Govts asked to invest in human capacity dev

The Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Franklyn Achampong Manu, has called on African governments to invest in the human capacity development of its public sector.

According to him, one efficient way of ensuring quality development on the continent “which can boast of the best of resources” was for governments to equip the public sector with the requisite training to implement policies and projects for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Professor Manu made the call in Accra to mark the ninth Cohort graduation ceremony organised by GIMPA with funding from the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). 

The training programme, dubbed: “Public Sector Management Training Programme (PSMTP),” had 50 participants from five African countries graduating after a year’s  training.

The participants were from Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Gambia and Sierra Leone.

Africa’s challenge

Professor Manu observed that one major challenge for Africa was to have an efficient public sector which would be equipped with the needed knowledge to translate government’s policies and strategies.

“It would be difficult for Africa to develop if governments do not see the need to train and properly equip the public sector with the resources to work,” he said.

According to Professor Manu, the changing political, social and economic environment in Africa underscored the need for countries to have an effective and efficient public sector. 

“The Public Sector, and particularly the Civil Service, is among the key institutions responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies, strategies, programmes and projects for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he said.

GIMPA training

According to Professor Manu, PSMTP at GIMPA constituted one of the many responses to the multifaceted capacity needs in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The PSMTP is designed to help equip African countries with a critical mass in its development challenges. It provides both graduate and short-term professional, non-degree training in Public Sector Management,” he said.

Professor Manu, therefore, urged the graduands to use the knowledge they had acquired to effectively transform their respective countries, adding that “this is the only way to demonstrate the efficiency of the PSMTP”.