The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Tuesday began a five-day training on budget analyses and preparation of budget briefs for its staff in Abuja.
The country director, Dore Osuman, said that the training would position the staff to prepare briefs to be distributed to relevant parliamentary committees to inform decision-making and advisory functions.
Osuman was represented by the bank’s Chief Programme Officer for Nigeria, Andoh Mensah.
He said that the aim of the training was to provide parliamentary staff with critical skills in policy analysis.
He said that participants would be trained to analyse and synthesize data into policy briefs.
“This is to position them to prepare briefs which will then be distributed to relevant parliamentary committees to inform decision making and advisory functions.
“Parliamentary staff across the continent, particularly those that work in research departments as well as finance and public accounts committees are the primary recipients of this training that will help bridge existing gaps.
“I urge you all to share experiences and take on new ideas and techniques to introduce knowledge and best practices acquired to address the problems confronting the Africa,” Osuman said.
Osuman referred to the training as a principal mechanism through which parliament and its committees could ensure domestic accountability and consequently influence the governance of public goods and services delivery through the annual national budget process.
“In carrying out this important duty on behalf of the citizens, parliaments need to have access to timely, up-to-date, accurate and well researched independent information for effective oversight and decision-making, “ he added.
The Acting Director-General of the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTC), Mohammed Kachallah, said that the era of parliament and its committees ‘going to sleep’ and becoming inactive after passage of budgets was no more.
Parliaments and committees must of necessity participate actively in critical period such as implementation stage, “ when they have to watch over the executive with ‘eagle eyes’ to prevent and minimise waste, “ Kachallah said.
He advised the trainees to use the opportunity to improve their service delivery to the nation and to Africa at large.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training is facilitated by the bank’s training specialist, Susan Emiko-Coulibaly, \nd is featuring resource persons. (NAN)
