Debt Management

Financial Negotiation Skills and Techniques (MEFMI/UNITAR partnership course)

Type: Course
Date: 12 Oct – 20 Nov 2015
Duration of event: 6 weeks
Location: web-based
Programme area: Public Debt Management
Fee: No fee
Website: https://www.unitar.org/event/financial-negotiation-skills-and-techniques-mefmiunitar-partnership-course

Event focal point email: pft-elearning@unitar.org

Background

This online course is organized by the MEFMI Debt Management Programme in collaboration with UNITAR.
A country’s negotiating capacity has direct bearing on the terms, conditions and cost of borrowing. Through adequate preparation and appropriate negotiation skills and strategies, countries can effectively influence the outcome of loan agreements. This would require building and putting in place negotiation teams having the necessary competencies according to the kind of negotiation at hand. It is important to have clear roles of the team members and all those involved in different stages of the negotiations for external loans.

Developing countries face the challenge of ensuring the appropriate mix of skills to undertake negotiations. From time to time, it is important that officials are coached in loan negotiation techniques and strategies. This course will provide an opportunity for officials to be exposed to concepts of negotiation, international negotiation practices, practical negotiations skills and key considerations in negotiating external loan agreements. This course will be in two components: the first part is offered through e-learning, and the second is residential in order to consolidate the material covered through on-line training.

Learning Objectives
At the end of the course, the participants should be able to:
• Demonstrate familiarity with the global negotiating environment;
• Describe the main characteristics of international financial markets and financial flows;
• Recognize which source of funds caters to a particular purpose; and
• Appraise the contribution of lawyers in financial transactions.

Content and Structure

This online course will cover the following modules:
• Module 1: Introduction
• Module 2: Official Sources of Funds
• Module 3: Commercial Sources of Funds
• Module 4: Debt Renegotiations
• Module 5: The Role of the Lawyer in Financial Transactions

Methodology

In order to ensure the best possible outreach, the course will be delivered through e-learning. Through a multiple-instructional setting, the goal is to achieve the learning objectives by means of learning technologies that match personal learning styles and by the inclusion of non-linear learning that aims at the development of just-in-time skills of adult learners. At the same time, in order to allow participants maximum flexibility of scheduling, the learning will be conducted in an asynchronous manner. Using a state-of-the-art training architecture, MEFMI will combine self-learning with assessments and online discussions. The pedagogy – adapted specifically to professionals in full-time work – will help train participants through various experiences: absorb (read); do (activity); interact (socialize); reflect (relate to one’s own reality).

Targeted Audience

The course is targeted at middle to senior level officials in Central Banks, the Ministries of Finance and Planning as well as Ministries of Justice / Attorney General’s Chambers who are responsible for drafting and reviewing legal documents for government borrowing. Priority will be given to MEFMI member states namely: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Additional Information

A certificate of completion will be issued by MEFMI to all participants who complete the course-related assignments and assessments successfully.

Recommended hardware and software requirements for taking our e-learning courses:
• Platform: Windows XP sp3, Vista sp2, Windows 7 sp1, MacOS X.
• Hardware: 2 GB of RAM and higher for Vista and Windows 7.
• Software: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Powerpoint and Adobe Acrobat Reader (downloadable for free at adobe.com).
• Browser: Internet Explorer 8 or higher; Mozilla Firefox 8 or higher.
• Internet connection: 128kbps and higher.
• Note: JavaScript, pop-ups & cookies must be enabled.

For further information about the course, please email:
Mr. Raphael Otieno
MEFMI Director Debt Management Programme
Email: raphael.otieno@mefmi.org

or

Mr. Lekinyi Mollel
MEFMI Programme Manager – Institutional Development & CSDRMS
Email: lekinyi.mollel@mefmi.org

 

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Debt Management The long-term debt sustainability in the MEFMI region requires that every member state be adequately capacitated to effectively monitor and manage all aspects of sovereign external and domestic debt, including contingent liabilities, as well as monitoring private sector external debt. The adoption of appropriate legislation, strong institutions, prudent policies and strategies and adequate expertise, along with operationally sound systems and procedures that conform to best international practice, plays a pivotal role in this respect.

 

• Short term training through courses, seminars and workshops.

• Senior policy seminars and retreats in selected topical themes in debt management.

• Regional studies on issues or problems that transcend many or all member states, including identification of capacity gaps, development of common solutions and relevant methodologies and instruments.

 

• Building sustainable institutional and professional capacity in client institutions.

• Fostering adoption of best practice in all spheres of total debt management.

• Raising awareness among senior and executive level officials on key emerging challenges and opportunities in debt management.  This is accomplished through addressing identified priority capacity needs and providing training and support in the following professionally segregated functional areas of debt management offices (DMOs):

 

• Loan negotiations and debt reorganization, including the relevant legal aspects.

• Maintaining and coordinating donor financing programmes, including gathering information on creditor policies, practices and precedents that is required for effective negotiations.

• Gathering information, and monitoring domestic and international financial lending terms and conditions.

• Planning and managing domestic debt issuance programmes, including determining the appropriate timing and type of instruments to issue.

 

• Sensitivity analysis of new loan proposals or offers, to determine the optimal sources of government borrowing.

• Review of existing debt portfolios, for publication or dissemination to stakeholders and the general public.

• Debt sustainability analysis (DSA), and where necessary determination of required debt relief to restore debt sustainability and appropriate levels of new financing and debt strategies.

• Domestic debt sustainability analysis (DDSA), to determine fiscal sustainability and macro-economically sustainable levels of domestic debt and required fiscal correction.

• Cost-and-risk analysis, in the context of risk modelling and formulation of country medium term debt strategies (MTDSs).

• Integrating debt information and analysis into wider government budgeting, macroeconomic and cash management and forecasting.

 

• Manual record keeping and security, through registers or filing systems on a loan-by-loan basis, covering details of individual loan agreements or amendments, disbursements or realization of proceeds from loan issues, debt service transactions, as well as other supporting information, such as interest rates and exchanges applicable to loan transactions.

• Tracking and projecting loan disbursements and future debt flows for purposes of meeting debt servicing needs, balance of payments and government cash management and forecasting.

• Monitoring loan maturities and performing the debt servicing processes in an accurate and timely manner.

• Recording, validation/auditing and maintenance of up-to-date and secure debt databases, through effective use of computer-based debt management systems (CBDMS), notably the COMSEC’s CS-DRMS and UNCTAD’s DMFAS, and other government financial systems such as integrated financial management information systems (IFMIS) and Book Entry Systems or Auction Systems of central banks.

• Generation of debt reports and statistics that are customized to the requirements of the various domestic and international users, including for debt portfolio reviews and for electronic reporting to the World Bank Debtor Reporting System (DRS) and also to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through their country missions, Statistics Department and the Data Dissemination Standards