NEWSLETTER: JULY - DECEMBER 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, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, BMF-Germany, China, European Investment Bank, European Union 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 Highlights by Mr. Sukhwinder Singh ATI Director The ATI has had an extremely busy six months. Before flagging some of the highlights, I wish to recognize the tremendous contribution of Carlos de Resende, ATI’s Deputy Director, to the Institute. Carlos joined in the middle of the pandemic and steered the Center through the most difficult period since its inauguration. His excellence in teaching, acute strategic vision underpinned by analysis, and strong diplomatic and managerial skills will be missed enormously at ATI. A new agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to finance courses at ATI is an important step in deepening engagement with Japan, the largest donor to IMF capacity development. The first course to be supported will be fiscal sustainability in February 2024. Another first this semester was the launch of ATI’s climate webinar series in November which aims to foster peer learning on issues related to climate and macroeconomics, with a strong focus on policies to manage climate risks. The first seminar was on climate finance. Look out for more events in the coming months. ATI continued its efforts to deliver work at a regional level, with workshops on climate change and macro-financial policies in Cote D’Ivoire and Nigeria, and the annual support for the SADC macroeconomic peer review process through a 2-week course in South Africa. ATI also collaborated with the AfDB by hosting training on its Africa Information Highway, including The Open Data Platform. Other highlights this semester that are further described in the newsletter include courses in Monetary Policy, in the regulation of FINTECH, and on tax policy and administration. This was complemented by webinars on the latest economic outlook for sub-Saharan Africa and on highly topical issues including the IMF’s latest work on GOVTECH. I’m pleased to say we continued the Peer-to-Peer Research seminar series which allows researchers in public institutions to discuss their work with ATI alumni and IMF staff, with a paper on Monetary Policy in the BEAC. We encourage government officials to submit their papers for consideration. Finally, we’ve been busy preparing for a conference to mark the first 10 years of ATI in January 2024. More on that in the next newsletter, but meanwhile here is the link to the conference website. NEWS & EVENTS Farewell to Carlos De Resende, Deputy Director (2020-23) In July 2023, the ATI said farewell to Carlos de Resende who had served as Deputy Director since September 2020. Carlos’ tenure was characterized by a scaling-up of ATI’s activities and the exploration of new modes of delivery against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Carlos reminisces on his time at ATI below: “As the Deputy Director of ATI from September 2020 to July 2023, I found immense fulfillment in contributing to the IMF’s CD operations. From a privileged position, on the ground, close to member-countries CD needs, interacting directly with course participants and engaging with country authorities from ATI member-countries, became the highlight of my role. Witnessing the significant transformation of ATI during this period, including the transition to remote training post-COVID, rapid scaling of operations, and the introduction of innovative blended and hybrid learning modalities, was both challenging and rewarding. I was fortunate to have had the support and guidance from two visionary ATI Directors—Abdoul Wane and Sukhwinder Singh—who left their marks to bring ATI to the forefront of IMF training excellence. As I departed to return to Washington, I carried with me a sense of accomplishment, knowing that I played a role in keeping the center well-placed to continue providing high-quality, demand-driven capacity development services to Sub-Saharan African countries.” Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) On November 17, 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed their first-ever capacity development funding partnership. The IMF was represented by the Director of the Institute for Capacity Development, Dominique Desruelle, while JICA was represented by its Senior Vice President, Masao YAHARA. Through this agreement, JICA will fund a training course on fiscal sustainability delivered by the Africa Training Institute to sub-Saharan country officials during fiscal year 2024. The IMF thanks JICA for its financial support to economic capacity building efforts in Africa. New Webinar Series on Climate In November 2023, the ATI launched a new Peer-to-Peer webinar series on Climate Change (the “Climate Series”). The webinar series is an integral component of the ATI’s Climate Change Capacity Development Strategy (CCCDS) and aims to foster exchanges among ATI’s member countries, policymakers, and