Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is in Rwanda to support the next phase of the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI), which started three years ago.
Blair who met president Kagame yesterday both commended the establishment of the innovative Strategic Capacity Building Initiative (SCBI) aimed at addressing crucial capacity constraints in a sustainable way and facilitating the achievement of Rwanda’s national development goals.
“I believe that Africa can be for the first of this century what Asia was for the second half of the last. That’s the goal but it will only become a reality if African leaders are able to drive the reforms their countries need, and African governments are equipped to deliver them. Which is why as Prime Minister I set up the commission for Africa to look into how to strengthen African governments and help them move to aid independence. And it’s why, when I left office, I set up the Africa Governance Initiative,” Tony Blair said on AGI official website.
In the recent fourth high level forum on Aid Effectiveness in South Korea, President Paul Kagame singled out the work of the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI) as a model of aid effectiveness.
During his speech, the President pointed to the unfulfilled promises of previous high level forums, which had pledged to deliver aid in a way that would put developing countries in the driving seat.
“In Paris we committed, and reaffirmed in Accra, to channel aid through country systems so as to strengthen national capacity to execute development plans, to budget efficiently and deliver services. It was also meant to build the foundation for enhanced capacity and accountability towards development results. In practice, the status quo still prevails,” Kagame said.
The President went on to say that the work of the Africa Governance Initiative, which has been working closely with the government of Rwanda since 2007, is challenging that status quo.
Blair who is in Rwanda noted that the innovative programme reflects the increasingly important role the Government of Rwanda has taken as a leader in aid effectiveness.
“Last week in Busan, we discussed how Africa can lead its own development, Rwanda is showing us how. The SCBI is truly government led, owned and managed, driven by the priorities the Government has clearly laid out. It is a huge step forward for true country ownership which sees African governments take charge of their own development,” Blair said.
The SCBI targets improved delivery in both the centre of Government and relevant Ministries and Agencies working on the four key national priorities that consist of agricultural production; mining development; access to electricity; and private sector growth.
In his address to high level dignitaries in Busan, President Kagame spoke of Rwanda’s partnership with the African Governance Initiative as a good example of capacity building.
“While donors may not be entirely to blame for bypassing these systems where they are weak, or non-functional, why not use aid to build up and strengthen such critical systems? A case in point is the partnership between Rwanda’s government and Mr Tony Blair’s African Governance Initiative, which uses embedded support to balance fast implementation of development programmes and transfer of skills,” Kagame said.
Earlier on Friday, Blair was the special guest at a discussion forum chaired by the Minister of Finance, John Rwangombwa, where senior officials from institutions directly involved in SCBI shared experiences of delivery and reaffirmed cross Government commitment to the new progamme.
“The Strategic Capacity Building Initiative is demand driven. It is based on Rwanda’s national development agenda and focused on our delivery priorities. This allows us to secure targeted support to meet our needs, rather than merely accepting whatever is offered,” Minister Rwangombwa said.
“Today’s discussion served to take stock as we start to implement this initiative and progress so far is satisfactory. Tony Blair advised us on how to drive this program in order to achieve the results we want. What is important is that the international experts suceed in mentoring Rwandan experts so that by the time they leave at the end of the four year period we will significantly increased local capacity in our institutions,” he added.
The SCBI has begun recruitment of 41 international experts who will work with 61 high caliber local counterparts who will form the next generation of Rwanda civil servants. The program has received funding support from the World Bank, African Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme.
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