NEWSLETTER: JANUARY - JUNE 2023 French Portuguese The Africa Training Institute (ATI) is part of a network of IMF regional training centers around the world, which help develop countries’ policymaking capacity by transferring economic skills and best practices. Its training courses are open to government and central bank officials from 45 sub-Saharan African member countries. Courses are offered in English and French, or in English with simultaneous interpretation into French and Portuguese. Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, China, European Investment Bank, European Union, and Germany are the current contributing partners and members of the Institute. The Institute is located in Bramer House, Ebene, Mauritius. WHAT’S INSIDE THIS ISSUE Highlights News & Events ATI Training Webinars/Outreach Peer-to-peer and ATI Research Seminars Feedback from Participants on ATI CD Events Staff News Highlights by Mr. Sukhwinder Singh ATI Director ATI celebrated its tenth anniversary in June 2023, having trained more than 7000 government officials from all 45 Sub-Saharan African countries since starting operations in 2013. In the first half of 2023, the ATI welcomed 671 participants to Mauritius and offered 24 courses alongside 5 webinars and 5 peer-to-peer research seminars. Significantly, two courses delivered using the blended learning modality- part virtual and part in-person- were pioneered at ATI by the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development (ICD) and Statistics Department (STA), respectively—both with very encouraging results. ATI’s courses in the first half of 2023 covered core macroeconomic and financial policies and legal and statistical issues, in line with policy priorities in the region as well as new priority areas such as Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), and gender inequality and macroeconomics. In addition, and as part of its increased engagement on Climate Change, ATI collaborated with AFRITACs to offer two workshops on “Climate Change and Macro-Financial Policies” for its member countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. The work program for fiscal year 2024 (FY24), the last year of ATI’s Phase II, which was endorsed at the tenth meeting of ATI’s Steering Committee in Kinshasa in June 2023, provides for 44 courses and 33 non-course events, respectively. The work program aims to balance budget constraints with demands from the region’s policymakers for training in macroeconomic and financial policies and statistics as well as new topics such as climate change, gender inequality, and fintech. The FY24 work program also seeks to further the synergies between training and technical assistance delivered by RTCs. The current context of ATI’s operations is marked by unprecedented macroeconomic challenges for many countries in the Sub-Saharan African region. In this regard, the ATI wishes to acknowledge the continued support of its Phase I and II donors and external partners and welcomes recent contributions and funding pledges from new donors (notably the European Union), and a doubling of the contribution from the host country, Mauritius. To date, the ATI has secured commitments from 22 of its 45 members countries. However, additional funding will be critical to ensure that the ATI’s FY24 work program is fully financed and the Institute is able to continue scaling up its activities to respond to the capacity development needs of the region in FY24 and beyond. In early 2023, the ATI bid farewell to Ian Nield and Charline Ramspacher, who had served as resident advisors in Macroeconomic and Financial Policies since 2016 and welcomed two new resident advisors, Ms. Muthoora and Mr. Aragon. During their tenure, Ian and Charline delivered over 80 courses across an increasingly broad spectrum, and share some of their reflections in this edition. More recently, H.E. Vincent Degert, Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Mauritius and the Republic of Seychelles, also completed his tour of duty. Ambassador Degert has attended several ATI events over the years (both in-person and virtually), sharing his experience and insights with our participants and also shares his experience in an interview in this edition. On behalf of ATI, I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to Ian, Charline, and Ambassador Degert for their contributions to the Institute and wish them all the best in their future endeavors. NEWS & EVENTS REFLECTIONS FROM MS. CHARLINE RAMSPACHER AND MR. IAN NIELD, DEPARTING ATI RESIDENT ADVISORS Ms. Charline Ramspacher I joined ATI in September 2016 as a long-term expert (LTX). My family and I were relocating from Luxembourg, where we had spent the previous 10 years working in the banking sector. My son Oscar had just turned 