Banjul, 21 August 2017 (ACBF) – With support from the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), the Government of The Gambia has launched a capacity needs assessment exercise that would support implementation of the country’s National Development Plan (2018-2021) which is in its final stages of formulation.
Today’s formal launch is the latest phase of the exercise which began last March with a scoping mission conducted by the ACBF and followed by a country visit by the Foundation’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie in May. During that visit, President Adama Barrow told the ACBF delegation that solutions to the difficulties faced by African nations lay within the continent itself and that institutions such as the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) could help make all the difference. He said The Gambia needed civil service reforms and capacity building to steer it in the right direction.
It is within this context that a two-person consulting team has been recruited to engage the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the country to conduct thorough institutional and human capacity reviews of those institutions. The selection of participating bodies would be in line with priorities identified by The Gambian Government in its national development plan (NDP),
As a demonstration of the seriousness with which The Gambia takes the exercise, its Government has set up a High-level Coordination Committee comprising the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance (Chair), as well as the Permanent Secretaries from the Office of the President, Office of the Vice President, PMO, Ministry of Higher Education and the Solicitor General to oversee development of both the NDP and the capacity needs assessment exercise.
In addition to providing funding for the capacity needs assessment exercise, ACBF is also supporting The Gambia in various capacity development initiatives, mainly involving training of civil servants and other public officials to provide them with skills to deliver on their Government’s agenda.
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ABOUT the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Having spearheaded and robustly coordinated capacity development programs worth over 700 million US dollars across 45 countries and 8 regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa since 1991, ACBF has gathered the requisite experience that makes it the go-to institution for expert knowledge and human resources to advise and support African countries, regional economic communities and institutions on decisive steps to take to develop the practical skills urgently required for the continent’s economic transformation.
Evidence from our cutting-edge work (constituting hundreds of knowledge publications) and the work of several partners show that Africa's development efforts are being hobbled by severe capacity deficits often in the form of shortage of critical skills, deficits in leadership, inhibiting mindsets and weak institutions. The continent’s practical skills shortage is acute in key areas such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Agriculture.
At ACBF, we will continue using our unmatched track record in managing financial facilities for development, our vast knowledge gathering experience thanks to the exceptional skills mix of our core staff as well as our strong strategic partnerships and networks to help countries and institutions identify their capacity needs, advise them on how to plug these capacity weaknesses and on where to find the knowledge and resources to develop the requisite capacity resources, effectively use them and retain them to achieve their short and long-term development objectives.
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Abel Akara Ticha – Senior Communication Officer
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