AU specialized agency decries low funding

AU specialized agency decries low funding

Thursday, March 7, 2019 11:15 pm


The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) which is the African Union’s specialised agency for capacity development, says for it to succeed in its mandate, it requires adequate, predictable and sustainable funding from African states.

The Chair of the Board of Governors of ACBF, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, made the plea on Thursday at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of ACBF held in Yaounde, Cameroon.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Third session of the Specialised Technical Committee of the African Union (AU) on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration.

Ofori-Atta said that the foundation was strategic for implementing effective and sustainable capacity building interventions on the continent, therefore should be supported.

“When we gather at this Annual Meetings we are required to deliberate on the sustainability of the Foundation. Allow me to restate the popular adage `charity begins at home’.

“ The Foundation cannot respond to our requests for support without the financial ability to deliver.

“ It has been two years since the pledging conference for the current Strategy and we are yet to receive half of the pledges made and a good number of member states have not pledged.

“ We can do better to support this our important and relevant organisation.

“ Our support as shareholders through honouring of our obligations and active participation in ACBF activities, will send a strong signal to other partners that this is an institution which is of great value to us.

“I hope that we can confer with our governments and make the necessary arrangements to ensure that our obligations are met as soon as possible,’’ he said.

Ofori-Atta assured member states and development partners that the board of the Foundation would continue to ensure that the resources of the Foundation were properly managed and its programmes remained impactful.

Also, the AU Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Prof. Victor Harison, said that the ACBF was strategically poised to support African countries on decisive steps to develop the practical skills urgently required for the continent’s economic transformation.

Similarly, Prof. Kevin Urama, representing African Development Bank, said that the pathway to achieving sustainable development in Africa were often difficult and daunting due to insufficient available skills.

“Accelerating investments as we have been doing in AFDB can move Africa a thousand miles.

“Without catalytic investment in individuals, organisational and individual capacities to design, implement and govern this transformation, our vision for sustainable development in Africa are just a mirage.

“It is for this reason that institutions like the ACBF are very important on the continent,’’ he said.

Also, the World Bank representative, Mr Mazen Bouri said that Africa’s young population was its greatest resources but required education, skills and capacity development to thrive.

“We recognise the important role that ACBF has played, and continues to play, in supporting capacity development on the continent, as well as in highlighting the issues and challenges that must be faced.

“ Now that it is a specialised agency of the African Union it can make an even greater contribution,’’ he said.

Representatives from the Ministries of Finance, economic planning and the central banks of all African states were present at the meeting.

Also development partners such as the UN Development Programme and Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa were also present at the meeting.


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