A new African Development Bank-supported initiative will enable cities to tap financial markets to fund local infrastructure and development |
The African Development Bank and United Cities and Local Governments, a global umbrella group for local and metropolitan governments, have announced the launch of a new program to build the capacity of municipal chief financial officers across the continent.
The Municipal CFO Initiative was announced during the 9th
Africities Summit held recently in Kisumu, Kenya.
The new initiative will enable cities to tap financial
markets more effectively in order to fund their local infrastructure and
development projects. There is a pressing need for city infrastructure to grow
and expand to meet the demands of Africa’s rapidly urbanizing cities.
“Such capacity-building programs play a catalytic role in
the long term development of cities and turning municipalities into robust
discussion partners for a broad range of funders,” said Alice Nabalamba, Chief Urban Development
Officer in the African Development Bank's Infrastructure, Cities and Urban
Development Department.
The program will get underway in September 2022; 10
municipalities will participate. Financial officers that take part will learn
finance, accounting, and debt and risk management skills to improve the
creditworthiness of their cities. Participants will also have the opportunity
to undertake site visits to African bourses, including the Johannesburg Stock
Exchange and Abidjan Stock Exchange.
"A number of municipalities are almost ready to access
financial markets, which will dramatically improve their capacity in financing
projects. Unfortunately, they don’t have a deep comprehensive understanding of
how to start,” said Dr. François Paul Yatta, Director of Programs at United
Cities and Local Governments Africa. Yatta was speaking during a panel titled,
Understanding the ecosystem of investors interested in African cities.
The low level of financial capacity in African
municipalities was the subject of much discussion during the summit.
"Municipalities have to inspire confidence, build a positive and engaging
narrative to capture the attention of both public and private finance,"
said Hastings Chikoko, Managing Director for Africa at C40, a global network of
mayors that partners with the African Development Bank.
The Bank made a number of presentations during the
conference. These included the unveiling of the first component of its
Sustainable Urban Development action plan, a blueprint for its interventions to
reinforce subnational credit and municipal finance (PDF).
The Municipal CFO Initiative was announced on 18 May.