1 when we arrived in Mauritius and almost 7 years later, we are happy to call this beautiful island “home”. As a center, ATI has gone through many changes and challenges over these past years, from rethinking the way we had provide CD (capacity development) during the COVID-19 lockdown to the more recent operations scale-up, but thanks to the entire ATI team – a beautiful bunch of people, we’ve delivered more and more courses, did many more events and brought this center to a very successful place. Even if I have recently moved on to the IMF-South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center (SARTTAC) in Delhi (India) as the new Macroeconomic Advisor, my heart will always remain in Mauritius, and I wish ATI a successful future. Mersi Moris. Mr. Ian Nield ATI was barely four years old when I joined the team as a long-term expert (LTX) in early October 2016. Just over 20 courses were delivered each year, with one or two other events. LTX turnover had been high, sometimes approaching 100% per annum. Somewhat over six years later, when I moved to deliver technical assistance (TA) at the Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre (PFTAC), ATI had: successfully navigated its way through the COVID-19 pandemic, dramatically increased ATI’s deliveries (quadrupled during the pandemic, and doubled post-pandemic), broadened the breadth of course material, the modes and types of delivery (e.g., peer-exchange events, virtual conferences) , engaged to include LTXs from the various AFRITACs as counsellors, contributed to TA delivery with the AFRITACs, commenced ATI TA delivery and had a stable LTX team. ATI helps transform countries through the dedication of its team and the participants. ATI evolves with the needs of its member countries. I have made some small contribution to ATI’s successes. My contributions would not have been possible without the support and dedication of the team around me: the course participants, the programme officers, IT team, interpreters, ATI management and my LTX colleague Charline. I wish all the staff at ATI and participants (future and past) a successful future. INTERVIEW OF H.E. MR. VINCENT DEGERT, DEPARTING AMBASSADOR OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO THE REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS AND TO THE REPUBLIC OF SEYCHELLES The EU is a major CD partner in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Can you tell us about EU’s priorities for the region? The policy framework for the EU's development cooperation was laid out in the European Consensus on Development, which sets the political vision underlying the financial proposals of the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (2021-2027). The core objective of EU development cooperation at global level remains the eradication of poverty and the implementation of the SDGs of the UN's 2030 Agenda. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed several global challenges and new important political priorities like putting health at the center of policy making, and the importance of macroeconomic stability. Closer to us, we have established some more precise priorities for our support to the SSA region. We have devised our programs for support until 2027 around six priority areas namely: human development namely health, education, and skills, governance, peace, and security as well as culture, green transition, digital and science, technology, and innovation, sustainable growth and decent jobs namely economic integration, trade, and transport connectivity, sustainable finance, investment climate, and private sector development, and migration and forced displacement The multiple unprecedented shocks have been a blow to the region. How is the EU responding to the recovery plans of countries? On the economic aspect, the SSA region is facing a combination of shocks and policy challenges rarely seen before. Russia’s war in Ukraine is creating major stresses for the global economy, weakening the post-pandemic recovery, and putting macroeconomic stability at risk. One of the biggest risks is the high level of indebtedness of countries. Under the IMF leadership, a solution involving all stakeholders, including China as one of the main loan providers, needs to be carefully devised. Policymakers face an extremely complex environment which poses difficult trade-offs to address the emerging challenges in addition to the unprecedented longer-term challenges, such as increased inequality, escalating fragility and conflict, growing digital divide, and an existential threat of climate change. The EU has decided to support countries through programs that reflect a “people-centered approach”, thus integrating the principles of “leaving no one behind” and “do no harm” and addressing