ACBF SIGNS GRANT AGREEMENT OF US$3.250 MILLION WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GABON

On November 16, 2007, in Libreville, Gabon, the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and the Government of the Republic of Gabon signed a grant agreement of US$3.250 million for the implementation of a three-year capacity building project to enhance capacity for financial accountability and transparency in Gabon – Programme de renforcement des capacités des institutions de contrôle d’état et d’inspection du Gabon (PRICIEGA). The project will strengthen the human capacity of the Gabonese financial audit institutions and create an enabling environment for financial accountability and transparency in Gabon.

Specifically, the grant will provide support to strengthen financial accountability institutions of the Legislature, namely the Financial Commissions of the Parliament (National Assembly and Senate); (ii) the Judiciary, that is the Court of Accounts; (iii) the executive, including the Ministry of State Audit and Inspections—MSAI (“Ministère de Contrôle d’Etat et des Inspections”); the General Directorate of Financial Audit—GDFA (“Direction Générale du Contrôle Financier”) in the Ministry of Economy, Finance, Budget, and Privatization; the National Commission Against Illicit Enrichment—NCIE (“Commission Nationale de Lutte contre l’Enrichissement Illicite”); (iv) the Anti-Corruption Office—ACO (“Direction Générale de Lutte contre la Corruption”); the Anti-corruption Civil Society Organization “On Ne M’Achète Pas’; and (v) the Program Coordinating Unit. At the end of the program, financial accountability in general and systematic reviews of public accounts of both central and decentralized entities would have become common management practices in the public sector in Gabon. Furthermore, the program is expected to improve the transparency of decentralized public institutions, with transparency as a core criterion in the evaluation toolkits of Gabon’s public institutions.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, ACBF Executive Secretary, Dr. Soumana Sako, emphasized that PRICIEGA testifies to the commitment from all program participants to the achievement of Gabon’s national developmental objectives. In particular, Dr. Sako highlighted the inclusiveness of the program that involves civil society, the private sector, the executive and judiciary institutions and the parliament, a clear indication that Gabon is moving towards good governance and transparency.

Mr. Pierre Amoughé Mba, Minister for State Audit, Inspections, Anti-Corruption and Anti-Illicit Enrichment; and Mr. Hugues Alexandre Barro Chambrier, Minister, Deputy to the Senior Minister for Economy, Finance, Budget and Privatization signed on behalf of the Government of Gabon. Both Ministers indicated that the PRICIEGA program has come at the right time and that it is in line with the fourth pillar of the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (GPRSP) of Gabon, which is "Improvement of Governance". In expressing their gratitude on behalf of the Government of Gabon for the continuous support provided by the Foundation to their country since 2000, they gave their firm assurances that the Government engages fully towards the realization of the objectives of the new program.

Thus far, direct ACBF commitments to Gabon have reached US$15,688,440. These commitments consist of the following interventions : Projet de Renforcement des Capacités en Gestion Economique et Financière (PRECAGEF), Centre National d’Appui aux Organisations de Femmes du Gabon (CENAF), Projet de Renforcement des Capacités de la Communauté Economique des Etats de l’Afrique Centrale (RENFOR), Programme de formation au management du secteur public (PMFSP), Projet de Création d’un Pôle Régional de Formation des Régies Financières d’Afrique Centrale à l’Institut d’Economie et des Finances (IEF-POLE), PRICIEGA and Programme National de Renforcement des Capacités (PRONAREC). Gabon also benefits from a number of the Foundation’s regional interventions such as the Inter-University Post-Graduate Training Program (PTCI), the regional macroeconomic training and the debt management programs based in the West and Central African Banks (BCEAO/BEAC), PREGESCO and the AERC Collaborative Ph.D Program, and the capacity building project for civil society organizations for conflicts prevention and management in Central Africa (PREGESCO).