverables. The researcher argues that there is too much weight put on incentives for project managers to report externally and to spend time on monitoring and evaluation. There is not the same level of incentive for a job well done, and project managers lack the tools they need for using project performance data to make decisions that will affect progress.

Lack of project management capacity

The researcher concludes that not much has changed in the last 40 years and that there is a lack of project management capacity in international development projects. I believe this is changing with certifications like PMD Pro but change is slow. Getting good people trained in project management is one thing, but the researcher also points out that some African countries lack the infrastructure to support projects, even if they did have skilled and experienced project personnel. Working in some areas of Africa means facing challenges like political instability, lack of infrastructure, difficult physical environments, scarce resources and low levels of education and skills. All of these means that aid agencies struggle to deliver projects effectively – and they are just as pressed, if not more so, than other organisations to cut costs and reduce administrative overheads.

Cultural issues

The top-down approach that many donor-funded projects takes is contrary to a model that supports success. In other words, swooping in with charity funds to deliver a project doesn’t result in strong local commitment to the project. These projects can be seen as being managed by outsiders, so there is little interest in them from the local community and they may not take local culture and sensitivities into account.

It strikes me that none of these project management challenges are limited to Africa, or to international development projects. While they may be more pronounced in these settings (although the research does not suggest this), I am sure that many projects around the world suffer from the same constraints and challenges as identified here.

Have you ever come across these challenges on your projects? What did you do about them? Let us know in the comments.

Next week I’ll be looking at the second part of this research paper which covers strategies for addressing each of these challenges in an international development context.

Want to read the original research? Here are the details:

Ika, Lavagnon A. 2012. ‘Project management for development in Africa: Why projects are failing and what can be done about it.’ Project Management Journal, Vol 43, No 4, pp27-41.