A specialist in project management, Samba Fall has over 20 years of solid experience in monitoring the implementation and coordination of audits of public projects financed by development aid. He currently works at the Ministry of Finance and Budget in Senegal.
In March 2026, he will defend his Executive Doctorate of Business Administration (EDBA) thesis on “The impact of governance on the performance of investment projects financed by official development assistance in Senegal” under the supervision of Professor Pierre-Jean Benghozi, Professor Emeritus at the École Polytechnique de Paris and the National Center for Scientific Research in France.
Thesis Direction
Prof Tidjani Bassirou, Prof Benghozi Pierre-Jean
Thesis Title
The impact of governance on the performance of investment projects financed by official development assistance in Senegal.
Abstract
Under the policy of restoring market mechanisms, which Cameroon has implemented since the late 1990s, Official development assistance (ODA) plays a significant role in financing the public policies of recipient countries. On average, Senegal has mobilized 1,603.5 billion CFA francs (approximately 2.5 billion euros) in ODA over the past five years to partially finance investment projects. These projects contribute to achieving macroeconomic objectives and developing socioeconomic infrastructure.
This thesis examines the impact of the governance system of ODA-funded projects on their performance. As of December 31, 2024, the 214 active projects had an average disbursement rate of 56% and faced constraints that caused considerable delays in their implementation. The literature review reveals that these constraints relate to the use of cooperation instruments, management tools and procedures, and legal, institutional, organizational, and technical activity coordination frameworks. These findings raise the issue of the existence of international standards for the governance of public projects.
The objectives of this study are to examine the existence of an operational and suitable legal and management framework (institutional, organizational, and coordination) for public projects, to determine the impact of partner conditions (entry into force, initial disbursement, etc.) and management procedures (procurement, financial management, etc.) on project performance, and to mitigate the negative impacts of stakeholder commitments.
The theoretical framework employed is based first on the epistemological paradigm of interpretation, due to its coherence with our research question and its contribution to understanding the motivations and actions of stakeholders; second, on inductive reasoning for the generalization of empirical results; and finally, on a multiple case study encompassing fifteen (15) projects. Data was collected in two phases: a literature review and the administration of an interview guide and a questionnaire to twenty (20) and one hundred and two (102) individuals from various project stakeholders, respectively. SPHINX software facilitated the processing of qualitative and quantitative data, providing a platform for parameterization, coding, and flat sorting, as well as content analysis and interpretation.
The main findings of the study show that projects are not being executed satisfactorily, as contractual deadlines are not being met according to 86% of respondents, and technical activities are only being completed in 43% of cases. These results confirm the low level of project disbursements mentioned above and are largely explained by the inadequacy of the legal framework, the shortcomings of the management framework (institutional, operational, and coordination mechanisms), the diversity and stringency of donor conditionalities, the complexity and cumbersome nature of management and public procurement procedures, and the absence and/or delays in fulfilling commitments from stakeholders (government, businesses, donors, etc.). Thus, the project governance system significantly influences project performance because the delays caused by these factors result in postponements and extensions of key dates and negatively impact project implementation.
The theoretical implications of this thesis lie in highlighting issues that are rarely, if ever, addressed in the literature on official development assistance, particularly the impacts of conditionalities, management procedures, and the problem of “no-objection opinions.”
As for the practical implications for decision-makers and practitioners, these include recommendations for establishing a new harmonized legal framework, creating a single management unit for each ministry, improving human resource management practices, simplifying and streamlining conditionalities and management procedures, reforming partner “no-objection notices,” and redefining stakeholder commitments, particularly financial ones.