The difficulties encountered in the process of implementing projects financed by the European Development Fund and the conformity of ECOWAS procedures with the international standards were the main subjects discussed during the first meeting of ECOWAS Project Management Steering Committee.

Funded by the European Union up to € 9.8 million, this project is designed to strengthen the capacity of the ECOWAS Commission to ensure that its procedures comply with international standards. The project also aims to support the institutional reforms under way in the Commission and to promote more efficient management of EDF resources.

In an introductory speech at the opening session, ECOWAS Vice-President Edward Singhathey praised the quality of EU-ECOWAS cooperation. He then drew the attention of the participants to the importance of the challenges to be faced and the necessary institutional adjustments, in particular with regard to file processing, accounting, internal control, auditing, procurement and automation procedures. Mr. Singhathey also stressed the need to find urgent answers to the thorny issue of resource losses linked to the low rate of implementation of European Development Fund projects.

The activities carried out within the framework of the project “Public Finance Management Reform” were presented by the various Teams leaders during the meeting. In the light of the discussions, it appears that at the end of February 2017, the implementation rate of the 20 projects of the 10th EDF totaled EUR 571 million was only 42 %.

To fix this situation and enable the project to achieve better results, the participants made several recommendations, including the diligent implementation of initiatives to avoid donor resource losses. The participants also called for a permanent consultation between the various partners in order to avoid duplication. Greater involvement of the relevant Departments in recruitment and training programs was also welcomed. In this context, the process of capacity building will be carried out in intelligence with the Department of Human Resources. This Department will henceforth be involved in the recruitments planned by the Projects and the Staff concerned will be those already working in the structures of the Regional Indicative Program (RIP). Finally, the participants recommended better coordination of the partners’ actions in the context of the implementation of the institutional reform currently under way in ECOWAS.

 This first meeting of the Steering Committee of the Public Finance Management Reform Project, chaired jointly by the Commission Vice-President, Mr Edward Singhathey and the Head of Operations of the European Union Delegation Mr Kurt Cornelis took place in the presence of several other personalities, including the ECOWAS Commissioners in charge of Human Resources and Administration and the head of the regional cooperation section of the EU delegation in Abuja.