MEFMI Delivers e-Learning Course on Managing Unsolicited Financing Proposals  

MEFMI conducted an e-Learning course on Managing Unsolicited Financing Proposals from 2 to 20 May 2022. The course was offered as part of the Institute’s efforts to close the knowledge gap in member countries and mitigate potential vulnerabilities that could arise from unsolicited proposals.

A total of 29 officials participated in the course. These were drawn from relevant departments in the Central Banks and Ministries of Finance, Planning and Economic Development from nine (9) of the 14 MEFMI member countries, namely Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The course mentors were Mr. Per-Olof Jönsson, an independent consultant and Ms. Cristina Dimande of the MEFMI Secretariat.

The course comprised three (3) modules, namely: introduction to the common types of unsolicited financing proposals; analysing the proposals and the risks involved; and developing guidelines for managing unsolicited financing proposals. Further, in order to facilitate discussion, weekly webinars were conducted.

The live webinar sessions helped participants to ask questions and get clarifications on the topics covered during the self-paced modules. To this effect, one of the sessions included a practical walkthrough of the Microsoft Excel Template for assessing the financial terms of unsolicited proposals as well as other loans. The webinars also gave participants the opportunity to share and discuss practical experiences from their respective countries. MEFMI expects that participants will use the knowledge gained from the course to assess and analyse unsolicited financing proposals more effectively and thus minimise potential debt vulnerabilities.

By Cristina Dimande