Antoinette Sayeh – IMF AFR Director
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), on Monday, officially opened its fifth Africa Regional Technical Assistance Center (AFRITAC) in Ghana, and held its Steering Committee meeting for the first time in Accra.
The new Center, located in Accra, became operational on January 13, 2014, serving Ghana, Cape Verde, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
Speaking at the ceremony, Antoinette Sayeh, IMF AFR Director, said the initiative was launched with a vision to give access to all countries in sub-Saharan Africa to an IMF Regional Technical Assistance Center.
Ms Sayeh said the vision was a response to a demand by African Heads of State, who realised that the continent needed centers of capacity-building excellence on the ground in the face of mounting challenges.
She said capacity-building assistance was critical for African countries to develop the strong institutions needed for implementing the macro-economic policies conducive to sustained development.
For his part, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Seth Terkper, pledged government’s support and commitment as a host country and emphasized the need for AFRITAC West 2 to collaborate with regional bodies like ECOWAS, WAIFEM, and WAMI to foster complementarities and minimize duplication and overlaps.
As Chair of the Steering Committee, which endorsed the Center’s work program for the coming year, Mr. Terkper underscored the multi-faceted role of the Center, including its regional dimension.
Like its sister offices, AFRITAC West 2 will provide capacity-building assistance through a team of international resident experts, supplemented by short-term specialists who will deliver assistance in the IMF’s core areas of expertise.
These areas include financial sector supervision, monetary operations and payment systems oversight, tax and customs administration, public financial management and macroeconomic statistics.
The Center is led by a co-ordinator and is guided by a steering committee whose members represent the beneficiary countries, donors and the IMF.
It complements four existing AFRITACs— AFRITAC East which opened in 2002 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; AFRITAC West 1 which opened in 2003 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; AFRITAC Central which opened in 2007 in Libreville, Gabon; and AFRITAC South which opened in 2011 in Port-Louis, Mauritius. The five Centers cover all sub-Saharan African countries.
The establishment of the Accra Center — which will offer capacity building services to six countries across Western Africa — fulfils a commitment made by the IMF in 2002 with the IMF Capacity Building Initiative for Africa to extend the AFRITAC network to serve all sub-Saharan African countries.
The initiative seeks to strengthen the capacity of African governments and institutions to design and implement sound macroeconomic policies consistent with their poverty-reducing strategies.
Source: ISD (G.D. Zaney)
