Central to interventions in capacity building by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) is the building and strengthening of the capacity of the core public sector in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). SSA countries need effective public sector capacity to deliver sustainable growth and reduce poverty. Development in SSA requires a functional, an effective and a growth-propelling public sector – a developmental public sector. A growth-oriented or developmental public sector is largely a function of human and institutional capacity, which is still grossly inadequate in most countries. Intervention in public sector capacity needs in SSA therefore represents a significant investment in the region’s efforts to achieve sustainable long-term growth and development in the context of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).

To take capacity building in the sector a step further, ACBF in December 2004 approved a grant of US$12.0million to strengthen public sector management training across the SSA region and during the third and fourth quarters of 2005 signed grant agreements and put in place logistical arrangements with the host institutions for the implementation of a Public Sector Management Training Program (PSMTP). The host institutions are:

The curriculum of the training program consists of the following four modules:

The PSMTP represents an important component of ACBF’s growing portfolio of training programs in addition to other interventions that are designed to support efforts towards strengthening public sector effectiveness for the development of capable states in SSA. The training portfolio currently consists of degree and diploma as well as customized and highly specialized training programs.

The emergence of effective states in Africa remains a daunting capacity-building and governance challenge. There are various dimensions to the concept of an effective or capable state. While prospectives may place different level of emphasis on specific qualities, broadly, a characterization of an effective state is one that can design and implement development policies and programs that are capable of responding at the appropriate time to development challenges; provide regulatory frameworks that offer transparent incentives and are responsive to efficient economic management; deliver effective and efficient public services; provide a climate for productive investment, entrepreneurship development, and economic growth; design, implement, monitor and review policy, program and institutional reforms; monitor results, learn development management lessons and adapt; build consensus among stakeholders; protect human and women’s rights; ensure gender equality and equity in the development management process, including access to resources; and provide security for lives and property. An effective state is therefore the foundation for the transformation of any country, irrespective of the roles that may be ascribed to other institutional stakeholders in the development process.

Fundamental to the performance of the state is its public sector. African countries are still in a dire need to improve the performance of their public sectors in order to effectively guide the development process towards the achievement of the MDGs. Lessons of experience from public service reforms have shown that it is important to have well-remunerated and well-trained civil servants in well-structured tasks with well-defined responsibilities, as well as functional systems, processes, procedures, rules and practices. In addition to these basic requirements, an effective and development-supporting public sector must be performance-and results-oriented. It is common knowledge that well-performing public sector organizations have a work culture that inculcates a sense of mission and stresses commitment to results or outcomes. Such organizations, very importantly, support equitable decision-making processes that are inclusive, pro-poor, sensitive to stakeholders’ needs and are transparent and accountable.

The public sector in Africa needs, among others, such an organizational culture, good management practices and effective communications networks. The emerging evidence is compelling but equally inspiring that these have sustainable effects if appropriately built into reforms which too often weigh almost exclusively on the strengthening of regulations, procedures as well as pay incentives. Also required are reforms to enhance performance measurement and accountability for outcomes; shared professional norms and commitment to results; teamwork; a sense of collective responsibility; and performance-based reward and recognition systems; a transparent and accountable development policy design and management process and one that can allocate resources without being prone to malfeasance; and decentralization of public services to reduce transaction costs and service delivery time, while ensuring responsiveness to the needs and enhanced participation of beneficiaries.

With a few exceptions, most public sectors in Africa are still ineffective in spite of past reform efforts. They lack capacity, which stands out as the single most constraining factor in their performance. ACBF is fully aware that in addition to weak capacity, which is obvious, the politics of administration also weakens effective utilization of capacity by African states and this is a non-trivial factor in the ineffectiveness of policy implementation and poor public service delivery. The implication therefore is that performance-related constraints in the public sector are sometimes deeply rooted in economic, social and political deficiencies and efforts to improve performance must also focus on such factors. What this suggests is that the building of public sector capacity must go beyond the technical requirements for performance. There are other important dimensions that need consideration in the intervention process. These include political commitment to change, effective leadership, performance-orientation and beneficiary participation, as well as attention to incentives and power issues in and around public sector organizations. There are a number of other factors.

Dr. Jacques Katuala, Program Team Leader, Central and Horn of Africa (Operations Zone II) – Coordinator of the PSMTP at ACBF

Whatever the perspective to the dimensions of the capacity needs for a capable state to perform the key functions in support of poverty reduction, equitable development and participatory governance, the state’s public sector needs enhanced capacity to:

An effective poverty reduction strategy and a productive partnership for national development can be built only on the platform of a strong public sector capacity. Building this capacity in Africa’s public sector is a formidable challenge requiring long-term commitment using programs and instruments that deliver effective and sustainable short, medium and long-term results. It is to this challenge that the PSMTP is addressed and there are encouraging prospects that it will contribute in no small measure to ongoing efforts to strengthen the public sector so that it can provide sensible guideposts to long-term growth and development in SSA.