African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) Reinforces its Commitment to Nigeria's Capacity Development Strategy

12 December 2011
Content from a Premium Partner
The African Capacity Building Foundation (Harare)
press release

ACBF holds broad-ranging consultations to consolidate and expand its partnership with the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In support of its continental capacity building strategy for the period 2012-2016, the African Capacity Building Foundation, an independent international organization headquartered in Harare, Zimbabwe, held consultations with the Government, Civil Society and Private Sector in Nigeria on 03-09 December 2011. The Foundation's new strategy, to be launched in January 2012, comes as ACBF commemorates 20 years of capacity building in Africa. Established on February 9th, 1991, ACBF is the outcome of a partnership between the international donor community, including 12 non-African countries, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, the International Monetary Fund and 35 African countries, including the Federal Republic of Nigeria. ACBF currently works in 45 African countries.

The just-ended mission involved three components, namely consultations on the organization of a Youth Employment event in Abuja, to be tentatively held during the last week of January 2011, alongside the launch of the the Youth Enterprise with Innovation "YOU WIN", a job creation initiative  driven by the Federal Ministry of Finance. In this regard, the ACBF delegation, led by the Executive Secretary, Dr Frannie Leautier, met with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Federal Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs; HE Isa Yuguda, Governor of Bauchi State; HE Abiola Ajimobi, Governor of Oyo State, as well as development partners, including the World Bank and the African Development Bank, private sector and civil society organizations. The meeting was designed to enable all sectors to participate in the topical debate on youth unemployment, and to collaborate in finding the best ways to address this challenge from a capacity building dimension. The mission also discussed Nigeria's support to ACBF's third Strategic Medium Term Plan.

In parallel, the visit to Nigeria provided an opportunity to deepen discussions on the support requested by civil society organizations for youth employment projects through ACBF's Innovations Financing Instrument, FICAD.  These youth-oriented organizations include the Youth Employment Summit (YES) Foundation and the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND). It is in the context of a planned youth employment project that ACBF met with YES and KIND in Abeokuta, Ogun State to discuss areas of opportunity for further exploration under FICAD, which fund projects from USD10,000 to USD300,000. Ogun State was also invited to join the pilot of the African Governance Outlook, a collaborative work between ACBF and the African Development Bank Group.

The third aspect of ACBF's Nigeria visit entailed the signing of a Grant Agreement between ACBF and the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), for the continuation of the Foundation's support to this important collaborative sub-regional capacity building organization. WAIFEM was established in July 1996 by the Central Banks of the five Anglophone West African Countries of The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The project is designed to up-scale the skills and competences of senior/professional staff of WAIFEM members, central banks, ministries of finance and economic planning, and other public sector agencies involved in debt, external sector, macroeconomic and financial sector management

ACBF funds projects and programs that are selected strictly on their own merit and on the basis of their ability to improve human and institutional capacity at national or regional levels in Africa.

About the African Capacity Building Foundation

ACBF's mission is to build sustainable human and institutional capacity for sustainable growth and poverty reduction 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.

The African Union currently serves as an Observer on the ACBF Board of Governors.

For further information on ACBF, please contact:
a.mpunzwana@acbf-pact.org
b.kone@acbf-pact.org

African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
PO Box 1562, Harare
ZIMBABWE
Tel: + 263 4 700208/210

Tagged:
Copyright © 2011 The African Capacity Building Foundation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.