Twende Mbele Welcomes Four New Member Countries

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

09/02/2026

TWENDE MBELE WELCOMES FOUR NEW MEMBER COUNTRIES, MARKING A MAJOR EXPANSION FOR AFRICAN PEER LEARNING IN MONITORING & EVALUATION

The Twende Mbele Management Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr. Stephen Ampem-Darko (Accra, Ghana) is pleased to announce the formal admission of four new member countries into the Twende Mbele partnership. Following extensive and positive scoping visits to the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, the Republic of Malawi, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the United Republic of Tanzania have been welcomed into this pan-African initiative.

Twende Mbele, which translates to “Let’s Go Forward” in Kiswahili, is a pioneering African-led partnership that facilitates direct knowledge exchange among government officials. It focuses on institutionalising robust M&E systems to foster evidence-based policymaking, planning, budgeting, and service delivery management.

This expansion of country membership fulfils a key evaluation recommendation adopted and endorsed by Twende Mbele’s existing member countries—Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, South Africa, and Uganda—and its technical partners. It underscores a shared conviction that structured peer-to-peer learning on public sector monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is a critical driver for improving governance, development management and service delivery across the continent.

The Chairperson, Mr Stephen Ampem-Darko articulated that, ‘the decision to grow our partnership is a direct response to the clear demand and demonstrated commitment we witnessed in Malawi, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire.” He further stated that, ‘their inclusion is not merely about increasing our numbers. It is a strategic step towards deepening the quality and impact of our collective work. We are excited by the unique experiences, insights, and energy that these nations will bring to our shared learning community.’

The admission of these four nations significantly broadens the partnership’s geographic and experiential reach. It represents a major stride towards creating a stronger, more unified African voice and practice in M&E. This growth is expected to:

1. Deepen Outcomes: Enhance the quality and practical relevance of Twende Mbele’s work through more diverse intra-African exchange.

2. Strengthen Continental Capacity: Accelerate M&E capacity development by sharing proven frameworks, tools, and experiences across a wider network of African governments.

3. Forge Global Connections: Establish more effective and progressive linkages between African M&E practices and the global evaluation community, ensuring African perspectives shape international discourse.

The wider M&E network, including development partners, civil society, and academia, is invited to join Twende Mbele in celebrating this milestone. The expansion strengthens the foundation for a continent where evidence is routinely used to improve the lives of citizens.

We extend a warm and official welcome to our new partners from Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania. Together, we move forward.

About Twende Mbele:

Twende Mbele is a peer-to-peer learning partnership of African governments committed to advancing the institutionalisation of Monitoring and Evaluation systems to improve performance, governance, and service delivery. It is a model of south-south cooperation owned and driven by its member countries.

For further information, please contact:
Twende Mbele Secretariat
Email: info@twendembele.org
Website: www.twendembele.org