OGUN CANVASSES REVIEW OF COUNTERPART FUNDING FOR PROJECTS
The Ogun State Government has called for the review of terms and conditions for accessing counterpart funding for projects by international donor agencies, which will reflect the economic reality of the country.
Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser, Mr. Dapo Okubadejo, made the call in Abeokuta, during a meeting with a team from the International Economic Relations Department (IERD), Federal Ministry of Finance, led by its Director, Hajia Aisha Omar.
Okubadejo said a certain percentage of the counterpart fund as the requirement for accessing loans or grants in demonstration of their commitment by participating States was no longer realistic, due to numerous financial challenges confronting the States.
“Using counterpart funding as a way to determine commitment is no longer popular because resources are scarce. Most States are grappling with wage increase, COVID-19 pandemic, the slowdown in economic activities and a decrease in Internally Generated Revenue. All of these have put pressure on the funding capacity of State governments. We will love to do these projects, but because counterpart funding is put as a requirement, a lot of States will be slow in kick-starting the projects.
“But if you put in place necessary governance requirements to ensure compliance and implementation and evaluate the government’s capacity to deliver on the projects, I think we will achieve a lot more”, Okubadejo said.
The Commissioner suggested that donor agencies should collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Finance, to evaluate the capacity of States seeking such loans or grants before granting approvals, enjoining development partners to deemphasise the use of level and rate of disbursement, instead of the impact rate of loans to partnering States as a yardstick for measuring their performances.
Responding, the team lead, Hajia Omar, said her agency was working on the mandate of the Federal Executive Council for a downward review of amounts allocated for consultancy services and focus on infrastructural development and capacity building for the sustainability of the programme.
“You were also right that much emphasis is being placed on level and rate of disbursement instead of the impact of projects, and I think that is one discussion we have been having seriously with our development partners, For us, we want to see what you have spent and what you have on ground, is there value for money? That is our own focus and I think it is now our duty and responsibility to draw the attention of development partners and ensure emphasis should be on impact, not on disbursement”, she submitted.
In a related development, the International Economic Relations Department (IERD), Federal Ministry of Finance, has applauded the Ogun State Government for the success recorded in the implementation of its donor-assisted projects across the State.
Hajia Omar gave the commendation during an assessment tour to some of the projects’ sites, expressing satisfaction over the level of work done, which she noted had impacted the socio-economic wellbeing of the people and overall development of the State.
“Our visit is the 2021 monitoring and evaluation of all donor-assisted projects in the State and ensure that the objectives of these projects are met. The State is doing very well in the implementation of the projects and its benefit to the socio-economic development of the State”, Hajia Omar said.
Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Development Partners Coordination, Mr. Bayo Adenekan said the projects had continued to impact positively on the lives of residents, maintaining that the commitment of the Dapo Abiodun-led administration had led to the success of the projects.
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