The African Development Bank (AfDB) has urged the first
cohort of graduates from its Public Finance Management Academy for Africa
(PFMA) to serve as standard-bearers for embedding accountability across Africa.
The Bank’s Chief Economist and Vice President, Kevin Urama,
made the advice at a graduation ceremony in Abuja for 51 public officials from
26 countries. He called on African countries to come together to mobilise and
effectively manage the resources needed to increase productivity and create wealth
"in Africa for Africans".
The participants underwent 18 months of rigorous training to
complete the Public Finance Management Executive Training Series on the public
finance management cycle and ecosystem. The training’s six modules comprised:
Domestic resource mobilisation; Macro-fiscal modelling and forecasting; Public
budgeting and expenditure management; Debt Management and Transparency;
Public-Private Partnerships in PFM; and Accountability, Transparency, curbing
Corruption and Illicit Financial Flows.
The graduates now meet the requirements to be certified by
the Bank Group and its partners as public finance management experts in their
countries. The PFMA works to strengthen African countries’ capacity in economic
governance and knowledge management to enhance wealth creation and prudent
management of public finances to improve the quality of life of Africans.
Special Adviser to the Vice President of Nigeria on Economic
Matters, Mr. Tope Fasua, attended the graduation ceremony. He commended the Public Finance Management
Academy for Africa for providing a platform for pooling knowledge from relevant
institutions and making it available to African public financial management
officials.
"I find this very innovative in capacity development and
should be extended to other areas of capacity development needs in our
governments beyond public financial management," said Fasua.
In his remarks, Bank Vice President Urama stressed that poor
public resource management is costing Africa dearly. "Currently, African countries lose
nearly $90 billion a year to illicit financial flows, and much more to illicit
resource flows and theft, poorly implemented fiscal incentives, and excessive
reliance on commodity exports for foreign exchange earnings. This exposes countries to highly volatile
global market prices and highly vulnerable supply chains. This situation is
unacceptable.”
He said poor practices include ineffective mobilization and
use of domestic revenues for unsustainable borrowing, and lack of prudence in
the use of borrowed funds.
Isaac Kurasha of the South African National Treasury, a
graduate of the program, recalled the extensive knowledge imparted by the
training and its impact on his work. "This programme has enriched my
knowledge of the entire public financial management cycle,” Kurasha said.
“Being in public finance, I am only in one component of the cycle. Before this
training, I had a basic understanding of the other components that make up the
public finance management cycle. Today I am more knowledgeable.”
He said the training had taught him to allocate resources
where the return on investment was greatest.
Other graduates shared Kurasha’s enthusiasm. Stephen K. Moore, an assistant director in
the Budget Finance Department of the Central Bank of Liberia, said the training
had benefited his career progression, leading to a promotion within the
18-month training period.
"The training has been instrumental in refining my
skills and providing a comprehensive understanding of the complexities of
public financial management,” Moore said. Looking ahead, he expressed optimism
about the promising avenues that his enhanced expertise will open in his
career.
“My expectations are fueled by the belief that the skills I
have acquired will not only enhance my professional standing but will also make
a meaningful contributor to my country's development agenda,” Moore continued.
Elounissi Guebli Nafissa, a civil servant from Algeria, said:
"Over the past 18 months, we have been on a fascinating journey, exploring
key areas of the PFM cycle in practice. Today marks the end of this exceptional
training, an experience that has not only been enriching but also offers
significant opportunities for our professional futures.”
“This training was not
just a series of academic sessions, but rather a deep immersion into the
complex dynamics of public finance," she added.
"Digital transformation is inevitable nowadays and the
integration of modern technologies in public finance management could
significantly optimize the efficiency and transparency of processes," she
said.
Lubaki Nzalakanda Ange from the Democratic Republic of Congo
said that participating in this PFMA was both a great opportunity and a challenge
for the participants.
“On the one hand, it has allowed us to acquire sufficient
knowledge to understand the management of public finances.”
To ensure the reduction of poverty and inequalities on the
continent now and in the years to come, African countries should accelerate the
implementation of appropriate public financial management policies. In this
regard, he urged his fellow graduates to live up to the quality training they
have received over the past 18 months.
"Africa and our respective countries are counting on all
of us," he said.
Approved by the African Development Bank Group's Board of
Directors in June 2022, the PFMA aims to provide African countries with
high-level structured capacity development such as training, peer-to-peer
learning, technical assistance, advisory services, institutional support
programmes, and policy dialogue in public financial management.
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