inequalities. The programs promote gender equality, inclusion, and a human rights-based approach as well as investment in women and youth. On the economic aspect, EU has a long track record of promoting sustainable macro-economic environment and providing capacity building and peer to peer learning to support the development and implementation of sound macroeconomic and fiscal policies in the SSA region to attain sustainable economic development. The 6th African Union (AU) and EU Summit of February 2022 confirmed that the AU and the EU have converging interests in a number of areas such as the promotion of a sustainable, job-creating African economy and fight against climate change. But I think the most important modality for EU support to countries is via our joint work with the IMF. EU, as you know, collaborates closely with the IMF. We have been funding, over the whole of Africa, the five Regional Technical Assistance Centers of the IMF (AFRITACs). The EU has been funding AFS since its very inception in 2011. The objective of this collaboration is to support sound macroeconomic, financial, and fiscal policies in the region, and support the economic recovery of the countries following the COVID-19 pandemic. This will also contribute to enhanced regional integration and sustain economic growth in the 13 AFS countries. The action contributes to the deployment of the Global Gateway Africa and the EU strategy for fostering investment in Africa. An EU mission visited AFS and Africa Training Institute (ATI) in early 2023 to discuss a new EU/IMF umbrella agreement for both institutions. Can you tell us about the agreement? As I mentioned, we have been funding regional AFRITACs since decades. We recognize the success of the capacity development model of IMF in core macroeconomic areas, and the importance of its complementarity to the program of the EU. While important achievements have been made in the past, EU decided in 2022 to continue supporting the AFRITACs over the period 2021-2027, in order to contribute to further consolidate reform processes in Africa given their long-term nature. The new support of the EU to IMF is to the tune of EUR 50 million and targets 45 SSA countries. The five centers in the SSA region supported by this action are: African Regional Technical Assistance Centre in West Africa (AFW) African Regional Technical Assistance Centre in West Africa 2 (AFW 2) African Regional Technical Assistance Centre Central (AFC) East African Regional Technical Assistance Centre (AFE) African Regional Technical Assistance Centre South (AFS) H.E. Mr. Vincent Degert, Ambassador of the EU in Mauritius and Mr. Sukhwinder Singh, AFS and ATI Director at the joint AFS-ATI workshop on ‘International Public Sector Accounting Standards, March 7, 2023 For the first time, the EU is also supporting the ATI. The EU firmly believes that the work done by the AFRITACs, and the ATI is key, as it is a unique combination of local expertise and on-the-ground capacity building with strategic technical advice and teaching experience from IMF headquarters and hands-on TA. These types of support respond well to the differing needs of countries in the region. The EU mission, which visited AFS and ATI in March 2023, had as objective the finalization of the legal agreement between with the IMF for a EUR 50 million contract. The mission was conducted by our colleague Ms. Vivien Rigler from the European Commission Headquarters in Brussels. She was accompanied by one of my colleagues based here in the EU Delegation Mauritius, Ms. Lalita Nosib. Together with one of your IMF colleagues based in Brussels, Mr. Benoit Wiest, they worked closely with the AFS and ATI team over a whole week to agree on joint objectives to be attained via this new support. I would like to seize the opportunity here to thank the Director of AFS and ATI, Mr. Sukhwinder Singh, who, along with his whole team, was instrumental in providing valuable insights for a successful conclusion to this agreement. The agreement was signed on June 16, 2023. I am very proud to inform your readers that this new support to 45 countries in Africa will be managed by my Delegation based here in Mauritius. We look forward to collaborating closely with AFS, ATI, the other AFRITACs, and IMF for a very successful implementation of this new landmark agreement. You are leaving after four years in Mauritius. Are there any anecdotes or memories that you wish to share with our readers? Well, I came to Mauritius in September 2019. My tenure in Mauritius was characterized by three major shocks. The first of course was the COVID-19 pandemic that started in March 2020. The second shock came in May 2020 when Mauritius entered the EU high risk list for Money Laundering following its listing by the OECD/FATF. To compound