Abidjan: The International Monetary Fund (IMF), with support from the Governments of Japan and Germany, and in collaboration with regional technical assistance centers (AFRITACs Central and West), organized a series of Interregional Seminars on Public Investment Management (SEIGIP) in 2022, 2023, and 2025. These seminars, aimed at strengthening public investment management (PIM), brought together approximately 60 senior officials from 21 sub-Saharan African countries, predominantly Francophone, to evaluate the impact of IMF’s capacity development efforts and the benefits of South-South cooperation.
According to Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the first edition of SEIGIP addressed the challenges of PIM within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the importance of robust legal and institutional frameworks. It also delved into methods for identifying and supporting climate change-sensitive public investments. The second seminar, SEIGIP 2, held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire from May 30 to June 1, 2023, continued the focus on PIM reforms, covering topics such as project appraisal and selection, budgeting and execution, asset management, and fiscal risks.
The third seminar, SEIGIP 3, took place in Libreville, Gabon from April 28-30, 2025, focusing on the upstream phases of the PIM cycle. The seminar highlighted the necessity of ex-ante evaluation to enhance project selection and shared best practices for project selection, including strategic alignment, socioeconomic return, and financial viability. It also addressed the digitalization of PIM processes and their alignment with budgetary information systems.
The successive SEIGIPs underscored the value of long-term exchanges between technical assistance providers and national experts. Participants, many of whom attended multiple editions, demonstrated an increasing mastery of PIM topics due to the technical assistance provided by the IMF and its regional centers between seminars. The seminars also facilitated lively debates, practical exercises, and fostered professional connections among participants.
The format of SEIGIP, now well-established and highly praised, received positive feedback from participants, with 97.7% indicating their ability to apply the acquired knowledge and skills. The seminars were credited with enhancing the quality of public investments, with 95.6% of participants expressing overall satisfaction.
Looking forward, the IMF plans to build on the momentum generated by these seminars. Areas for improvement include extending the duration of SEIGIP to four and a half days to allow for more practical exercises and in-depth training. Additionally, the dissemination of best practices through texts and manuals during the seminars will be emphasized. SEIGIP 4 is scheduled to take place from January 26 to 30, 2026, in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
