The success dimensions of international development projects: the perceptions of African project coordinators

Abstract Success factors and success dimensions on which projects are evaluated have been discussed widely in literature. An analysis of the perceptions of coordinators of international development projects has not been examined thus far, especially in Africa. This paper characterises the dimensions of success (and their hierarchy) for such projects, as perceived by project coordinators in sub-Saharan Africa using data collected by questionnaires. The research is unique in the sense that it determines the hierarchy of the dimensions of the principal stakeholders (task managers in the international aid agencies, local officials, project team, steering committee, beneficiaries, etc.) exclusively from the perspective of the project coordinator. The methodological approach precludes hasty generalisation when it comes to generalising findings to other stakeholders, but the coordinators cognition unveils its specific structure and demonstrate a good understanding of other stakeholders' agendas. The results confirm the importance of management dimensions (time, cost, quality) but paradoxically the project impacts are rated in last position for the coordinators. In addition, the dimensions related to the political environment of the international development community plays a significant role in the perception of project success as the project coordinator must satisfy more than one “client” in such projects financed by multilateral institutions.