these two shocks, there was a third shock, namely the Wakashio oil spill catastrophe in July 2020. These triple shocks have forever marked me as they made my time in Mauritius quite busy. I wish to inform readers that EU was the Co-Chair of Technical Assistance Coordination Committee (TACC) that was established together with other development partners, to oversee and assist the Mauritius authorities to improve the AML/CFT regime. This was a laudable achievement because it assisted the authorities to address most the FATF’s technical compliance requirements and exited FATF grey-list and EU high risk list and improved the country’s risk ratings. I am sharing this to make readers aware of the implication of financial good governance and due diligence. For Mauritius protecting the integrity of its financial system including the global business sector remains fundamental given its economic and financial architecture. The EU has also played its part by reviewing the listing process on AML/CFT. We now have more agile lists, with sanctions that are directly proportional to the risks involved, and with recommendations for improvement that accompany the listing. 10TH ATI SC MEETING, KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, JUNE 15, 2023 As ATI completes its first decade of operations – during which the scale of operations has expanded rapidly – the Steering Committee met for its 10th meeting on June 15th, 2023, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), under the chairmanship of the Honorable Nicolas Kazadi Kadima-Nzuji, Minister of Finance of DRC. The Steering Committee Meeting was attended by 97 officials (both virtually and in-person) and 18 contributing member countries. The Committee welcomed the workplan for fiscal year 2024 and supported: (i) its focus on traditional core macroeconomic and financial topics, including critical conjunctural issues such as debt and fiscal sustainability; (ii) the increases in training on new priorities such as climate, digitization, and gender; (iii) the mix of in person and virtual deliveries that supports addressing excess demand in the face of financing constraints, and continued innovation with hybrid and blended modalities; and (iv) the continued deepening of partnerships with other IMF regional capacity development centers to help respond to unmet demand. The Committee thanked all those that have provided financial contributions to ATI. In particular, it noted the recent increased commitment to ATI from the host country, Mauritius, and thanked the European Union for the European Commission’s first ever contribution to ATI. The ATI and IMF thank the authorities of the DRC for their warm hospitality and for facilitating the organization of the 10th Steering Committee Meeting. 2023 RCDC OFFICE MANAGER AND LOCAL STAFF RETREAT The 2023 Regional Capacity Development Centers (RCDC) Office Manager and Local Staff Retreat was held from February 27 to March 3 at IMF HQ in Washington. The agenda covered topics such as HR, CDMAP, corporate services and facilities, financial management and controls, and communication and technology. Mr. Kanand Gooly, Chief of Administration and Mrs. Wenda Morin, Program Officer represented ATI at this retreat. ATI WORKSHOPS ON “CLIMATE CHANGE AND MACRO-FINANCIAL POLICIES” WITH AFE AND AFS The ATI co-organized two workshops on “Climate Change and Macro-Financial Policies” with AFE and AFS, respectively. The inaugural ATI-AFE workshop was held at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies in Nairobi from March 6-10, with 25 participants from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda attending. Former CBK Governor, Dr. Patrick Njoroge, provided the closing remarks and noted the challenge posed by climate shocks and the importance of integrating climate change in policy formulation. During June 5-9, 2023, ATI and AFS collaborated with the SARB and hosted the workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa. 30 officials from 10 AFS countries attended. Workshop participants were exposed to topics such as climate risks and vulnerabilities, resilience building through adaptation, mitigation policies, managing fiscal and financial sector risks, and mobilizing climate finance. Participants were also introduced to tools that the IMF has been developing to integrate natural disasters and climate change in policy frameworks. They also delivered country presentations to promote peer-to-peer learning. The workshops were also attended by external partners: the workshops have so far been attended by FCDO, USAID, and GCF staff. ATI plans to collaborate with other Regional Technical Assistance Centers to offer similar workshops throughout the SSA region. ATI IN NUMBERS Over January-June 2023, 671 officials from across 49 