Overview

The DELTAS Africa Initiative, launched in 2015, is a long-term investment in strengthening Africa’s scientific research capacity. Guided by a robust Theory of Change, the first phase (2015-2020) focused on generating high-quality scientific research that addresses pressing health challenges across the continent, while prioritising capacity development at both individual and institutional levels.

Building on the lessons and successes of the initial phase, the second phase (DELTAS Africa II) kicked off in 2023 with 14 consortia led from 9 African countries, namely Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Zimbabwe, with extensive partnerships across Africa and globally. The initiative aims to improve Africa’s research ecosystem through:

• Production of quality science and a critical mass of world class science leaders;
• Addressing and linking country level challenges via Science Innovation, Translation and Entrepreneurship;
• Strengthening science ecosystems and infrastructure that is conducive to deliver targeted R&D outcomes for Africa.

DELTAS Africa II focuses more on balancing equity and inclusion across the continent by encouraging collaboration amongst networks of researchers that are relatively well-resourced and those who are poorly resourced; improved gender equity and diversity; and multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research including social science and humanities.

DELTAS Africa Guiding Principles

1. Long-term horizon: DELTAS Africa acknowledges and is committed to the realities that raising scientific productivity and quality and building a critical mass in leadership is inherently long term.
2. Hub-and-spoke model: All DELTAS Africa Initiatives are led by Initiative Directors based in an African institution, who construct multi-country research and training consortia, using a hub-and-spoke model of Initiative design and delivery which has enabled an increased R&D footprint on the African continent and strengthened south-to-south and intra-African collaborations. The DELTAS Africa model is best imagined as a hub and spoke arrangement in which a lead institution(hub) enters collaboration with other institutions in other countries (spokes) which may be partners or collaborators to jointly apply for large research grants and implement long-term scientific research Initiatives.
3. Research alignment to country and regional needs: DELTAS Africa Initiatives are aligned to country and regional needs, which have been identified through wide stakeholder and community engagement.
4. Diversity and inclusion in consortia leadership and recruitment of trainees: Recruitment of staff and students is tracked to assess gender parity and equity.
5. Balancing excellence with equity in consortia formation and recruitment of trainees: Institutions that are generally recognised as strong or high performing research institutions partner with institutions across countries or regions that are generally perceived as not being strong in research to enable the building of capacity, institutional strengthening and improvement of research environment and productivity that will spread excellence across the continent.
6. Value for Money: DELTAS Africa grantees mainstream value for money principles throughout the Initiative life cycle to ensure effectiveness and efficiency

DELTAS Africa Strategic Areas

1. Enhanced scientific quality: DELTAS Africa produces world-class scientific research that addresses African health and research priorities through scientific discourse and collaborative supervision by promoting collaborations with well-resourced universities, research institutions and think-tanks to strengthen capacity
2. Strengthened research leadership capacities: To strengthen scientific research training and build career pathways for scientific researchers, DELTAS Africa focuses on the tertiary and postgraduate training of science students and professionals along a defined career pathway. Training offered by DELTAS Africa Initiatives is designed to provide individuals at all career stages with the academic support and research facilities they need to develop into world-class researchers.
3. Strengthened research management, culture, and infrastructure: To cultivate professional environments to manage and support scientific research. This recognises that developing and supporting research requires that researchers have access to skilled administrative support and adequate resources to compete at a global level; and that creating supportive, sustainable environments is crucial to developing research capacity.
4. Enhanced scientific citizenship/societal engagement: Foster mentorship, leadership and equitable collaboration in science, and engagement with public and policy stakeholders. DELTAS Africa recognises that for research to achieve real impact, it needs to be communicated to policymakers and the public. Communicating research findings to policymakers will ensure that the findings inform policy. At the same time, public engagement is also key to raise public awareness and interest in science, increase the uptake of new health policies and treatments, and strengthen relationships with local communities.

These four strategic areas are recognised as necessary for strengthening, sustaining, attracting, and retaining talent and excellence in research on the continent.

Objectives of the Assignment 

The primary objective of the Midterm evaluation (MTE) is to assess the progress of DELTAS Africa II programmes in achieving their Theory of Change objectives at the midpoint of implementation, providing actionable recommendations for course correction where necessary. It provides an opportunity to make modifications to ensure the achievement of these objectives within the lifetime of the funding round.

Specific objectives of the MTE:

1. Performance assessment - Evaluate the extent to which the 14 consortia have achieved the objectives outlined in the DELTAS Africa II Theory of Change at the midpoint of programme implementation cycle;
2. Implementation analysis: Identify implementation challenges, delays, and contextual factors affecting programme delivery;
3. Strategic alignment - determine the continued relevance and coherence of interventions with DELTAS Africa’s strategic goals;
4. Identify areas of improvements - highlight areas requiring course correction to enhance programme effectiveness and impact;
5. Generate actionable insights - provide evidence-based, practical recommendations to inform programme adjustments;
6. Organisational learning - facilitate reflection and learning among stakeholders to strengthen implementation and future planning;
7. Learning and forward planning - provide evidence-based recommendations for optimising remaining programme implementation (2025-2027).

Scope of Work 

The following phases of work and deliverables will be expected:

Methodology Proposal

To ensure that all the stakeholders have a shared understanding of the evaluation, the consultant will submit a methodology proposal of 20-25 pages. This proposal will provide an account of the evaluation approach, including an outline of the scope of proposed work, the evaluation design, evaluation questions, sampling frame, data collection tool(s), data analysis approach, and the measures for each evaluation question. The evaluation proposal will also include the final work plan and accompanying time frame with clear responsibilities for each task. This proposal will be discussed and agreed upon by all stakeholders.

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Interim MTE report

The interim evaluation report will be submitted to SFA Foundation for review. The report should be structured as outlined below, and must provide options for strategy, policy, and actionable recommendations.

• Executive summary
• Introduction
• Summary of evaluation methodology
• Key findings (per evaluation objective)
• Conclusion and lessons learned
• Recommendations

Final MTE report

The final MTE report should be structured as follows:

• Executive summary
• Introduction
• Summary of evaluation methodology
• Key findings (per evaluation objective)
• Conclusion and lessons learned
• Recommendations
• Annexes

The report should, as much as possible, clearly answer the objectives outlined in this ToR and it should also include a clear traffic light results presentation for all the 14 DELTAS Africa consortia: 

• Green: fully on course to meet their objectives 
• Amber: can meet the objectives by 2027 but need to accelerate delivery 
• Red: unlikely to meet the programme objectives 

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