academics on climate risks and policy responses. The inaugural Climate Series took place on November 14, 2023, and featured a presentation by Torsten Ehlers and Charlotte Gardes-Landolfini on “Financial Sector Policies to Unlock Private Climate Finance in Emerging Market and Developing Economies” from the October 2023 Global Financial Stability Report. The webinar was moderated by Vimal Thakoor, ATI’s Resident Advisor on Macroeconomics and Climate Change, and attended by over 200 participants from sub-Saharan Africa. Regional Collaboration Workshop on Climate Change and Macro-Financial Policies ATI, ARITAC WEST (AFW) and AFRITAC Central (AFC) organized a workshop at the Movenpick hotel in Abidjan from March September 18-22, and at the Central bank of Nigeria in Abuja together with AFW2 from September 25-29, 2023. Ninety-eight 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. These workshops, building on those in Kenya and South Africa, showcased the Fund’s analysis and tools on climate change. The coverage of topics (climate risks and vulnerabilities, mitigation policies, adaptation policies, financial sector and fiscal risks) as well as tools (DIGNAD, DDT with natural disasters (DDT-ND), Green PFM, and Climate PIMA) allowed participants to understand the macro-financial linkages, as well as how the Fund can support member countries. Following two very successful collaborations to offer regional training workshops in the first half of 2023 in Eastern and Southern Africa, ATI delivered two more workshops in Cote d’Ivoire (in partnership with AFRITAC Central) and Nigeria (in partnership with AFRITAC West) in September 2023. A total of 98 participants attended these two regional workshops. Several indicated that the topics covered were highly relevant for their work and will help them incorporate climate considerations into policies in their respective countries. ATI would like to thank the Central Bank of Nigeria for hosting one of the regional workshops on the premises of its training institute: “The ATI is grateful to the Central Bank of Nigeria and its staff for providing their training academy for the workshop and the hospitality extended to the seminar participants.” -Vimal Thakoor, Resident Advisor, ATI Workshop in Cote d’Ivoire- September 18-22, 2023 “... It was a great opportunity for knowledge sharing and learning between state actors (ministries of the economy and the environment) and central bank actors who compared their understanding of climate change. The modules taught made it possible, on the one hand, to enlighten me in particular on the role of the IMF in terms of climate change, on green management and climate assessment tools, as well as on the constraints and opportunities linked to the mobilization of private sector resources for the fight against climate change.” Mr. Ives Eric Kouassi Head of the Promotion of Environmental Matrices department Department of Environmental Quality and Risk Prevention Ministry of the Environment, Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition Workshop in Nigeria- September 25-29, 2023 “As a central banker, I have constantly grappled with the role the central bank needs to play in pushing the climate change agenda. This particular workshop represented my first comprehensive lesson on the macroeconomic and financial implications of climate change and the mitigation and adaptation policies needed to deliver on the Paris Agreement. The opportunity to interact with, and learn from, colleagues from other institutions in the sub-region was priceless. I am now better equipped to contribute to the development of climate change policies at the Bank of Ghana.” Ms. Natalia Owoo Economist/ Deputy Chief Manager Bank of Ghana Ghana “The workshop on Climate Change and Macro-Financial Policy was awesome. Some of us learnt keenly about the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) administered by the Fund: eligibility and financing terms, as well as the qualification, accessibility and conditionality involve in granting the RST. We were also introduced to the challenges and opportunities in scaling-up private climate finance in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs). Our profound gratitude to the sponsors, the organizers, the facilitators and the hosts for a well prepared, planned and executed workshop.” Alhaji Bangura Deputy Director Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Sierra Leone “The course came at a good time, as Cape Verde is currently negotiating a RSF with the IMF. In this sense, the course will help us to define the best policies and select the best projects, aiming to comply with the assumed objectives of reducing CO2, creating resilience in our economy, achieving sustainable development and contributing to the construction of a better and friendly world. of the environment.” Mr. Carlos Bentub Economist SPAME - National Planning Directorate Ministry of Finance and Business Development Cabo Verde Southern African Development Community (SADC) Peer Reviews Macroeconomic Surveillance Workshop ATI collaborated with the secretariats of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Committee of Central Bank Governors (CCBG) to offer a Macroeconomic Surveillance Workshop in the context of the upcoming Peer Reviews by several SADC member states. The workshop took place between November 20 to December 1, 2023, in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was attended by 44 participants from Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania (review countries), Angola, Eswatini, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (reviewing countries). This collaborative workshop has been offered for the last 8 years but was delivered for the first time in a two-week course format this year. The workshop included topics from four core courses in the curriculum of the Institute for Capacity Development (ICD): Macroeconometric forecasting, Nowcasting, Financial programming and policies and Macroeconomic Diagnostics. Mr. Max Alier, the IMF Resident Representative to South Africa, delivered an overview lecture on the IMF approach to surveillance while Ms. Luchelle Soobyah and Mr. Jeffrey Rakgalakane, delivered a guest lecture on the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) Quarterly Projection Model and Nowcasting. “The course was very useful in strengthening capacities and improving skills in terms of financial policies and programming, modeling, diagnosis and macroeconomic forecasting. Counselors had highly calibrated and scientifically refined knowledge and were focused and attentive in transmitting knowledge in a clear, assertive, and objective way.” Mr. Martins Paulo Afonso, Head of Department Department for Macroeconomic Policy and Management National Directorate of Socio-Economic Studies Mr. Hobby M. Simuchile Macroeconomic Surveillance Officer SADC Secretariat "The course, which is a good blend of Financial Programming and Policies, Macroeconomic modelling and Forecasting, Macroeconomic Diagnostics and Debt Sustainability, all packaged into two weeks of intense learning, exceeded my expectations. The course’s contents were useful tools for surveying the regional economic landscape and peer reviewing.” REGIONAL SEMINAR ON THE BANK’S AFRICA INFORMATION HIGHWAY INITIATIVE: DECEMBER 11 - 15, 2023 The ATI recently hosted a seminar on the Africa Information Highway (AIH), organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The seminar, which gathered 46 participants from various African countries, centered around two key themes: Enhancing capacity to improve the timeliness of macroeconomic data dissemination, particularly on National Summary Data Pages (NSDPs) for lusophone and anglophone countries participating in the IMF's Enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS). Boosting countries' capacities to enhance data access by successfully implementing the ongoing joint project funded by the African Development Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This project aims to support the implementation of the Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA 2). ATI IN NUMBERS Over July-December 2023, 583 officials from across 46 sub-Saharan African countries attended ATI courses. Demand remains very high with total applications over this period of 2192, exceeding acceptance by almost four-fold on average. The share of female to total participants was 44%, reflecting a higher acceptance rate for female applicants (33%) relative to male applicants (20%). ATI TRAINING During July-December 2023, ATI hosted 19 courses on core IMF areas and new priorities such as Fintech, Climate and compilation of data among others. Below, we highlight 3 of these courses, with the remaining courses listed in Table 1. ATI TRAINING Monetary Policy July 31 – August 11, 2023 Mr. Manuel Tiago Dias, the Governor of Banco Nacional de Angola The in-person Monetary Policy course drew 32 participants from 22 countries, 16 of which were female and 10 from fragile states. This course, presented by the Institute for Capacity Development, offered a comprehensive overview of monetary policy regimes, monetary transmission mechanisms, and the role of monetary policy in macroeconomic stabilization. Lectures introduced the basic theoretical concepts while workshops and case studies reinforced participants' understanding and helped compare and assess a variety of experiences. Participants registered substantial learning gain of 18.1, with 72% of participants scoring 60% or higher. The course featured two guest lectures: the Governor of Banco Nacional de Angola, presented the evolution of monetary policy in his country and its future prospects while Mr. Andrew Berg, deputy director of the IMF's Institute for Capacity Development, discussed the Integrated Policy Framework. The course received an overall rating of 4.7 (out of 5). Selected Issues in Regulation and Supervision of Fintech October 30 – November 2, 2023 The SIFR course, presented by the Monetary and Capital