MEFMI / UNCTAD train Government officials on DMFAS

MEFMI has made significant progress in building the capacity of users and database administrators of the Debt Management and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS) in the region.  However, a recurring challenge for member countries has been the ability to retain the trained staff in debt management offices. High staff turnover continues to be a threat to efforts and prospects for sustaining capacity in debt management. In addition, the United Nations Conference on Debt and Development (UNCTAD) constantly upgrades the DMFAS in line with new practices in debt management, advances in computer technology and the evolving needs of client institutions; hence the need to continuously upgrade the skills of debt management officials.

As part of support to member countries’ efforts to build comprehensive public debt databases and enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public debt, MEFMI conducted a training for users and database administrators of the DMFAS in collaboration with the UNCTAD from 22 to 26 November 2021. The course enhanced participants’ functional and technical skills in DMFAS version 6.1.  The officials are expected to effectively use the system in debt monitoring and analysis in their respective offices and institutions. In addition, new functionalities and enhancements embodied in the planned DMFAS version 6.2 were introduced to participants. These includes the calculation of nominal values of loans and debt securities; and data preparation for the Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy. With the knowledge and skills acquired, participants are expected to maintain comprehensive and up-to-date public debt databases that facilitate timely retrieval of statistics to inform policy analyses and strategy formulation.

A total of 21 officials from four (4) of the five (5) MEFMI DMFAS user countries, namely Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, participated in the course. Female participants constituted 48 percent of the total, while 52 percent were male. The course was facilitated by three (3) resource persons from UNCTAD, namely Ms. Roula Katergi, Mr. Khaled Ibrahim, and Mr. John Barrozo.

UNCTAD plans to release a new and improved version of DMFAS in 2022, and MEFMI will continue to support member countries to migrate to the new version.

Prepared by Tiviniton Makuve