Abidjan: The International Monetary Fund (IMF), backed by financial support from the Governments of Japan and Germany, and in collaboration with regional technical assistance centers (AFRITACs Central and West), organized three editions of the Interregional Seminar on Public Investment Management (SEIGIP) across 2022, 2023, and 2025 in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa. These seminars were attended by around 60 senior officials from 21 sub-Saharan African countries, offering a platform to evaluate IMF capacity development and the benefits of South-South cooperation.
According to International Monetary Fund, the first edition of SEIGIP focused on addressing Public Investment Management (PIM) challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It emphasized strengthening institutional frameworks by underlining the necessity of sound legal and institutional structures for effective PIM. Climate change-sensitive public investments were also highlighted, discussing methods to identify and support such investments.
The second SEIGIP session, held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from May 30 to June 1, 2023, continued the focus on PIM reforms, covering a wide array of topics. These included project appraisal and selection, budgeting and execution, asset management, and fiscal risks. The session highlighted the importance of linking budgeting quality with execution quality and promoting sustainable public asset management practices.
The third seminar, conducted in Libreville, Gabon, from April 28 to 30, 2025, delved deeper into the initial phases of the PIM cycle. It focused on ex-ante evaluation, systematizing its use for improved project selection, and sharing best practices in project selection, public-private partnerships, and PIM digitalization. This session aimed to align PIM’s information systems with budgetary information systems.
The successive SEIGIPs underscored the value of long-term exchanges involving technical assistance providers and national experts. An increasing technicality of exchanges was noted, with many participants attending multiple editions, reflecting a growing mastery of the subjects. The seminars provided a forum to address complex problems and fostered debate among participants based on shared country experiences.
Practical exercises conducted during the seminars proved productive, creating a collective dynamic and fostering professional connections among participants. The format of the seminars, now stabilized, received acclaim, with 97.7% of participants from SEIGIP3 confident in applying the acquired knowledge and skills. Participants expressed strong agreement that the seminar content would enhance the quality of public investments.
The momentum generated over the past three years has highlighted areas for improvement, such as extending the seminar duration to allow for more practical exercises and in-depth training. SEIGIP 4 is scheduled to take place from January 26 to 30, 2026, in Nouakchott, Mauritania, continuing the efforts to strengthen public investment management in the region.
