AfDB Academy Graduates First Cohort on Public Finance

AfDB Academy Graduates First Cohort on Public Finance

The African Development Institute of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has graduated the first cohort of government officials from its Public Finance Management Academy.

The final phase of the executive training course on “Enhancing Accountability, Transparency, and Curbing Corruption and Illicit Financial Flows in Africa” took place in Abuja culminating in the graduation ceremony.

In his remarks, Chief Economist and Vice President, African Development Bank Group, Prof. Kevin Chika Urama said the Academy provides opportunities for African countries and experts to share practical experiences and learn from each other to improve PFM practices across the continent. By bringing together experts and practitioners from Africa and its Development Partners, we encourage peer-to-peer learning among the experts and African Practitioners to ensure that PFM programs are duly embedded in the realities of countries.

He added that the first cohort of 145 public officials nominated by 45 African countries commenced the 18-month structured capacity development (CD) program in July 2022.

According to him, of these, 52 public officials from 26 countries had successfully completed the CD program and satisfied the conditions to be certified by the Bank Group and Partners as PFM experts in their respective countries.

The course is the sixth and final module of an 18-month structured training course on public finance management for mid to senior-level officials from ministries of finance and planning, central banks, and other public financial management institutions from all African countries. Participants are also drawn from key anti-corruption agencies, statistical offices, and others.

The Public Finance Management Academy is running the course in collaboration with experts from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other related institutions.

As part of the week’s events, African finance ministers, central bankers, and debt managers met and discussed the establishment of an African Debt Management Initiative Network. The initiative provides an opportunity for African public debt managers to help shape the agenda of the network to ensure ownership and commitment to its implementation.

The African Development Bank also disseminated online, its report, Benchmark Macroeconomic Models for Effective Policy Management in Africa.

Lack of accountability and transparency, corruption, and illicit financial flows (IFFs) create a vicious cycle of fiscal sinking holes in Africa’s public resources. As governments lose revenue to IFFs and corruption, they are forced to borrow, and the borrowed funds are in turn stolen because there are no measures to stop the outflow of public resources. These challenges are primarily the result of fundamental public governance and structural weaknesses in African economies; weak programme and project implementation capacity due to a critical skills gap and inadequate tools; and weak international cooperation efforts to curb corruption and IFFs.

In response to the challenges of IFFs, money laundering, and terrorist financing, the African Development Bank has developed several policy and strategic instruments, including the Bank’s Policy on the Prevention of IFFs (2017) and the Action Plan for the Prevention of Illicit Financial Flows in Africa (2017-2021), extended to 2023), which prioritise capacity building for African countries and regional economic communities (RECs) to effectively combat IFFs.

The Bank has also developed the Strategy for Economic Governance in Africa (SEGA), which highlights the importance of supporting countries in combating illicit financial flows (IFFs) and money laundering.

By PRNigeria