News Brief: African Regional Technical Assistance Center to be Established in Tanzania

IMF News, April 29, 2002

Source details

Canonical URL: News Brief: African Regional Technical Assistance Center to be Established in Tanzania

President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania and Horst Köhler, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), signed an agreement in Dar es Salaam to establish an African Regional Technical Assistance Center (AFRITAC) in Tanzania.
Date of news brief: April 29, 2002.
Issued by: IMF EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT, Public Affairs, Media Relations.
Contact details provided: E-mail: publicaffairs@imf.org, media@imf.org; Fax: 202-623-6278; Phone: 202-623-7100.

Purpose: Help countries in East Africa build local capacity for economic and financial management.
Core areas of technical assistance:
- Macroeconomic policy
- Tax policy and revenue administration
- Public expenditure management
- Financial sector policies
- Macroeconomic statistics
Modalities of assistance:
- Team of resident experts
- Short-term specialists
- In-country workshops
- Professional training
- Regional training courses
Cooperation: In close cooperation with the World Bank, the African Development Bank and donors.

IMF membership in the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) as part of this initiative; ACBF is the implementing agency for the Partnership for Capacity Building in Africa (PACT).
PACT: Collaborative framework established in 1999 between African governments and development and financial partners to increase capacity building across Africa.
Contribution: AFRITAC is presented as a contribution by the IMF to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

AFRITAC in Dar es Salaam expected to start operations by September 2002.
A second AFRITAC to be set up shortly in West Africa to serve countries in that region.
IMF plans to establish five AFRITACs over the medium term, after reviewing the experience of the first two centers.

Initiative follows a request from African heads of state to the IMF Managing Director at their meeting in Dar es Salaam in February 2001 for enhanced IMF support for capacity building in Africa.
Creation of AFRITAC responds to urgent need identified by African leaders for support to promote economic growth and reduce poverty.

IMF technical assistance objective: Strengthen human and institutional capacity to improve policy-making quality and advise on design and implementation of effective macroeconomic and structural policies.
Technical assistance is a benefit of IMF membership and complements surveillance and lending.
Current allocation: about 30 percent of IMF technical assistance goes to Africa.

Source: News Brief: African Regional Technical Assistance Center to be Established in Tanzania — April 29, 2002, IMF EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT.