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Ph:DR: Dr Ngone DIOP, Director of BSR/CEA/AO, speaking at the closing of the proceedings
The second meeting of its kind comes after that of Grand Bassam in Ivory Coast, Cotonou therefore appears as a decisive step in the process of retropolation and connection of the DDMI (Demographic Dividend Monitoring Index). Coming from five West African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal and Togo), the country teams worked intensely under the guidance of CREG experts from May 22 to 26, 2023. After five days of he intense work, the results, although provisional and likely to be improved through observations and comments, already augur promising prospects. At the end of the workshop, Prof. Latif Dramani of the CREG and the Director of the ECA Sub-Regional Office in West Africa, Dr. Ngoné Diop unanimously invited the participants to link the results to the SDGs.
Aline ASSANKPON
Divided into group work by country team, the participants in the regional workshop on Budgeting responsive to the demographic dividend (BSDD), organized by the ECA Sub-regional Office in West Africa (BSR/ECA/WA) in collaboration with the Regional Consortium for Research in Generational Economics (CREG), by Prof. Latif Dramani, returned satisfied.
Professor Latif Dramani, Coordinator of the Regional Consortium for Research in Generational Economics (GRECG) and Coordinator of the Research Center in Applied Economics of Thiès.
Appreciating the progress made through the presentation of a series of DDMI and sub-indicators of the DDMI, Prof. Latif Dramani believes that the next step is the preliminary analysis of these results. “The report we have is an interim technical report from the DDMI backcasted for each country. This is great progress. We have noted some concerns regarding in particular how to visualize the high dimension conditions of DDMI”
In fact, each country team set out to report on its work, followed by a few observations. “The observations of the Burkina Faso team went straight to my heart because indeed, States often make pleas to decision-makers for the implementation of the Budgeting Tool Sensitive to the Demographic Dividend (BSDD): strengthen the capacities of the actors who will participate in the implementation of the BSDD. And that is what is planned in the roadmap of this process” reminds Prof Dramani on the continuation of the process at country level.
By paraphrasing the Beninese Minister of State, Development and Coordination of Government Action, Mr. Abdoulaye
Ph:DR: The Director of BSR/CEA/WA, Mrs. Ngone Diop accompanied by the Resident Coordinator of the UN Office in Benin, Mr. Salvator Nyonzima in audience at the Cabinet of the Minister of State, Development and Government Action; entale, Mr. Abdoulaye Bio Tchane and Mr. Fabien
Bio Tchané, who expressed himself in these terms: “We absolutely have to do it quickly and well to be able to deliver results. This is where our countries will value everything that is done to achieve the SDGs; because all countries must respond to New York”. Appreciating this determination of the Minister of State, Prof Dramini said: “We did not preach in the desert but, in Mecca, where one can be well heard and well followed. The compilation of these studies will go a long way, and you will also be there to bring the tool to your various fields of application » he indicated.
Furthermore, he will appreciate the work done by the Togo country team with the National Development Plan 2018-2022. “It’s very important: Link the results to the SDGs. It is excellent work. I congratulate the effort made and I encourage you to move forward » encourages Prof Dramani who promises to come back to the comments and observations.
If necessary, hours of online reflections can be conducted as was the case for the preparation of the Cotonou workshop. The objective is to finalize the process before the last meeting scheduled for the beginning of July 2023 in Niamey (Niger). In July, it will in fact be a question of tackling the last stage of the BSDD process, which is the alignment with the budgetary functions and the budgetary analysis and finally, the implementation stage.
Ph:DR: A partial view of the participants in the restitution of the work
To add to this, Dr. Ngoné Diop will say for his part that the cross-analysis that Togo has done seems very important to him; especially since it invites other countries to take the same approach: “Because it also makes it possible to show the interrelationships in a much more accentuated and in-depth way”.
“The burning point is the National Development Plan that must be appropriated and seen in all its articulation. And the most of Togo, that’s already it! This allows me to say that we will have to continue to make the elasticity at the next meeting. This time it’s retropolation, connection. Elasticity is an eminently important part, if we put this in relation to the SDGs and ask ourselves what investment do we need to make the transition” emphasizes Ms. Diop before continuing: “The four dimensions of the DDMI must be connected to the SDGs. If we do much more in-depth work, we can inform how countries are implementing the SDGs, we call that transitions”.
With this in mind, the Director invites these ministry officials to make greater efforts to analyze and bring the eight SDGs to the highest level; including: Employment, Entrepreneurship, Education, Health, Safety, Governance and Youth Empowerment and Skills Development. “It is possible to do this with the consideration of climate change. We can have all the correlations; not only with the demographic dividend which is certainly the keystone”.
“It is still necessary that this eminently important and very strong, unique and innovative tool can be used for everything. If we invest in human capital with everything you have said, of course, you can also support other government plans, for example, the emerging plan, and so on. says Dr. Diop.
Ph:DR: Participants at the regional workshop on BSDD in Cotonou
By thanking the participants for the titanic work which has no equal for their commitment to obtaining convincing results, the director advises them to avoid compartmentalization in terms of the exercise of this tool. It invites them to seize opportunities as soon as possible, ensuring of course that this creates added value in a conceptual, technical and political way. “Although it has to be done upstream; because if we come to apply the concept note, it is a late addition that ends up with an evaporation of the policy”.
Recall that the BSDD process will also pass at the level of the National Assembly where parliamentarians will be strengthened since they are empowered to vote the State Budget. As well as the government ministers who will be taken into account in the implementation of this tool. Since these are public goods, each department needs to know how resources are allocated and if there is misallocation or constraints in the Budget.
Ph:DR: “I have no doubt: the fruits will have the flavor of the flowers and the flowers that’s what we saw earlier”
Regarding the implementation of the process in the formulation of the State Budget, the Director promises to report to the ministers concerned in a technically detailed, politically correct manner, in order to articulate it around the expectations of the Government, in this case, the integration of the country’s Development Plan which is the trajectory of the transformation of the economies. “In a committed and concrete way, we need to support our countries with the Dividends, the statistics so that the work has results. Given what you have done, I have no doubt: the fruits will have the flavor of flowers and the flowers are what we saw earlier. she says, very optimistic.
Since all the elements of the process are known, the ins and outs, it is enough to turn them into reality. “Reality in terms of the number of investments; reality so that in New York next September, our countries can present something that constitutes the future for our countries” hopes the Director.
To the CREG team of Experts, the Director sends them her satisfaction: “Congratulations to Prof Latif Dramani and his team. The partnership straddles a highly technical area. We were able to navigate the complexities because we had the knowledge, the knowledge, and of course together we got our hands dirty.”