Markets Department focused on global developments in the regulation of fintech, the implications of BigTech in financial services, policy implications of a technology neutral approach to regulation, the growth of Supervisory Technology (SupTech) and the need for public-private collaboration in Regulatory Technology (RegTech). On digital money, the course focused on the public and private digital money stablecoins, and E-money), policy implications, macro-financial effects, and risks. The course included practical case studies on the regulation of financial technology and self-assessment exercises on key aspects of digital money, providing participants with the opportunity to put learnings into practice through group exercises and presentations. The workshop had 32 attendees, from 22 different jurisdictions from SSA, including 7 countries from the list of Fragile and Conflict-affected States. The quizzes, case studies and group work showed a good level of interaction and enthusiasm amongst the participants. Tax Policy and Tax Administration Theory and Practice November 24 – December 1, 2023 This 1-week virtual course, presented by the Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD), provided some basic knowledge about how IMF staff assess tax systems of various countries, how to improve the design of tax policy, and what changes in tax administration are recommended to increase revenue mobilization. The course covered key issues in tax policy design and implementation, and in effective tax administration. Participants highlighted common challenges faced by their jurisdictions in enhancing revenue mobilization. FAD experts highlighted the work of Fund with ministries of finance to help improve their tax systems and raise revenues to meet country development and social objectives. WEBINARS/OUTREACH To complement classroom training and diversify its modalities of CD delivery, ATI hosted 8 non-course events (webinars, virtual conferences, and workshops, outreach) between July and December 2023. Three are summarized in Table 2, while the other two are detailed below. WEBINAR Transforming Public Finance through GovTech September 12, 2023 On September 12, 2023, the ATI hosted a webinar on the transformation of public finances and government operations driven by technological innovations, commonly referred to as “GovTech.” A digital divide across and within countries continues to persist and has even increased when the quality of internet connection is taken into account. This webinar summarized the findings of a Staff Discussion Note (SDN2023/004) by the Fiscal Affairs Department and shows that many governments have not been able to harness the full potential of digitalization. The webinar covered important role of Governments in facilitating digital adoption by intervening both on the supply side (investing in infrastructure) and the demand side (increase internet affordability) and the potentially significant dividends from digital adoption for revenue collection and spending efficiency and for outcomes in education, health, and social safety nets. It also emphasized that digitalization is not a substitute for good governance and that comprehensive reform plans embedded in national digital strategies, combined with legal and institutional reforms, are needed to ensure that governments can reap the full benefits of digitalization and manage the risks appropriately. October 2023 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa November 7, 2023 ATI hosted a presentation of the Fall 2023 Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Economic Outlook on November 7th, 2023. The outlook, entitled “Light on the Horizon” was presented by Mr. Saad Quayyum, senior economist in the IMF’s African Department. The presentation covered the gradually improving outlook for the region in terms of growth, inflation, and improving public finances, but also highlighted the significant downside risks, including from rising political instability and a slowdown in China. The growing divergence between the stronger performing non-resource intensive economies compared with resource producers was also emphasized. In terms of policy focus, the seminar stressed the need to rein in inflation in over a dozen countries, the best way to manage significant exchange rate pressures, dealing with continued elevated debt vulnerabilities in the face of a continued funding squeeze, and the wide-ranging structural reforms required to raise per capita incomes. The seminar was attended by 90 officials from across SSA, with questions focusing on how to manage the climate transition, and the factors driving the slower growth in resource intensive economies. Mr. Quayyum also highlighted some of the IMF’s analytical notes supporting its outlook which cover SSA’s Economic Relations with China, some principles and trade-offs in debt restructuring, and how to fund development in an age of austerity. PEER-TO-PEER AND ATI RESEARCH SEMINARS During July-December 2023, ATI hosted a