Dr. Soumana Sako (right), ACBF Executive Secretary, exchanging instruments relating to the Memorandum of Understanding with Dr. Frannie Léautier, Vice President of the World Bank Institute.

As the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) brings its first Strategic Medium Term Plan (SMTP I) 2002-2006 to the end of its implementation phase, it added the achievement of another significant milestone to the overall performance of the Plan – the strengthening of partnership programs. ACBF and the World Bank Institute, towards the end of 2006, took collaborative programs in capacity building and knowledge sharing an important step further, thus providing a strong pointer to the institutions’ joint operations in 2007. Specifically, on October 16, 2006, ACBF signed in Harare, Zimbabwe a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the World Bank, through the World Bank Institute (WBI). The signing of the two-year MOU was a culmination of two years of consultations between WBI and ACBF. The MOU provides both institutions with a platform for collaboration in areas of common interest to strengthen learning and knowledge sharing; to pool resources and expertise where appropriate; and to maximize the impact of capacity building activities in sub-Saharan Africa.

The MOU marks a significant milestone in the growth of a very productive partnership between ACBF and WBI. The decision by WBI to reinvigorate the partnership with ACBF in a joint effort to tackle capacity and knowledge management issues in sub-Saharan Africa is an indication of the vital importance the World Bank places on ACBF as a continental African institution with visible potential to contribute meaningfully, through its interventions in capacity building, to the reduction of poverty and promotion of good governance on the continent. Thus, the signing of the MOU is a refection of the growing confidence that WBI like other respectable institutions have in the Foundation’s potential to emerge as the premier capacity building institution in Africa.

The MOU provides a suitable framework for accelerating and deepening the already strong collaborative efforts of the two institutions, especially in the design and delivery of learning and knowledge sharing programs.

	Members of the diplomatic corps based in Harare and invited guests at the ACBF-WBI MOU signing ceremony.

In the context of the World Bank Institute, the overall objective of the partnership is for the Institute to join forces with ACBF in providing capacity development support to African countries, and in the process, strengthen the Foundation’s own capacity to address Africa’s priority development issues. To the World Bank, ACBF stands out clearly as the most logical partner for WBI, as it is the only capacity building institution with a continental mandate in Africa. The complementarity between ACBF and WBI in terms of knowledge and experience of capacity building issues, garnered at the local level for ACBF and from across the world for WBI, has proved to be crucial in bringing about the needed transformation in Africa.

The specific areas of focus of the WBI-ACBF Partnership Framework, include: Implementation of the ACBF-designed Poverty Reduction Programming, Implementation and Evaluation (PRIME) initiative; the WBI Capacity Enhancement Needs Assessment (CENA) approach; and the capacity building programs to strengthen the media; promote gender issues in development; enhance public-private partnerships; accelerate private sector development; mobilize the African Diaspora; expand the Economic Policy Management (EPM) training program; and raise effectiveness of capacity building support to parliaments and parliamentary institutions. The guiding principles of the partnership, as highlighted in the MOU, are based on mutual trust, partnership for development results and shared vision for Africa. WBI and ACBF would synergize and complement each other in the use of existing initiatives and networks, in the use of African expertise and training institutions, and above all WBI and ACBF will allow for African leadership to define the needs and determine priorities in learning and knowledge sharing programs. This is with the view that if the beneficiaries define the priorities in capacity building, there would be, both in commitment and practice, a stronger sense of ownership. Such sense of ownership is required for African governments and decision-makers to demonstrate increased willingness and assume responsibility for Africa’s growth and development.