IMF Regional Technical Assistance Center for East Africa (East AFRITAC)—Fourteenth Steering Committee Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda
KIGALI, Rwanda, March 30, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Steering Committee of East AFRITAC (AFE) met in Kigali, Rwanda, during March 28–29, 2012. The meeting was attended by officials from five member countries and representatives of the donors and regional organizations—African Development Bank, European Union, European Investment Bank, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands, as well as IMF staff members. South Sudan participated as an observer.
The meeting celebrated the 10th year of activity of the Center under the theme of “Consolidating 10 years of capacity building in the region—preparing for the challenges that lie ahead.” In his opening address, the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda highlighted AFE's track record in providing relevant and effective capacity building to its members over the past decade. He linked the quality and success of AFE's technical assistance (TA) to its demand-driven approach, its proximity, its flexibility, and its increasing focus on results. Looking forward, he urged the center to remain relevant and effective in helping member countries to address the global economic challenges of a fast and ever changing world.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Mrs Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Vice Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda and the Chairperson of AFE's Steering Committee, and Xavier Maret, the Center Coordinator, made the following joint statement:
“The Steering Committee members expressed satisfaction with the scaling up of AFE's capacity building activities and the good execution of the work plan in FY 2012
(May 2011–April 2012). They commended AFE for the results and milestones that have been achieved, as well as for the progress in strengthening further donor coordination.
“The Steering Committee endorsed the work plan for FY 2013 and welcomed the implementation of a results-based management framework for planning and monitoring the effectiveness of the center's capacity building activities. Recognizing that this framework is still work in progress, members provided guidance to improve the framework and ensure its usefulness as a tool to plan, execute, evaluate and report on AFE activities. They noted in particular the need to improve the indicators to assess outcomes and objectives, and expected that development of the RBM framework would be linked to the financial management and reporting of AFE. An effective RBM framework and the demand-driven features of AFE's TA were viewed as an effective means to address the future TA challenges of the member countries.
“The meeting was also an opportunity to appraise the Steering Committee of technical assistance reforms in the IMF, review progress in the implementation of recommendations of previous independent evaluations of the regional technical assistance centers, and clarify the IMF dissemination policy for TA advice. The Steering Committee welcomed the upcoming independent evaluation of AFE to take place later this year, which should contribute to further guidance in improving the performance of AFE and addressing the TA challenges that lie ahead for its member countries.
“In concluding its meeting, the Steering Committee welcomed the intent of South Sudan to become a member of AFE, thanked the Rwandese authorities for their outstanding hospitality, and confirmed Kenya as the new Chair of the Steering Committee.”
Background
East AFRITAC, located in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, serves Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. It provides capacity-building assistance in core areas of expertise of the International Monetary Fund such as revenue administration; public financial management; macro-fiscal analysis, financial sector regulation; monetary policy and operations; and economic and financial statistics. Its Steering Committee, composed of the member countries, the IMF and representatives of the donors, reviews and provides guidance on the center's operations.