sub-Saharan African countries attended ATI courses. Demand remains very high with total applications over this period of 3109, exceeding acceptance by almost five-fold on average. Consistent with encouraging female participation, the acceptance rate of female applicants was 29% compared to 18% for male applicants, resulting in a share of female participants as a share of total participants of 40%. ATI has also been encouraging increased participation particularly from Lusophone countries, reflected in the increase from 10% in July-December 2022 to 12% in January-June 2023. One of the main contributing factors is the delivery of all courses with Portuguese interpretation. ATI TRAINING During January-June 2023, ATI hosted 24 courses on core IMF areas and new priorities such as Gender, Fintech, Corruption and Digital currency among others. Below, we highlight 4 of these courses, with the remaining courses listed in Table 1. ATI TRAINING Financial Development and Financial Inclusion January 9-27, 2023 ICD delivered its first blended course on Financial Development and Financial inclusion (FDFI) at ATI during January 9-27, 2023. The course comprised one week of virtual training and another week of in-person interactions in Mauritius, with a one-week break in between. The virtual segment used asynchronous and synchronous sessions and covered conceptual issues on capital market development, SMEs' access to finance and Fintech. The in-person part of the course was hands-on and included discussions on case studies, workshops, and presentations on assessing the performance of the three financial systems in Africa. Course facilitators were pleased with the outcome of this blended learning course. Compared to standard in-person and virtual courses, participant engagement was much richer, more frequent, and more widespread—providing for greater peer learning opportunities. This format was more flexible and allowed for greater customization to address issues and concerns raised during the course. A case study on taxes on mobile payments was added during this offering in response to strong interest expressed by participants. Debt Sustainability and Debt Restructuring January 17-20, 2023 The course on Debt Sustainability and Restructuring, presented by the Legal Department, together with the Strategy and Policy Department, the Monetary and Capital Market Department and the African Department of the IMF, took place at ATI between January 17-20, 2023. 36 government officials from 26 sub-Saharan African countries attended. The course provided an overview of tools for debt sustainability analysis, practices in sovereign debt management, the principles and frameworks for sovereign debt restructuring, including past country experiences, and the role, mandate and policies of the IMF in the context of its member countries’ sovereign debt restructuring. The course also provided an overview of the support available on the continent for countries embarking on sovereign debt restructuring operations. As part of this overview, staff from the African Development Banks, African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) and the World Bank discussed the potential available support from their respective institutions. Gender Inequality and Macroeconomics January 30- February 3, 2023 Building on the early success of ATI's pioneering course on Gender and Macroeconomics, ICD added a new course on Gender Inequality and Macroeconomics to its curriculum. The first in-person delivery of the course took place at the ATI from January 30- February 3, 2023, and generated strong interest, with 136 applicants for 26 available spots. Participants were eager to share their countries' experiences, which made for lively discussions and debates throughout the course. They were also very engaged during an outreach presentation on the IMF's 2022 Gender Strategy which coincided with the first day of the course. The course received an overall score of 4.8 out of 5, and participants registered an appreciable average learning gain of 13.3%. Blended HFI/QNA introductory course April 24- 28, 2023 A course on Quarterly National Accounts and High-Frequency Indicators was organized by STA with the support of ATI, and funded by the Data for Decisions Fund, using a blended format for the first time. The course included an asynchronous online section and a synchronous section delivered at ATI. During the asynchronous section the participants completed the materials in a self-paced format, with the lecturers’ assistance on scheduled office hours. The synchronous section focused on practical compilation issues. The course was very highly rated by the participants (4.9 out of 5). Participants registered strong learning gains of around 32%. WEBINARS/OUTREACH To complement classroom training