Threshold 2011

This report is a summative evaluation of the Millennium Challenge Corporation's (MCC) Threshold Country Program (TCP) for São Tomé and Príncipe. The program was formally launched through a Memorandum of Understanding in November 2007. The MCC contracted with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) for implementation of the program; field work commenced in January 2008.
This evaluation covers three of the four major components of the TCP:
-Increase tax revenue through higher voluntary compliance with tax laws;
-Increase tax revenue through strengthened tax enforcement; and
-Improve the business environment.

The objectives established for this ex-post evaluation are to:
-document the implementation of activities and inputs proposed in the TCP plan;
-gauge the extent to which intended outcomes and program goals were achieved;
-assess the clarity and appropriateness of program design;
-understand shared roles and responsibilities in the success of the program; and
-present findings that may prove useful to all stakeholders in future TCP programming.

The evaluation's findings were based on Document Review and Key-Informant Interviews. The Evaluation Team conducted direct interviews with respondents in São Tomé, in Lisbon, and via both one-on-one and telephone interviews with TCP managers and consultants in the U.S. Findings in the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Contract's Phase II report, along with MCC's and OTA's comments on them, were also important sources for this final report.