#AccraBOG2017 Cameroon to host 2018 ACBF Board of Governors’ Meeting

Wed, Sep 6, 2017 | By publisher


Africa

By Maureen Chigbo, reporting from Accra, Ghana

| Sept 6, 2017 @ 5:18 GMT |

 

THE 26 annual meeting of the board of governors of the African Capacity Building Foundation, ACBF, ended in Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday, September 5, with the resolution that Cameroon will be the host for 2018 edition at a yet to be determined date.

The meeting also resolved to mobilise about $250 million in the next five years to build the capacity of countries in Africa to be able to implement their development programmes for the socio-economic transformation of the continent in line with the Agenda 2063 of the Africa Union.  Of this figure, only a paltry $20 million has been made by Africa with donor agencies such as World Bank and United Nations Development Programme also pledging their commitment.

The meeting which stated that ACBF should be fully supported by African countries to build the required capacity for its development also resolved that the region must leverage on its natural resources in the right way to generate funding internally for its programmes instead resorting to external funding mechanism. This will enable the countries to be in control of their affairs rather that have funding agencies dictate the type and pace of implementing development programmes because they are providing the funds. As Goodal Gondwe, chair of the ACBF board of governors, said on the first day of the meeting that whoever pays the piper, dictates the tune.

At the brief closing ceremony of the board of governors meeting Ken Offori-Ata, minister of Finance, formerly handed over the baton of the host country to minister of Finance from Cameroon who thankfully accepted, lauding Ghana for being an excellent host to the just ended meeting.

Goodall Gondwe, chair of ACBF Board of governors
Goodall Gondwe, chair of ACBF Board of governors

Other officials of ACBF at the closing ceremony include Gondwe, Erastus Mwencha, chair of ACBF executive board and Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie, executive secretary of the ACBF.

 

The 26 BOG meeting provided the platform for prominent African Stakeholders to share key information and participate in focused and indepth discussion on issues relating to financing for development in Africa in three critical areas: mapping of main resources available to African governments for the implementing development programmes; strategies and means to mobilise the resources and the best practices for the effective utilisation and absorption of the resources.

Prof. Nnadozie
Prof. Nnadozie

The stakeholders comprising members of the academia, public and private sectors saw the theme of the conference (Building Capacity and Mobilising Resources for Africa’s Transformation) as timely and in line with the current African and international development agendas. Some of them who talked to Realnews echoed the thoughts expressed in the concept notes of the meeting stating in fact the Africa Union’s Agenda 2063 and the post-2015 global development agenda highlight the necessity for African countries to tap into their domestic resources in order to finance their development goals while using donor resources as supplements.

According to the concept notes, “globally more financial resources are available, but the challenge has just not been on how to access them but how to utilise and absorb them after they have been mobilised. The inability of countries to absorb the resources made available to them by development partners remains a glaring challenge requiring special capacity building attention.

This is why the ACBF needs all the support and funding from both African countries and funding partners to generate the required resources to build the capacity to take the continent to greater heights.

 

 

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