The Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) has been recently certified by the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) as an international market development crusader.

This is due to its adoption of the international standard procedure as recognized by the  DCED in its socio-economic development programs to address various economic challenges in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.

DCED — a ‘gold standard’ of market development evaluations, which is the equivalent of the International Standard Organization (ISO) standards for quality management — is a forum for learning about the most effective ways to create economic opportunities for the poor, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – based on practical experience in Private Sector Development (PSD).

PIND’s certification was announced in 2019 after the DCED audited its development programs under Version 8 of the DCED Results Measurement Standard and the review identified strengths and gaps related to the compliance of the system with the DCED Results Measurement Standard.

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The DCED Standard for Results Measurement is popularly used for enhancing the quality of monitoring and ultimately of evaluation, which was an important check on the quality of implementation of PIND’s programs.

The review covered A which were divided into two with a focus on Control Points that must be met and Control Points that are recommended based on the DCED Standards.

At the end of the ratings, PIND scored 507 (85%) out of 600 Control Points that must be met and 219 (81%) out of the possible 270 recommended control points, qualifying to be recognized as a market development specialist.

With the certification, PIND is certified a credible organization that engages in results measurement and quality work that meets the international donor standards (DCED standard); and one that delivers cost-effective results as PIND’s market development programs are streamlined and evidence-based to DCED Standard.

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The certification also confirms PIND as an organization that uses industry certified measured results in management decision making such as what it plans to do, what it hopes to achieve and the assumptions underpinning the program logic. The DCED sees PIND as a transparent organization that is subject to an external, objective assessment of its monitoring and results measurement system.

The audit report also revealed that PIND’s market development programs have been able to work in complex environments by encouraging flexibility and continual validation and revision of its program’s theory of change. PIND’s market development programs have also produced system- or market-wide impacts – as evidenced by the established industry certification. The programs have reached over 100,000 farmers and SMEs in the Niger Delta increased the incomes of over 50,000 of them and facilitated thousands of jobs in the supported sectors.

PIND is a Nigerian non-profit organization established in 2010 with initial funding from Chevron Corporation, an oil-producing company, as a regional strategy for addressing deep-rooted socio-economic problems in the Niger Delta.

The foundation supports a portfolio of the socio-economic development program in the Niger Delta with an overarching goal of increasing income and employment in the region. The economic development program identifies specific forces driving growth in market systems and addresses underlying constraints hindering the achievement of economic growth, particularly for poor people, in the region.

Download the report below