The African Development Bank Group is facilitating the establishment of the African Debt Managers Initiative Network (ADMIN), which will bring together experts to find home-grown solutions to the continent’s debt challenges.
The Acting Director and Division Manager for Policy Management at the Bank’s African Development Institute, Eric Ogunleye, told debt managers from across Africa that the network would facilitate capacity development for institutions and practitioners on the continent, in particular, reorienting them towards responsible borrowing and transparent debt management.
Ogunleye, speaking recently at a meeting in Abuja last Thursday to advance the formation of the network, said, “The ADMIN will help identify and raise awareness of common areas for policy dialogue and capacity building for debt management and sustainability in the African Development Bank’s regional member countries and facilitate interventions by the Bank and other institutions working on public debt management issues in Africa.”
As part of a continental effort to address the challenges, the AfDB has developed strategic instruments to guide debt management in Africa. These include launching a Public Finance Management Academy for Africa (PFMA), which is deepening partnerships with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other global and regional public finance management institutions in Africa.
The Bank also identified weak governance, inefficient and large public investment programmes, and rising defence spending as causes of debt accumulation. In some cases, countries had “hidden debt” obligations that were not on the public books.
Ogunleye said the African Debt Managers Initiative Network will seek partnership and collaboration with development partners engaged in debt sustainability and public financial management. It will mobilise innovative debt financing, design and implement sound debt management administration and reporting systems, and conduct debt sustainability and risk assessments.
Nigeria’s Debt Management Office Director General, Patience Oniha, said an African debt managers’ network is important because African countries have many debt similarities, adding that it allows practitioners to share common challenges, explore opportunities, learn from each other, and advance public debt and financial management.
“The African Development Bank is taking things several steps further through an institutional structure like the African Debt Managers Initiative Network. The network brings us together and exposes us to more knowledge, skills, and partnerships,” Oniha added.