Peer-to-Peer Research Seminar, 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 seminar covered a paper on the “External Constraint and Procyclicality of Monetary Policy of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC)” on the 31st of July 2023 and was attended by 176 attendees. The presenter Mr. Francis Ngomba Bodi from the Central Bank of Central African States) had the chance to discuss the paper with Mr. Engin Kara from the Economics Cardiff University. All presentations are available here in English, French, and Portuguese. FEEDBACK FROM PARTICIPANTS ... great experience having met with various countries across the African continent. Mr. Bolanle, Samson FALADE, Statistician, Department of Statistics, West African Monetary Agency AT23.38 External Debt Statistics External Debt Statistics was one of the workshops I attended with the IMF in Mauritius. It was a great experience having met with various countries across the African continent. The objectives of the workshop are designed to (i) assist in proper understanding of the external debt concepts and definitions, (ii) introduce external debt accounting and recording principles, (iii) familiarize participants with the instrument composition of the external debt, and (iv) discuss the implementation of the accrual of interest in measuring the gross external debt position. The lectures were impactful, and the lecturers had a grasp knowledge of the course. The organizers were professionals who gave participants adequate ambience for learning. ... this training gave me the advantage of familiarizing myself with the international relations of the IMF. Mr. Ankou Yawo GABLA, Inspector, Public Treasure, General Directorate of the Treasury and Public Accounting, Togo AT23.43 Workshop on the Joint IMF WB Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries (LIC-DSF) Indeed, from September 11 to 15, 2023 in Mauritius I participated in the workshop on the debt sustainability framework for low-income countries (CVD-PFR) led jointly by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Training Institute for Africa (IFA). At the end of this training, my experiences acquired during this week allowed me to have a global view of a country's economy, the interrelationships between sectors, self-confidence and capacity building in terms of public debt management and limiting the risk of over-indebtedness. Also, this training gave me the advantage of familiarizing myself with the international relations of the IMF. In summary, it should be noted that this training met my expectations. The content of the modules and the material made available to us especially the dynamism of those responsible for organizing the workshop was very adequate. ... reinforced my knowledge about the financial sector. Mr. Biaguito LOPES, Division Chief, General Directorate of Economic Studies, Ministry of Finance, Guinea-Bissau AT23.44V Financial Sector Policies (FSP) By participating in the course, I reinforced my knowledge about the financial sector, ways to prevent financial risks, the effect of systemic risk, asymmetry in financial formation, about creating cushions in good times, about connections between agents, excess credit in the economy can increase the level of non-compliance, creating a strong risk of financial crisis, then in the attempt by States to rescue the banking sector will run the risk of an increase in the deficit and consequently in the debt stock, a Basel I, II and III capital agreement was created, to mitigate the different risks that banks are subject to in order not to become illiquid and insolvent. Thank you for reading this Newsletter! Africa Training Institute | Ebène | Facebook Please send us a note for any further inquiries. NEWSLETTER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The 11th Edition of the Newsletter was prepared by Mr. Sukhwinder Singh (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 Mr. Carlos De Resende, former deputy director, ATI-IMF, Mauritius, Mauritius Mr. Ives Eric Kouassi, Head of the Promotion of Environmental Matrices department, Ministry of the Environment, Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition, Côte D’Ivoire Ms. Natalia Owoo, Economist/ Deputy Chief Manager, Bank of Ghana, Ghana Mr. Carlos Bentub, Economist, SPAME - National Planning Directorate, Ministry of Finance and Business Development, Cabo Verde Mr. Alhaji Bangura, Deputy Director, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Sierra Leone Mr. Bolanle Samson FALADE, Statistician, Department of Statistics, West African Monetary Agency Mr. Ankou Yawo GABLA, Inspector, Public Treasure, General Directorate of the Treasury and Public Accounting, Togo Mr. Biaguito LOPES, Division Chief, General Directorate of Economic Studies, Ministry of Finance, Guinea-Bissau Mr. Martins Paulo Afonso, Head of Department for Macroeconomic Policy and Management, National Directorate of Socio-Economic Studies, Angola Mr. Hobby M. Simuchile, Macroeconomic Surveillance Officer, SADC Secretariat