ACBF AWARDS USD 14.1 MILLION FOR SIX CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVES IN AFRICA

Members of the diplomatic corps in Zimbabwe, invited delegations of projects and programs and invited guests at the grant signing ceremony, Meikles Hotel, Harare, Zimbabwe, March 29, 2007

 

On March 29, 2007, the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) held a historic grant signing ceremony awarding six grants totaling USD 14.1 million. The six grants are reflective of the Foundation’s 5 core competence areas, which include Economic Policy Analysis and Management, Public Administration and Management, Financial Management and Accountability, National Statistics, and Professionalization of the Voices of the Private Sector and Civil Society.

The grants will support the Statistical Capacity Building Project for Central Africa Republic (PRCS-RCA) in Central Africa Republic; the Strengthening the Zanzibar Statistical System project in Zanzibar; the Uganda Country Capacity Building Program for Planning, Expenditure Management and Accountability program in Uganda; the Women’s University in Africa’s Capacity Building Project, Zimbabwe; the Economic Policy Management Program (EPM, Phase III) at Makerere University, Uganda; and the Macroeconomic and Financial Management of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI, Phase III).

High level government officials from the Governments of the Central African Republic, Republic of Uganda, Government of Zanzibar; representatives of the Women’s Africa University, Makerere University in Uganda, and MEFMI, including the diplomatic corps in Zimbabwe, attended the signing ceremony. Speaking at the opening of the ceremony, Dr. Soumana Sako, ACBF Executive Secretary, highlighted the importance of sustaining capacity building efforts across Africa, for the promotion of sound and sustainable economic growth and development on the Continent. Expressing their thanks to ACBF, heads of delegations for the projects and programs acknowledged the Foundation’s unparalleled role and continued support in meeting the capacity needs of African institutions, and urged other donors to follow the Foundation’s lead in their quest to assist African countries address their various developmental challenges.

Statistical capacity building project for Central Africa Republic (PRCS-RCA):
The US$1.4 million grant seeks to support the country’s post-conflict efforts in rebuilding the institutional and human capacity of the statistical institutions. For the government to set realistic objectives, monitor and evaluate development progress, and make evidence-based decisions, the production of reliable, timely and accurate socio-economic data is crucial.

The main goal of the project is to contribute to the long-term development of the national statistical system in Central Africa Republic for economic recovery and growth, and poverty reduction. The project will improve the production of timely and reliable data particularly regarding the national accounts, prices, and the agricultural sector. In addition, it will also help achieve improved organization of the statistical systems; strengthen the capacity of the country to develop and disseminate data for national and international progress reports on development goals; and, enhance decision-making capacity and improve tracking of progress towards development goals by government and other stakeholders.

Dr. Soumana Sako (left), Executive Secretary of ACBF, exchanging instruments of the grant agreement with the Honorable Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning, Mr. Sylvain Maliko (right), Government of the Central African Republic.

 

Strengthening the Zanzibar Statistical System (ZANSTAT), Zanzibar
The US$ 1.2 million grant will go towards the transforming of the National Statistics System (NSS) of Zanzibar to enable it to provide quality and timely data for development planning and management. The specific objectives of the project include the building of institutional capacity of the Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS); interfacing the various data producers and users to ensure standardization and quality of data; building the human capacity of the NSS; and networking of the OCGS and the National Bureau of Statistics.

The project aims to transform the NSS into a well-coordinated and productive institution with the capacity of improving the use of evidence-based planning within Zanzibar as well as in the overall national economic programming framework. The overall goal is to use statistics as a tool for planning; progress monitoring using relevant socio-economic indicators; improving the data quality and support to policy formulation, program implementation and evaluation; and sustaining the effectiveness of the OCGS and the NSS.

Dr. Soumana Sako (right), Executive Secretary of ACBF, exchanging instruments of the grant agreement with the Honorable Minister of State in the President’s Office Responsible for Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr. Mwinyihajo Makame (left), Government of Zanzibar.

