• Conduct assessment of the current state of the organization’s capacities and weaknesses, and develop appropriate, feasible, and effective strategies that align the workforce and structure with the organization’s core values.
• Leverage multi-phase roadmaps to transform the organization, including long-range strategic plans, resource allocation, timelines, and financial outcomes capacity development outcomes.
• Identify, design, evaluate, and scale up best practices across the organization that enhance the capabilities of leaders and managers to execute on vision, mission, and values.
• Assist government entities and partners to formulate policies, prioritize investments, design programs, and implement projects with capacity development outcomes.
• Review and evaluate internal practices, processes, and procedures affecting organizational effectiveness and make recommendations for improvement.

Public Financial Management (PFM)

A sound public financial management system enables governments to achieve fiscal discipline and resource allocation based on policy priorities and operational efficiency. It is also the foundation of good governance. Over the past 25 years, with the support of bilateral and multilateral organizations, Africa has seen tremendous progress in building its PFM infrastructure. Most countries have enacted financial management and procurement laws, and several have established accountability mechanisms like anti-corruption commissions, supreme audit institutions, and procurement regulatory bodies. Some are implementing PFM reforms, including financial management information systems, treasury single accounts, program/performance-based budgeting, medium-term expenditure frameworks (MTEFs), and other initiatives—both nationally and sub-nationally. Nonetheless, in most countries, there are simply not enough accountants, economists, legal experts, IT professionals, etc. to support these reforms.

To bridge this gap, Africa typically looks outward to bilateral and multilateral donors for technical assistance in strengthening its PFM systems. However, while this support has been critical for building basic infrastructure, these subsidized technical assistance projects are often expensive and do not always deliver the expected outcome. One major reason for this is that foreign consultants sometimes lack sufficient knowledge about a country’s norms, culture, language, history, and politics.

Public Financial Management (PFM) Practice Group

• Macro Fiscal Analysis
• Tax Policy and Administration
• Domestic Resource Mobilization
• Budget Formulation and Preparation
• Public Procurement
• Cash and Debt Management
• Accounting and Financial Reporting
• Financial Management Information Systems
• Internal and External Audits
• Parliamentary Finance/Budget and Audit Committees
• Fiscal Decentralization
• Civil Society and Media engagement in Public Finance

Human Capital Transformation (HCT)

Our Institutional Transformation team can implement workforce planning, devise HR strategies, create career models and competencies, develop training and professional development programs to address gaps, select and apply HR technology tools, and increase the performance of HR operations. The IHCD team offers authoritative, forward-looking ways for any group to effect successful and stainable organizational change.

A major advantage of our team, both volunteers and paid consultants, is that many originate in the African Diaspora, and thus have a passion for international development, especially as it pertains to the African continent. We observe such individuals having a greater long-term commitment to their work, with the possibility to emigrate to Africa in the future. These multi-sector experts can often accomplish initiatives through direct contracts and grants, using their knowledge and integrity to transform institutions.

Domestic Revenue Mobilization Practice Group

Building more effective, efficient, transparent, fair and trusted revenue administrations (tax administration and customs) is critical. This supports in building accountable, effective and respected government institutions. Additionally, sound tax administration systems finance much needed social spending, infrastructure, and reduce dependence on aid from the donor community, now subject to their own pressures. Improving domestic revenue mobilization partly depends on a good tax design, but also largely depends on the efficiency and effectiveness of the revenue administration systems. In this regard, Technical Assistance provided will cover both tax policy and revenue administration for both tax and customs.

Our services include:

• Providing tax policy reviews and specific tax advice particularly in the areas of income tax, value-added tax, and taxation of natural resources, including oil and gas.
• Establishing the legislative and regulatory environment suitable for tax administration.
• Building capacity on the organization, strategic planning and management of a revenue administration agency;
• Supporting the effective and efficient revenue administration operations and management using information technology and effective management of data.
• Working with the whole range of revenue administration operational procedures and controls as well as policies and activities in the field of tax audit, compliance and enforcement [taxpayer services and education—timely processing of all tax payments and returns, electronic commerce, and all related accounting systems;
• Audit and investigations—national audit strategy, procedures for all types of audit, including single issues audits, audit standards, coverage rates, etc.; collections enforcement—collection procedures and legal issues; and tax operations policy—appeals, rulings and operational policy for all tax types, legislative review, international activities and double taxation agreements; and other residual issues
• Undertaking tax administration diagnostic assessments using Tax Administrations Diagnostic Assessment Tool (TADAT)