Sector Investment Programs in Africa: Issues and Experiences.

Sector Investment Programs (SIPs) are an important initiative for addressing several weaknesses of development aid practice. A SIP is an integrated program comprising a strategy for the sector, a government expenditure program, a management framework providing for common implementation procedures, and funding commitments from donor and recipients. This paper reviews four policy and institutional reform programs in Africa, examining whether they exhibit a genuine SIP--one that is sector-wide in scope, based on a clear sector strategy with local stakeholders fully in charge, and all main donors participating with common implementation arrangements and using local capacity rather than technical assistance.