Earned Value Approach — The Monitoring Tool Your Infrastructure Project Is Begging For

You’ve got a beautiful plan for a new road, bridge, dam, or digital backbone. The launch ceremony had speeches, ribbon cutting, and maybe even dancers. Everything looked promising.

Then delays. Costs creep up. Progress stalls. The community starts asking uncomfortable questions. So does the auditor. Across Africa and many emerging regions, infrastructure projects commonly go off track — often ending up over budget, behind schedule and unfinished.

Why this matters

The fallout of poorly monitored projects is real: wasted public funds, frustrated citizens, and weakened trust in institutions. That’s why the Earned Value Approach (EVA) matters — it’s a clear, early-warning monitoring method that tells you where you are versus where you should be.

What is EVA?

EVA tracks three simple metrics:

• Planned Value (PV) — the budgeted value of work scheduled to be done by a given time.
• Earned Value (EV) — the value of work actually completed measured against the budget.
• Actual Cost (AC) — the money spent so far on the work performed.

Two powerful indicators

• Schedule Performance Index (SPI = EV ÷ PV) — SPI > 1 = ahead of schedule; SPI < 1 = behind schedule.
• Cost Performance Index (CPI = EV ÷ AC) — CPI > 1 = under budget; CPI < 1 = overspent.

A quick example

You manage a $10M bridge due in 12 months. At month 6:

• PV = $5M
• EV = $4M
• AC = $6M

SPI = 4 ÷ 5 = 0.8 → behind schedule. CPI = 4 ÷ 6 = 0.67 → over budget. EVA surfaces this quickly so you can act before issues compound.

Who benefits from EVA?

• Government agencies & donors: track investment efficiency and compare contractors using objective metrics.
• Project managers & M&E teams: spot issues early, improve procurement planning, and report with confidence.
• Civil society & watchdogs: use evidence to hold implementers accountable and advocate for better delivery.

Common pushbacks (and smart responses)

“Our data is messy.”

Invest in standardised formats and simple ETL tools; EVA only works with consistent inputs — but you can fix that incrementally.

“EVA sounds complicated.”

One targeted training session demystifies the method. Teams can start with a single pilot project.

“Implementers will resist.”

Frame EVA as a support tool, not punishment — it helps contractors succeed rather than just be judged.

When tech joins the party

EVA becomes far more powerful when combined with modern tools: drone or satellite imagery to validate progress, AI to flag anomalies, and dashboards to make data accessible to non-technical stakeholders. At Vantage Africa, we embed EVA into broader M&E systems for smarter, more transparent governance.

Next steps you can take

• Download our EVA Starter Toolkit — templates, calculation examples and tracking sheets (request via info@vantageafrica.org).
• Book an EVA training workshop — virtual or in-person, tailored to your context.
• Request EVA integration support — we’ll embed EVA into your existing M&E systems with minimal disruption.