Côte d’Ivoire has one of the most dynamic economies in West Africa. This dynamism has been reflected in its remarkable economic performance over the last decade. Indeed, more recently, while growth in the West African region reached 5.6% in 2021, Côte d’Ivoire recorded 7% growth during this period.
In a spirit of continuous improvement, the country has implemented a number of reforms to overcome the many obstacles that linger on its path to development. These include reforms in the fight against corruption and economic and financial crime. This has led to the creation of institutions such as the Anti-Corruption Brigade, the High Authority for Good Governance (HABG) and the National Financial Information Processing Unit (CENTIF). These reforms are even more justified given that in its latest report of 2021, Transparency International indicated that Côte d’Ivoire was ranked 105th out of 180 countries in terms of corruption. This result proves that the efforts already made by the government are not yet sufficient.
To support these efforts by Côte d’Ivoire, the German government, through its cooperation agencies GIZ and BMZ, has set up the project “Good Governance for Increased Investment and Employment in Côte d’Ivoire“, which aims to support the reform efforts of the Ivorian government to improve the investment and business climate by strengthening the competitiveness of its public administration.
To carry out the programme at the national level, a project team was set up with the mission of strengthening the integrity, competitiveness, and accountability of the Ivorian public administration.
There are four (4) areas of intervention of the German cooperation in the framework of this project, namely:
To enable this team to achieve its objectives and the desired results of the project, STRATEGIES! has been called upon since the beginning of 2022 to share its expertise and advice.
STRATEGIES!’s role is to support the project management team in improving its internal management (roles and responsibilities, internal processes, etc.), and in managing the project according to the Capacity WORKS model (a project management tool developed by GIZ which defines the overall project management approach of the German cooperation).
In concrete terms, within the framework of this intervention, STRATEGIES! has implemented a number of activities, namely:
Facilitation
Facilitation of a five-day workshop on improving internal project management and steering according to Capacity Works.
Training
Training on self-management accompanied by coaching sessions with the different members of the project team.
Monitoring
Monitoring the implementation of organizational and functional recommendations made to the project management team.
Advices
Advice in managing the many difficulties and hazards that arise in the management of the project.
To date, the work that is being done between STRATEGIES! and the project team is beginning to bear fruit. For example, there has been an improvement in the organization of the team and the deployment of the team in carrying out activities aimed at fighting corruption and improving competitiveness in Côte d’Ivoire.
In the 27 years of its existence, STRATEGIES! has had the opportunity to work on several projects related to Good Governance. This is a very important and central theme in the reflection on the ways and means to accelerate Africa’s development. Amid the experience, we can mention the work done in the support of the European Union to the Kimberley Process Civil Society to improve the governance of diamonds at the national and international levels for the benefit of local communities. Another example is the support given to the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) over several years. One of the most recent experiences is the involvement of STRATEGIES! in the GIZ “Governance Fund”.
