ABOUT THE CAPACITY BUILDING FOUNDATION


What is ACBF's vision in capacity development in Africa?

ACBF’s vision is for Africa to be recognized for its socio-political and economic capabilities and endowments – a continent with effective institutions and policies acquired through sustained investment in people and institutions. The Foundation aims to become a leader, major partner, and centre of excellence for capacity building in Africa.


Who supports ACBF?

ACBF

Countries and International Organizations which have honored ACBF with their support to date are the following:

1. Multilateral partners: the World Bank, the AfDB, the UNDP and the IMF.

2. Bilateral partners: Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, India, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, USA

3. African partners: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, DRC, RCI, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tomé & Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.




Why was ACBF established?

ACBF

The establishment of the African Capacity Building Foundation was in response to the severity of Africa’s capacity needs, and the challenges of investing in indigenous human capital and institutions in sub-Saharan Africa.

The African Capacity Building Foundation interventions are premised on four principles:

the centrality of capacity to the development process in Africa;

the critical role of a partnership and demand driven approach in tackling capacity challenges;

African ownership and leadership in the capacity development process;

and a systematic, sequenced and coordinated approach to the capacity development process.

ACBF

What is ACBF's role in capacity development in Africa?

1. To build and strengthen sustainable indigenous capacity for macroeconomic policy analysis and development throughout sub-Saharan Africa; 2. To improve through co-financing and other networking arrangements, the channeling of donor support for capacity building in the area of the Foundation's mandate; 3. To contribute to programs for the reversal of brain drain from the continent and encourage retention as well as intensive utilization of existing capacity; 4. To build capacity in key areas of the public sector with emphasis on the interface between the public sector, on the one hand, and the private sector and civil society on the other; and, 5. To provide support for regional initiatives in the area of research and training. 6. To establish systematic links between economic research and training institutions and governments to foster greater understanding and communications between such entities.



What is ACBF's approach to capacity development?

In carrying out its mandate, ACBF is guided by the pursuit of excellence, placing emphasis on quality rather than quantity, attention to sustainability, recognizing that capacity building is a long-term process and is only worthwhile if development efforts become self sustaining; priority for African participation, and by taking a highly strategic approach based on the following principles which maximizes the Foundation’s comparative advantage and its catalytic role in the area of capacity building:

1. demand-driven approach, with emphasis on needs assessment, based on responsive intervention in capacity building and clients' participation to ensure ownership of capacity-building programs.

2. selectivity and regional balance to ensure an effective intervention and maximize impact;

3. neutrality with respect to policy orientation in countries of intervention;

4. emphasis on using innovative and flexible capacity-building operations that can succeed in Africa's diverse institutions and political settings and that allow African governments and international donors focus their priorities for maximum effectiveness.

5. country focus



What is ACBF's work?

ACBF projects and programs span the Foundation's six core competence areas:

1. Economic Policy Analysis and Management

2. Financial Management and Accountability

3. National Statistics and Statistical Systems

4. National Parliaments and Parliamentary Institutions

5. Professionalization of the Voices of the Private Sector and Civil Society


How does ACBF get its resources?


ACBF determines its activities on a basis of five-year strategic medium term plans, which are implemented through annual business plans and budgets. Resources for the implementation of the strategic medium term plans are sourced from the Members of the Foundation, multi-lateral institutions, bilateral partners and non-traditional donors. Resources are as much human and institutional, as projects and programs can be implemented through partnerships under specific Memorandum of Understanding.


How does ACBF operate?


ACBF has a three-tier governance system:

1. Board of Governors constituting all ACBF member countries and institutions

2. Executive Board constituting 11 members and the Executive Secretary is an ex-officio

3. ACBF Secretariat headed by the Executive Secretary deals with the day to day operations of the Foundation

After 20 years in the business of capacity development, is ACBF still relevant?


