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new businesses were not established. Insuicient training and provision of small loans mean that relevant investors do not have the expertise or funds to utilise the oppor-
tunities that increased energy provision provides. In the OAG’s opinion, it is diicult to see the economic efect the Ministry of Foreign Afairs has applied as principle for
the development assistance. There is consequently a risk that the goal of reaching the poor will not be attainable for a very long time.
2.3 Weaknesses in planning capacity-building projects cause implementation problems
Capacity building and institutional cooperation are among the most important instru- ments in development assistance to clean energy. The measures include strengthening
expertise and assistance for developing laws and regulations that are necessary for increasing the supply of electricity in developing countries. The Standing Committee
on Foreign Afairs has emphasised the importance of aid for capacity building to support the recipient’s ownership of their own development.
In 2000–2013, 27 capacity-building agreements were signed in the core countries with ministries, power companies and regulatory authorities. The audit shows that
many of these projects have had problems in that the recipient institution has not had the necessary capacity or expertise to implement the agreed activities. In Tanzania,
frequent replacements of personnel and turnover of senior management have had neg- ative consequences for the progress of a project and the organisation’s ownership of it.
In many other countries, the cooperation partner has both lacked personnel and had a high turnover of employees, weakening the potential long-term beneits of the training
for the organisation. In the OAG’s opinion, it could appear as though the planning of the institutional cooperation does not take suicient consideration of the constraints
within which the recipient organisations work.
The audit also shows that several capacity building projects have made slow progress and achieved little. The result framework that deines goals and expected results has
been weak and unsuitable for following the progress of the cooperation. Important basic data and indicators for measuring achieved results and efects are missing for a
number of projects. In many cases, there is also a lack of coherence between the activ- ities that are carried out and the results that are expected. It turns out also that the
recipient organisations do not always give capacity building projects the necessary priority, either because of lack of anchoring in the management or lack of inancial
resources and staing.
The OAG believes that better background knowledge and stronger dialogue during the planning phase of capacity building-related development projects can help ensure that
deined objectives and expected results are more closely aligned with the recipients’ needs, and that the results framework is perceived by both parties as more appropriate.
2.4 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ inadequate planning and decision-making basis weakens its ability to manage aid effectively
The Standing Committee on Foreign Afairs has emphasised that development in poor countries requires an overall and coherent use of instruments, so that aid becomes
more targeted and strategic.
The Ministry of Foreign Afairs’ action plan for the 2009 Clean Energy for Develop- ment Initiative, states that the Ministry, in dialogue with the embassies, shall specify
the recommended guidelines in detailed activity plans that outline goals, projects and expected results, and determine responsibilities and deadlines. The audit shows that
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the embassies have not developed activity plans for aid or analyses of the energy sector in the partner countries.
The embassies’ strategic plans and activity plans for 2000–2013 provide information about ongoing Norwegian-supported assistance measures, implementation risks and
future priorities. The plans indicate what is decided, but they contain little information about the background and the factual basis for the embassies’ decisions and priorities
Furthermore, the audit shows that the Ministry of Foreign Afairs has not updated key plans and documents for development assistance to clean energy. The Ministry was to
consider the sustainability of the Clean Energy for Development Initiative after two years, update the 2009 action plan annually and conduct a mid-term review of the
Action Plan for Environment in Development Cooperation. None of these measures have been implemented to date.
In 2004, aid administration was decentralised, with greater decision-making powers assigned to the embassies. The Ministry of Foreign Afairs justiies the decentralisa-
tion with the belief that the embassies’ local knowledge will help to ensure that the decisions that are made provide the best and most sustainable results in each partner
country.
In the opinion of the OAG, it is diicult to realise the aspirations underlying the Clean Energy for Development Initiative unless embassies increasingly follow up the
plan-related prerequisites on which the initiative is based. The OAG also believes that lawed decision making weakens the Ministry of Foreign Afairs’ ability to manage aid
efectively and to identify the instruments best suited to the particular partner country.
3 The Office of the Auditor General’s recommendations
The OAG recommends that the Ministry of Foreign Afairs • Consider how technological advances in renewable energy could be better utilised to
promote increased and more stable power generation in recipient countries and reach the poor segment of the population more eiciently
• Consider alternative measures that can trigger private investments in clean energy in the countries with the weakest framework conditions
• Ensure that capacity building planning increasingly takes into account the recipient organisation’s organisational challenges, capacity and expertise
• Ensure that the embassies implement and improve the analyses as a basis for priorities and decisions concerning development assistance to clean energy; this will
provide a decision-making basis that can help ensure that the use of instruments is better adapted to the conditions in the partner countries.
4 The Ministry’s follow-up
The Minister emphasises that the report provides concrete and useful recommenda- tions that will be followed up in the Ministry’s further work on development
assistance to clean energy.
