Development Impact Group

By Arianna Legovini, Dahlia Khalifa, Marie-Chantal Uwanyiligira, Pablo Fajnzylber | Sep 4, 2025
 

Highlights

• A New Model for Development: Africa LEADS is shifting how development happens—embedding science, digital tools, and adaptive learning into World Bank Group investments. 

• Hands-On Impact: Teams redesigned $5B in investments using evidence, unlocking $42M in added value across sectors like agriculture and water security, education and skills, energy, and revenue mobilization.

• Public-Private Power: From solar mini grids to AI tutors, LEADS showcased how governments and innovators are co-creating faster, more inclusive delivery models across West and Central Africa.

A Movement for Adaptive Development

In May, over 200 thinkers, builders, and change-makers from government, the private sector, the World Bank Group, and partners met in Lomé, Togo, to launch Africa LEADS in Western and Central Africa. They brought with them $5.3 billion in IDA, and IBRD, and IFC financing across 20 investments in 11 countries—and rolled up their sleeves to use scientific evidence, behavioral insights, and adaptive delivery methods to amplify potential in their operations.

LEADS—Learn. Adapt. Scale.—is a bold push to make development scientific, dynamic, and alive. Because just being “evidence-based” isn’t enough anymore. We need projects that both replicate proven successes and get better as they go. This is the new frontier.

Picture this: civil servants, private operators, startup founders, World Bank Group staff and partners, researchers, and behavioral and AI experts, all huddled over project blueprints. Each day, teams worked hands-on to redesign real investments by embedding evidence on what works and laying the ground for testing delivery innovations in real time. This is the Knowledge Bank in action.
 

A Signal from the Top: The World Bank Group is Doing Things Differently

The 2025 AFW LEADS launch workshop opened with a clear signal: this approach has top-level backing.

His Excellency Mr. Kodjo Adedze, President of Togo’s National Assembly, welcomed participants alongside Indermit Gill (World Bank Senior Vice President and Chief Economist), Ousmane Diagana (World Bank Regional Vice President for Western and Central Africa), and Ethiopis Tafara (IFC’s Regional Vice President for Africa).

Their presence underscored a shared commitment across the One World Bank Group: science-based design, field experimentation, and real-time learning are no longer just encouraged—they’re expected. As we double down on key challenges, channeling our resources selectively towards those programs and interventions that deliver the most bang for each buck is essential.
 

Driving Impact through Evidence and Real-Time Learning

Today, most development programs aim to be “evidence-based”—that’s a good start, because the returns from simply applying existing evidence to project designs are large. During the one-week workshop in Lomé, teams identified $42 million in potential additional project value from evidence-backed design changes alone. This represents at least a 42:1 return on workshop costs. But LEADS goes beyond project design. By embedding data, digital tools, AI, and RCTs (randomized control trials) during implementation, projects can get better as they go.

Each of the 20 projects from 11 countries grouped under four AFW LEADS themes—Agriculture and Water Security, Adolescent Girls’ Education and Skills, Domestic Revenue Mobilization, and Energy—left Lomé with concrete plans to test and compare delivery options while implementing—so they can double impact by adopting what works best along the way.

By week’s end, each team had developed:

• A project design grounded in evidence

• A Trial-and-Adopt plan to test delivery alternatives

• A longer-term roadmap for adaptive learning

Curious to know what the project teams came up with? See some examples here!

A Tech Talent Showcase

LEADS was also a showcase of local innovation and digital tools. From Togo’s Data Lab to Mali's Kabakoo Academies, the region’s ingenuity shone.

Cina Lawson, Togo’s Minister of Digital Economy, wowed the room by explaining how her team built a national social protection system—in just 10 days during COVID. Isaac Mbiti, economics professor at the University of Virginia, made a compelling case for using experiments to demonstrate the importance of performance incentives in public service delivery.

The Tools & Knowledge Bazaar featured fresh, easy-to-use, and low-cost innovations selected for their relevance to a range of participating projects. These included ImpactAI, an upcoming new tool to curate and synthesize impact evaluation research, Data360, the Bank’s new one-stop-shop for data, and Digital Green's operations-ready farmer tools.
 

A New Kind of Public-Private Partnership

LEADS brought in private sector partners as co-creators of smarter development solutions.

Energy companies are wiring communities with power and enabling internet connectivity. Tech firms are transforming markets: agritech and platforms link farmers to finance and buyers, AI tutors bridge learning gaps, and large language models help health workers diagnose and treat patients better.

That’s a game-changer.

By partnering with researchers and digital entrepreneurs, World Bank Group projects are now co-creating smarter, faster, and more inclusive delivery models. It’s a win-win for users and markets.
 

This Is Just the Beginning

LEADS is already active in Eastern and Southern Africa. Western and Central Africa are now fully on board. Later in May, LEADS traveled to Europe, working with projects in jobs, innovation, and infrastructure. East and South Asia and MENA are next.

Teams returned home from Lomé with blueprints for action. Research partners will be available to support them throughout implementation. And as data rolls in, the best ideas will flourish and scale. Because that’s what science-based adaptive delivery is all about: turning every development project into a live lab for better lives.