AfDB academy mobilises debt, finance managers to combat corruption, illicit financial flows
The Public Finance Management Academy for Africa (PFMA), an initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has graduated 51 participants in the first cohort of the capacity building for finance and debt management across the continent.
The beneficiaries, drawn from 26 States, graduated at a wrap-up session held in Abuja, to climax the 18-month-long Public Financial Management Executive Training Series.
The hands-on capacity building for top public finance and debt managers in the Bank’s member-states has objectives focused on the public financial management cycle and ecosystem, to curb illicit financial flow and channel resources to productive ends.
Specifically, the training covered domestic revenue mobilisation; macroeconomic modeling and forecasting; public budgeting and expenditure management; public debt management and sustainability; public-private partnerships; and accountability, transparency, and curbing anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, and illicit financial flows in Africa.
Chief Economist and Vice President, AfDB Group, Prof. Kelvin Urama, said the initiative was motivated by the imperative of finding solutions to the weak financial system and debt vulnerability unsettling the continent.
Urama said the graduands in the first cohort have shown themselves as worthy ambassadors of prudent management of public finance and resources.
He said, “If you read the bible, there is a verse that says ‘my people perish for lack of knowledge.’ What I understood from interviewing countries and having discussions with finance ministers, debt management officers on the continent, is that not everyone understands how big those small actions and decisions they make in their offices contribute to the larger problem that the country faces.
“Quite often, the debt manager would say, ‘I was asked to do this, and I did it,’ without knowing that by taking that little step, you are starting a chain that will create more problems on the continent.
“So, creating that technical knowledge that the academy provides is critical for countries and for the public officials to know what they need to do. Then, they can advise governments better. Because quite often, the political officeholders don’t have the time to do the analysis and know all the issues. So, you need a sound technical group in the public service that can back up every decision with evidence, and that is what we are bringing on board,” he said.
The 51 graduands are the most successful among the 145 participants nominated by 45 countries that started the rigorous training and hands-on programme.
Urama disclosed that the next cohort will have each country nominate 22 public officials from their ministries of finance, treasuries, central banks, budget, and national planning.
Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, in the Office of the Vice President, Dr. Tope Fasua, lauded the curriculum as apt in upscaling the needed knowledge and capability of public officials who are saddled with the public financial and debt management functions of government.
Fasua added that the successful completion and graduation is a testament to the commitment of the AfDB in responding to the need of the regional member countries to fast-track capacity development towards the achievement of the Bank’s High 5’s Agenda, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the AU Agenda 2063.
Isaac Kurasha of the National Treasury South Africa, who is also a beneficiary of the capacity building, said the “rigorous” intervention enriched his knowledge across the public financial management cycle.
“Today, I now understand how my roles in Public Finance link to my colleagues’ roles in Tax Policy, Economic Policy, Asset and Liability Management, Procurement, and Public Private Partnership units, among others. I now understand why our National Treasury is structured the way it is. Its structure resembles the public financial management cycle!
“Through this training, I have learnt to exercise more due diligence and ensure that resources are allocated where the most return on investment is. I have learnt to pay attention to detail when reviewing monthly expenditure reports from the departments and public entities and with confidence, I have begun to influence where resources can be redirected, especially in the era of austerity measures,” Kurasha said.