 

Uganda Country Capacity Building Program for Planning, Expenditure Management and Accountability, Uganda
The grant of US$ 4.5 million was awarded to the Uganda country program the fourth of its kind in ACBF’s portfolio and in line with the focus of the Foundation’s Strategic Medium Term Plan 2007-2001 (SMTPII). The program’s overall goal is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency in the use of public resources to attain the objectives of national development priorities and improve economic governance. Specifically, the program aims to strengthen human and institutional capacity with particular focus on the skills required for planning, public expenditure management and accountability.

This intervention is expected to improve the planning systems linking long-term and rural development transformation to the development planning framework; the coherence of on-going reforms with long-term development vision; the efficiency and effectiveness in the office of Inspectorate General of Government (IGG); the compliance with accounting standards by local government accounting units; the monitoring and evaluation of development policies and programs; and the understanding of government policies and programs by all stakeholders through national dialogue.

Dr. Soumana Sako (right), Executive Secretary of ACBF, exchanging instruments of the grant agreement with the Honorable Minister of State, Prof. Omwony Ojwok (left), Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Government of the Republic of Uganda.

 

Women’s University in Africa’s (WUA) Capacity Building Project
The US$ 2.5 million grant aims to improve the performance of WUA to become a center of world-class university with academic programs enabling women of all age in general and adult women in particular to exploit their full potential in Africa’s development process. Created in 2000 in Harare, Zimbabwe, WUA is a private university promoting gender equity and equal opportunity in higher education.

The project seeks to build and strengthen the institutional and human capacity of WUA with a view of improving the teaching and learning environment of African women.. More specifically, the project’s underlying principle is to capacitate women so that they could fulfill leadership, social, political and economic roles and also make informed decisions about themselves in relation to issues that affect their political, social and human rights.

Dr. Soumana Sako (left), Executive Secretary of ACBF, exchanging instruments of the grant agreement with Dr. Hope Sadza (right), Vice Chancellor, Women’s University in Africa, Zimbabwe.

 

Economic Policy Management (EPM), Phase III, Makerere University, Uganda
The grant of US$ 2.5 million will go towards the continued support of the provision of EPM training at the University of Makerere, Uganda, one of the four host universities of the EPM program in Africa, which include the University of Ghana at Legon (Ghana), the University of Cocody (Côte d’Ivoire), and the University of Yaounde II (Cameroon). The overriding goal of the program is to enhance economic policy analysis and management capacity for increased efficiency of the public sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Besides consolidating the achievements of the two previous phases, EPM Phase III will lead to the creation of a mass of African policy analysts and implementers at the regional and continental levels improve the program delivery, sustainability and efficiency, thereby enhancing public sector reforms in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Soumana Sako (right), Executive Secretary of ACBF, exchanging instruments of the grant agreement with Prof. David Bakibinga (left), Deputy Vice Chancellor, Makerere University, Uganda.

 

Macroeconomic and Financial Management of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI), Phase III:
The US$ 2.0 million grant to MEFMI marks the sustained commitment of ACBF in supporting the work of one of the Foundation’s flagship project. MEFMI has emerged as the premier training institution providing hands-on training in key macroeconomic and financial management functions as well as technical advisory services in debt management and central bank operations in Eastern and Southern Africa.

In Phase III, MEFMI seeks to improve the macroeconomic and financial management of its 13 member states in order to create an environment for productive investment and economic growth conducive to the formulation and implementation of poverty reduction initiatives. Phase III will specifically focus on continuing to develop skills through training in the core areas of macroeconomic, financial sector and debt management in the 13 member countries; continue to create awareness among senior officials of member states of global trends and international best practices in macroeconomic and financial management; and strengthen MEFMI’s internal capacity in the areas of governance, program management and program delivery systems.

Dr. Soumana Sako (right), Executive Secretary of ACBF, exchanging instruments of the grant agreement with Dr. Ellias Ngalande (left), Executive Director, MEFMI.