Liberia's Minister of Finance Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan and his Sierra Leonean counterpart Sheku Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura have committed to consolidate ties between their two ministries with the goal to strengthen partnership and peer learning in the areas of debt management, budgeting, treasury management, IFMIS implementation, tax policy and other key areas of public financial management (PFM).
Accordingly, the ministers have agreed to resuscitate the Liberia-Sierra Leone Joint Partnership in PFM, a cooperation framework that facilitated peer learning and reciprocal visits among officials and technicians of both ministries between 2009 and early 2012.
The two ministers agreed that the Joint Partnership was a positive demonstration of south-south cooperation, which yielded tremendous professional benefits.
The decision to resuscitate the Joint Partnership was made by ministers Ngafuan and Bangura on Monday, November 25, 2024 at the Sierra Leonean Ministry of Finance in Freetown, Sierra Leone when Minister Ngafuan paid a visit at the invitation of his Sierra Leonean counterpart.
Also attending the meeting was Mr. Matthew Dingie, Principal Advisor to Minister Bangura on Economic and Financial Policies and former Budget Director of Sierra Leone and Mrs. Angela Von Ballmoos, Liberia's Ambassador, accredited to Sierra Leone.
Welcoming Minister Ngafuan at the start of the meeting, Minister Bangura said, "I am overjoyed to welcome you, Minister Ngafuan, to Freetown and to my office. You have been a good friend and professional colleague for over a decade, and I am certain that our strong professional ties will lead to synergized efforts between our ministries aimed at improving the development outcomes of our people."
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In brief remarks at the end of the meeting, Minister Ngafuan conveyed heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Minister Bangura for the meeting and for the warm reception. He stressed, "Development expectations of our people are huge and urgent, and they look to us as ministers of finance for hope. To meet our people's expectations, we must lean on each other's shoulders. The grand goal of the Partnership between our two ministries is to ensure that we work with each other so that the stronger partner in a specific area of cooperation can help build the capacity of the weaker partner"
Ministers Ngafuan and Bangura also shared experiences in their respective Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programs with the IMF. They discussed ways to improve domestic revenue generation and scale up external support for development from multilateral and bilateral partners.
Ministers Ngafuan and Bangura discussed and agreed on key follow-up actions to be taken by their respective ministries in furtherance of the recent four-day visit of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to Sierra Leone upon the invitation of Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio.
