Assessing the non-financial impact of UNCDF infrastructure projects in Tanzania

Since 2008, the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has supported local economic development initiatives (LED) throughout Tanzania via its Local Finance Initiative (LFI-T). Today, LFI-T is exploring ways to assess the non-financial impact (i.e., social, economic, environmental) of its project portfolio. In doing so, LFI-T hopes to demonstrate transformative impact across bundles of infrastructure projects and attract and mobilize more domestic financial resources. The Capstone team was tasked with recommending relevant, sector-specific impact indicators across four areas: LED, women’s economic empowerment, clean energy, and food security. Identifying appropriate indicators required the team to conduct several site visits of infrastructure projects across Tanzania and work with local experts to develop a nuanced view of how to track non-financial impact effectively. The team’s recommendations will lay the groundwork for impact measurement of the LFI-T’s work and provide a foundation upon which to support future work in the infrastructure bundling process.