and diversify its modalities of CD delivery, ATI hosted 5 non-course events (webinars, virtual conferences, and workshops, outreach) between January and June 2023. Three are summarized in Table 2, while the other two are detailed below. WEBINAR FX Reserves Risk Management March 28- 30, 2023 A three-day webinar discussed the application of the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) strategy—used to identify and manage risks faced by corporations while accounting for risk appetite and tolerance—to the management of foreign exchange (FX) reserves. Deputy Governor Andrew Abir from the Bank of Israel (BoI) and experts from the Central Bank of Brazil (CBB) and the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM) (i) discussed the role of the ERM framework in supporting decision-making by promoting stronger governance, enhancing transparency, and fostering efficient resource allocation; (ii) presented how the ERM can be used in practice for the management of international reserves; (iii) shared the IMF’s approach to using ERM for FX reserve management; and (iv) provided illustrative and practical insights from the experiences of the CBB, BoI, and IMF on the topic. WEBINAR Chapters 3 and 4 of The World Economic Outlook June 12, 2023 The ATI hosted a virtual presentation on two analytical chapters of the April 2023 World Economic Outlook. Over 350 people from the SSA region joined the session. Mr. Andrea Presbitero (Deputy Division Chief, Research Department) presented on how fragmentation is leading to a realignment of FDI flows. Mr. Sakai Ando presented on how past fiscal consolidation episodes could inform current fiscal policy challenges across countries. Discussions focused, among others, on how countries could improve their conditions to attract FDI inflows and how the composition of fiscal consolidation matters. The distributional implications of various consolidation mix were also raised. PEER-TO-PEER AND ATI RESEARCH SEMINARS During January-June 2023, ATI continued to host its Peer-to-Peer Research Seminar (P2PRS) Series, to help expand research networks in the SSA region and provide an outlet for interested officials from government organizations and academics from the region to present their ongoing research. The five P2PRS presentations (see Table 3) covered papers on the governance, banking sector, energy among others. All presentations are available here in English, French, and Portuguese. FEEDBACK FROM PARTICIPANTS ..., I was not disappointed with what I heard from my colleagues who had already participated in ATI courses. Mr. Christian Lubabila KANDOLO, Economist/Assistant, Department of Research and Statistics, Banque Centrale du Congo AT 23.23 Financial Programming and Policies I really enjoyed my stay in Mauritius (the landscape, the ocean, and visits to other cities) and for the first time, I was not disappointed with what I heard from my colleagues who had already participated in ATI courses. Regarding the course, it was very informative in terms of content and the workshop sessions were well prepared to allow us to assimilate the different themes learned from the speakers. It was a great experience to share our knowledge with the other participants. I look forward to receiving your invitation for further courses in Mauritius. Critical set of knowledge for countries in high distress of debt Mr. Frank PRAH, Economist, Research Department, Bank of Ghana, Ghana AT 23.20V Debt Sustainability and Debt Restructuring The course was timely and insightful. Regarding sovereign debt restructuring, I feel much more empowered to better appreciate what needs to be done and when, what needs to be avoided, the cost and benefits of the process, and how to minimize the unavoidable costs. I think it is a critical set of knowledge for countries in high distress of debt where restructuring is imminent. It will help avoid needless errors that may rather worsen the socioeconomic cost of the process. ... this training, very enriching and lively, perfectly met my expectations Ms. Sarindralalaina RAHOILISOA, Assistant, Charge d ‘Etudes, Approval and Resolution, Central Bank of Madagascar, Madagascar AT 23.28 Bank Restructuring and Resolution I had the privilege of participating in the training provided by the ATI-IMF in Ebène Maurice from March 27 to 31 on bank restructuring and resolution. As a resolution officer with the Banking and Financial Supervision Commission of Madagascar, this training, very enriching and lively, perfectly met my expectations, and this, also thanks to the competence of the trainers. To all those who contributed to the success of this training, thank you! STAFF NEWS STAFF NEWS: PRISCILLA MUTHOORA Priscilla Muthoora joined the ATI as Resident Advisor (Macroeconomic and Financial Policies) in