The Programme de Troisième Cycle Inter-universitaire (PTCI) or New Intervarsity Postgraduate Program was a program of the Conference of Educational, Economic and Management Research Institutions in Africa (CIEREA). In 1994 the ACBF Executive Board approved a grant of US$5million to PTCI. The program focused on Masters level training, in order to meet shortages of analytically competent economists in public and private administration in Francophone West Africa. The Nouveau Programme de Troisième Cycle Inter-universitaire (NPTCI) – Phase II was approved by the Executive Board of ACBF in December 2006.
The goal of PTCI was to contribute to improving the quality of the higher education teaching in Economics and the performance in economic management in Sub-Sahara Africa Francophone countries. The specific objectives were: (i) To strengthen the coordination capacity of PTCI Secretariat in offering higher training in economics; (ii) To improve the capacity of Francophone Sub-Sahara African higher education and research centers for an effective training service delivery; and (iii) To increase expertise in economic analysis and management in the public and private sectors in Francophone Sub-Sahara African countries.
The immediate objectives of the NPTCI were: (a) to train economists of international standards from Francophone African countries members such as Burkina Faso; (b) to develop the human and institutional capacity of 18 departments of economics of universities in Francophone Africa such as the Universities of Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso.
