By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed has stressed the need for a government-driven national donor coordination mechanism.
The minister who stated this in her opening remarks at a high level round table in Abuja emphasized that a well-structured approach is key to ensuring that external financing is maximised for the benefit of Nigerians.
In a statement by her new Special Adviser (Media & Communication) Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, on Wednesday, the minister called for a collaborative effort “to put in place a National Donor Coordination Mechanism that is aligned to government’s key strategic priority areas”
Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed
According to her, “we will be engaging towards setting up a Donor Coordination Unit (DCU) to be chaired by the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and co-chaired by the Honourable Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, and the Chair(s) of the Donors Coordination Committee. We will task the DCU to develop a road map toward setting up a Multi-Donor Trust Fund, to be managed by the World Bank, which will pool donor funds to enhance transparency and accountability.”
“Aid is most effective when it is well-coordinated, with mutual accountability mechanisms for government and donors. Above all else, it must be aligned with government’s strategic development priorities.
“While we have made some progress in coordinating aid in specific areas, such as in the North East intervention, and the Social Investment Programmes , we still have a long way to go in ensuring a government-led mutual accountability framework for aid coordination in Nigeria”, she stated.
Highlighting the need for the success of the initiative, she said that several key criteria to ensure its success include: A government-owned and driven aid management process; the establishment of a mutual accountability framework to ensure effective management of aid programmes/projects and resources, and information sharing; the ability to map donor interventions and ensure appropriate coverage across sectors, with an emphasis on sectors that are critical to achieving Nigeria’s key development priorities;
Others include, proper linkages and harmonisation amongst development partners; adequate and timely sharing of information on Official Development Assistance (ODA) in-flows; consistent, timely and accurate reporting of activities and financing on the Development Assistance Database (DAD); the need for a strong monitoring and evaluation mechanism to track the amount and use of donor funds and ensure that such funds are benefiting Nigerians.
Speaking on development cooperation as a means of catalysing government’s interventions towards achieving its priority areas, Ahmed said: “What is needed now more than ever in Nigeria is an innovative approach to external financing, which is government-led, and emphasizes the innovative use of aid to support and catalyze government programmes and interventions in strategic areas.
“This is especially critical, as we work towards developing and implementing the next generation of National Economic Plans, the successor to the Economic Recovery Growth (ERGP). We will work towards implementing policies and programmes in line with the present administration’s economic priority areas.”
Shedding light on the submission of costed plans in advance of national budget, Ahmed also stated: “The 2020 Budget preparation process is well-underway, and we intend to finalise and submit the 2020 appropriation bill to the National Assembly by the end of this month.
‘As a first step towards ensuring that donor programmes are aligned with strategic priorities, and are in turn reflected in our upcoming national budget, we will hold meetings in the next few days to better understand your ongoing and planned programmes.
“Following this consultative meeting, a set of guidelines will be provided to support submission of your costed short to medium term plans, broken down annually. This process will ensure that we consider on-going and planned aid interventions when making our 2020 budgetary allocations, and that said interventions are reflected in the Appropriation Bill”, she added.
The meeting was attended by the Ambassadors of Japan, Denmark, Norway represented by the Charge D’Affairs, Korea was represented by the Country Director, KOICA while the US Ambassador was represented by the Charge D’Affairs.
Also in attendace were the UN Resident Coordinator who was represented by the Resident Representative, UNDP, AFDB Country Director, IMF Mission Chief, World Bank Country Director, UNICEF Country Representative, WFP Country Representative, EU Head of Cooperation, Acting Head of DFID who also represented the UK Government, Head of Delegation ICRC, Country Director, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Chief Representative of JICA.