1. ACBF is an African organization, based in Africa and run by African experts and thus confer a strategic advantage to the Foundation as it enables it to develop a better understanding of the issues affecting African capacity gaps and to strengthen its response capabilities to more rapidly address Africa’s capacity needs.

2. The size and scope of operations of the Foundation are such that it complements the efforts of the bilateral and multilateral organizations. Perhaps, without ACBF the multilateral and bilateral agencies working on related issues would not engage in capacity building at the level ACBF operates because it may not be cost efficient to them. External evaluations have commended ACBF for being effective in the scale and scope of its operations after the integration of PACT. This was done in spite of constraints in resources.


What is ACBF's comparative advantage?

ACBF

ACBF has a broad mandate embedded within its constitution which gives a wide reach and arena for action within the capacity development processes in Africa. ACBF is well positioned to assist in achieving and managing emerging development challenges because:

1. Ownership: it is an autonomous NGO with Africans as full partners to the development of capacities needed for policy analysis and economic management;

2. Coordination: the Foundation has been endowed with the responsibility for developing and coordinating processes that lead to capacity in the countries;

3. Selectivity: practice within the Foundation has indicated that it has the capability to select and fund activities and institutions to deliver critical capacities;

4. Networking: many of the activities of the ACBF demonstrate the Foundation’s ability to network existing entities including economic and research entities as well as governments to achieve results in capacity; and

5. Funding: the fact that the Foundation can mobilize funding and technical resources as well as manage its own projects and programs in the critical areas of capacity needed


How does ACBF implement its projects and programs?

ACBF

ACBF encourages countries to undertake rigorous policy analysis and research as well as to design sound programs in order to generate coherent development policies and nurture policy environments that are friendly to interventions in capacity building, and which promote sustainable long-term growth, development, and poverty reduction.

The Foundation places premium on the need to strengthen the capacity of the core public sector to implement policies; deliver programs in an effective, transparent and accountable manner; and empower non-state actors to advocate for, or demand, responsiveness and results from public service institutions.

The ultimate goal is to improve the lives and prospects of people throughout the Continent. ACBF's approach to capacity development is largely demand-driven - emphasizing needs assessments, stakeholder ownership of interventions, project/program sustainability, and synergy of interventions across projects, programs and development funding institutions. Considerable attention is given to the promotion of gender equality and equity in the Foundation's activities and interventions.

Our Journey to success

ACBF

Over the past 20 years, ACBF has been associated with a number of successes in capacity building in Africa.Some examples are highlighted in this book.

Africa Capacity Indicators Report 2012

ACBF

The ACBF has launched its second Africa Capacity Indicators Report (ACIR). This year's report is on the theme: Capacity Development for Agricultural Transformation and Food Security.

Dr. Frannie Léautier, Executive Secretary of the ACBF

Frannie Léautier from Tanzania is the Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). Dr. Léautier has a rich a career in the private sector and in international development. She served as Vice President of the World Bank and Head of the World Bank Institute from December 2001 to March 2007. She also served as Chief of Staff to the former President of the World Bank from 2000-2001.

From 2007 – 2009, she took over as Managing Partner at The Fezembat Group, a company focused on risk management and leadership development. Dr. Léautier has published a number of articles in top-tier economic journals and opinion pieces in influential magazines and newspapers; she has also edited three books, including a recent one on Cities in a Globalizing World. She is currently Founding Editor for the Journal of Infrastructure Systems, Advisory Board Member for the MIT Open Course Ware, and former Secretary of the Board for the Nelson Mandela Institute for Science and Technology in Africa.

Dr. Léautier is a charter member of the Advisory Board for EuropEFE and a founding Board member for the Africa Institute for Governing with Integrity. She is a member of the Task Force for Haiti set up by a WISE initiative funded by the Qatar Foundation and has recently been named among the top 100 most influential people in Africa.

Dr. Léautier holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Dar es Salaam (1984); a Master of Science in Transportation from MIT (1986); and a PhD in Infrastructure Systems from MIT (1990). She is also a graduate of the Harvard University Executive Development Program.