January 2023. Prior to that she was a Senior Economist in the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department. Priscilla joined the IMF in 2009 and has participated in several country missions in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has also worked in the core team coordinating the production of the IMF’s Fiscal Monitor. Her research focuses on fiscal policy and institutions, inequality, and the political economy of inclusive growth. Priscilla holds an MSc in Economics for Development and a PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford. STAFF NEWS: NICOLAS ARAGON Prior to joining AFRITAC South and Africa Training Institute, Mr Nicolas Aragon worked at the National Bank of Ukraine as Principal Economist. During this time, he worked in the Research division, and supported diverse policy responses during COVID and the war. His research is policy oriented, and deals with the intersection between economic crises, growth, and policy responses; both in developed and developing countries. He also lectured at Universidad Carlos III in Madrid and at Kyiv School of Economics and held a risk modeling expert position at UBS. Nicolas is an Argentinian citizen and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from European University Institute. STAFF NEWS: NADEEM JEETUN Nadeem Jeetun joined the Africa Training Institute in March 2023. He was previously an economist at the Bank of Mauritius, where he spent 7 years mainly in the Economics and Research Division, with stints in the Governor’s Office and the Currency Department. His areas of work included monetary policy, forecasting and applied economic research. Prior to working at the central bank, Nadeem worked in the telecommunication and market research sectors. Nadeem holds a degree in Economics from University College London and a Master’s degree in Business Economics from City University, London. He is also a ‘IPMA Level D’ Certified Project Management Associate. STAFF NEWS: SANDHYA RUGHOO Ms. Rughoo has been working in the education sector for around a decade and her areas of expertise include auditing and process improvement. She has spent most of her career in Australia, at the Australian Institute of Business where she climbed up the rungs until she became responsible of the Assessment Department. A Certified Blackboard Practitioner, she was also involved in the implementation of other Student Information Systems and Student Learning Systems like Moodle. Her sense of organization and love for sharing her knowledge with others helped her lead her own team at the Open University of Mauritius, before joining the Africa Training Institute of the IMF on 16th January 2023. STAFF NEWS: MOKSHADA RAUMNAUTH Passionate about Mathematics, its intricate linkages with problem solving and infinite possibilities, Mokshada holds a BSc (Hons) Mathematics with Statistics and an MSc in Applied Statistics with Operational Research. Prior to joining the Ministry of Social Integration, Social Security and National Solidarity, where she worked for 6 years to support the government’s initiative for the marginalised population, she interned as a Mathematics Educator at a secondary school where she strived to encourage girls to have a liking for STEM subjects. She joined the Africa Training Institute in Dec 2022. Thank you for reading this Newsletter! Africa Training Institute | Ebène | Facebook Please send us a note for any further inquiries. NEWSLETTER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The 10th Edition of the Newsletter was prepared by Mr. Sukhwinder Singh (Director), Mr. Carlos de Resende (Deputy Director) and Ms. Priscilla Muthoora (Senior Economist). Ms. Wenda Morin, Program Officer, coordinated the logistics and editorial process. We would like to express our deep appreciation for contributions from: Mr. Vimal Thakoor, Senior Economist, ATI-IMF, Mauritius Mr. Nicolas Aragon, Economist, ATI-IMF, Mauritius Mr. Nadeem Jeetun, Economic Analyst, ATI-IMF, Mauritius Mr. Kanand Gooly, Chief of Administration, ATI-IMF, Mauritius Ms. Deena Veerapen, Program Officer, ATI-IMF, Mauritius Ms. Diksha Ramdawa, Program Officer, ATI-IMF, Mauritius Ms. Anna Joorun-Somna, Program Officer, ATI-IMF, Mauritius Ms. Mokshada Raumnauth, Program Officer, ATI-IMF, Mauritius Ms. Sandhya Rughoo, Program Officer, ATI-IMF, Mauritius Ms. Shamneez Mohamudbucus, IT Administrator, ATI-IMF, Mauritius Mr. Steeve Rackin, IT Technician, ATI-IMF, Mauritius, Mauritius Ms. Charline Ramspacher, Departing ATI Resident Advisor Mr. Ian Nield, Departing ATI Resident Advisor Mr. Christian Lubabila KANDOLO, Banque centrale du Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo Mr. Frank PRAH, Bank of Ghana, Ghana Ms. Sarindralalaina RAHOILISOA, Central Bank of Madagascar, Madagascar