CERCAP is an outgrowth of CAFPD and PRIESP and was part of ongoing efforts for capacity building and strategic management of development of the Government of Mali. The Government had implemented a number of reforms that enabled it to put the economy back on the path to growth, and to reduce the budget deficit. However, the country’s economic performance had a weak foundation for sustainable growth due to the lack of systematic actions in the areas of capacity building and good governance. In May 2005 the ACBF Executive Board approved a grant of US$ 2 million for CERCAP.
The goal of the CERCAP project (Centre d’etudes et de renforcement des Capacites d’analyse et de Plaidoyer) was to improve the policy formulation and analysis capacity of the public sector on one hand, and professionalize the voices of the private sector and civil society on the other, to enable them to interface efficiently with the public sector in the process of policy, projects and programs formulation, and the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the PRSP. The specific objectives of the project were to: i) establish an autonomous policy research and advocacy center, ii) strengthen government national capacity in economic policy analysis and formulation by consolidating the research, training, and dissemination programs on key economic issues within the framework of the poverty reduction strategy and the institutional development program; iii) strengthen the policy analysis capacity of the private sector and the civil societyto enable them to play the role of engine of economic growth and ensure a more equitable distribution of the fruits of growth respectively, and enhance their advocacy message; and iv) set up formal mechanisms for discussion of research findings and policy debates with the public sector, the private sector and civil society.
