Following its launch last year, the second phase of the Global Fund Grant Implementers training programme returned to Lomé in April.
Accountants and Finance Managers from eight English-speaking countries took part in the second cohort of the Global Fund Leadership and Financial Management programme.
The programme is a unique partnership between the Global Fund, the Ecobank Foundation and Ecobank Academy. It works on the premise that to make donor money work effectively, strong financial management and strengthened leadership capabilities are key to a successful grant implementation. Financial practitioners from different African regions are given the opportunity to train and equip themselves with the above skills including internal control and fighting fraud, as to better manage crucial donor funds.
In the April training, 23 participants from the Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Swaziland and Zambia, were provided with know-how in different areas, including sessions on financial budgeting, monitoring and reporting, leadership for sustainable impact and how to drive results in strategy execution.
A pilot session of Francophone countries was rolled out in October last year. In the meantime, the agreed action plans have been integrated into the grant operations monitoring of the Global Fund Finance Specialists working with the countries.