Greater transparency: implementing Niger’s development strategy

Project description

Title: Advisory services for the Ministry of Planning
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)​​​​​​​
Country: Niger
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Planning (Ministère du Plan) of the Niger​​​​​​​
Overall term​​​​​​​: 2022 to 2025

Context

Niger wants to improve its national development level significantly by 2035. The government has therefore revised the existing strategy for sustainable development and inclusive growth (SDDCI 2035) and adopted a national development strategy (PDES) containing five-year action plans.

The development strategy is designed to ensure that policies are more transparent and focused on results. At present, however, the Ministry of Planning, which has a coordinating role, and the relevant ministries still lack institutional stability, robust structures and qualified staff. Implementation is therefore only progressing slowly.

To change this, findings from past implementation will be considered in the next five-year action plan (2022 to 2026).

Objective

The Ministry of Planning and line ministries of the Niger Government are harmonising the national budget and development planning.

Approach

The project advises the government on organisational development and trains staff from the Ministry of Planning and the line ministries involved (particularly the finance and health ministries).

It is establishing interministerial partnerships to digitise multiple steps involved in budget preparation. With regard to financing and contract awards, the project also promotes tools designed to harmonise budget planning and actual expenditure.

For investment management, budget management and monitoring public spending, the project optimises administrative processes and takes care of the necessary procurement.

The project provides individual advisory services on national and regional budget preparation. As part of this, it offers training and coaching in various tools and methods, implemented in partnership with the training centre at the Ministry of Finance.

Training sessions are also provided to improve public budget monitoring. Topics include digital applications and handling data in existing systems and developed processes.

Last update: June 2022