End of Project Evaluation (EPE) of the Tax and Accountability Enhancement Project (TAEP) in Zimbabwe. This evaluation aims to gauge the project's effectiveness, record its successes and obstacles, and derive insights for subsequent interventions in governance and public financial management. The TAEP, a pivotal initiative designed to strengthen public finance management and governance in Zimbabwe, was approved in December 2019 and officially launched in January 2020. It has received substantial financial backing, including a grant of UA 7.60 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and UA 0.801 million in co-financing from the Government of Zimbabwe, making it a crucial element of the nation's wider economic stabilisation and modernisation efforts.
The evaluation of the Tax and Accountability Enhancement Project (TAEP) project will comprehensively assess its outcomes, challenges, and lessons learned by leveraging both existing secondary data and newly collected primary data. Data will be gathered from a diverse group of stakeholders, including Persons of Concern (PoZ), the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), the Office of the Auditor General (OAG), relevant government entities, and the African Development Bank (AfDB). This data collection process will be carefully aligned with the evaluation's purpose and objectives as outlined in the Terms of Reference (ToR). The External Performance Evaluation (EPE) will collect data at the institutional level, mirroring TAEP's implementation arrangements, to ensure all relevant results, both completed and pending, are systematically documented. This institutional focus will enable a robust examination of how each beneficiary institution engaged with and benefited from the project's interventions.
The evaluation will specifically analyse how the Tax and Revenue Management System (TaRMs) system enhanced tax collection and domestic resource mobilisation efforts across PoZ, ZIMRA, and the OAG. Key data on system design, deployment, and operational outcomes will reveal the extent to which the initiative delivered the critical results that these institutions required. Particular attention will be paid to the linkages among the beneficiary institutions. The evaluation will assess whether ZIMRA’s executive-side activities were complemented by demand-side accountability efforts, thereby demonstrating whether TAEP successfully navigated Zimbabwe’s full public finance management cycle—from budgeting and execution monitoring through to audit.