The African Development Bank (AfDB) has encouraged graduates from its Public Finance Management Academy for Africa to become advocates for accountability and economic governance across the continent. The call was made by Kevin Urama, the Chief Economist and Vice President of the bank, during the graduation ceremony for 51 public officials from 26 countries held in Abuja.
Urama emphasized the need for African nations to collaborate in mobilizing and efficiently managing resources to boost productivity and create wealth within the continent. He highlighted the comprehensive 18-month training undertaken by the participants, covering six modules on the public finance management cycle and ecosystem.
The training modules included domestic resource mobilization, macro-fiscal modeling and forecasting, public budgeting and expenditure management, debt management and transparency, Public-Private Partnerships in public finance management, and accountability, transparency, curbing corruption, and illicit financial flows.
Urama stated that the graduates now meet the certification requirements of the AfDB and its partners as public finance management experts in their respective countries. The Public Finance Management Academy for Africa aims to enhance African countries’ capacity in economic governance, knowledge management, and prudent management of public finances for improved living standards.
Mr. Tope Fasua, the Special Adviser to the Vice President of Nigeria on Economic Matters, commended the academy for facilitating knowledge-sharing among African public financial management officials. He considered the academy’s approach to capacity development innovative and suggested its extension to other areas of governmental capacity development beyond public financial management.
The Vice President of the AfDB emphasized the need to address issues such as illicit financial flows, poorly implemented fiscal incentives, and excessive reliance on commodity exports. He expressed concern about the vulnerability of countries to volatile global market prices and emphasized the importance of responsible practices in domestic revenue mobilization and the use of borrowed funds.
Isaac Kurasha, a graduate from the South African National Treasury, acknowledged that the program enriched his knowledge of the entire public financial management cycle. Similarly, Stephen Moore from the Central Bank of Liberia credited the training for his career progression and promotion, expressing optimism about future opportunities arising from his enhanced expertise.
