Donor Coordination, Compulsory for Effectiveness and Efficiency – Clem Agba
The Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba has underscored the need for coordination of the activities of development partners in Nigeria, saying “it will now be compulsory in order to achieve Aid effectiveness and efficiency”.
The Minister gave this indication during his welcome remarks at the High-Level Round table meeting on National Donor Coordination held at the Conference hall of the Ministry of Finance, Abuja.
Prince Clem Agba said, “It is imperative that we establish an agreeable process for the coordination and effective management of development assistance in the country. Our mission is to be at par with international best practices and to achieve a mutual understanding and cooperation with a flexible framework of guidelines”.
He added that donors need the guidance and direction from government to ensure that resources are beneficial to the populace, and stressed the need to monitor the performance of all international commitments in order to avoid duplication of efforts and ensure even distribution of resources across the country.
To this end, the Minister revealed that the ministry is already finalizing the Official Development Assistance (ODA) Policy which seeks to maximize the benefit of international assistance and ensures alignment with national priorities.
He therefore called on donors and partners to update their reports in the Development Assistant Database (DAD) system domiciled in the Ministry and also channel all their interventions through the Ministry which is the country’s gateway to development assistance.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, earlier in her remarks hinted that government in the coming weeks will set up Donor Coordination Unit (DCU) which will be co-chaired by herself and the Minister of State Budget and National Planning.
Mrs. Ahmed said that part of the mandate of the DCU would be to chart a roadmap for setting up a multi-donor trust fund which will ensure best value for all donor assisted activities.
Responding, the World Bank Country Director, Mr. Rachid Benmessaoud, praised the ministers for the new initiatives and donors’ readiness to collaborate with government to achieve development goals.