Decentralisation - Stakeholders Share Experiences on Public Financing

Representatives of public institutions and experts are attending a workshop in Yaounde

Yaounde with the aim of putting the decentralization process in Cameroon on solid ground with focus on public financing. The workshop that ends today, May 30, 2012 is holding at the Permanent Secretariat of the National Decentralisation Board in Bastos, Yaounde.

The Permanent Secretary of the National Decentralisation Board, Apollinaire Penda, welcomed participants at the opening of the workshop organised on the theme, "Decentralisation and public financing." Speaking during the ceremony, the Lead Economist for the World Bank in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, Raju Jan Singh, said decentralisation was important for the Cameroonian authorities to improve governance, democracy and service delivery at local level. The workshop, he said, was timely because they want to take advantage of the ongoing second Mining Forum in Yaounde to enable international experts on decentralisation attending the event to share their experiences with Cameroonian decentralisation officials. One of such experts is Professor Giorgio Brosio from the University of Turino in Italy who has been advising many governments on issues of decentralisation.

Professor Giorgio Brosio was expected to give a lecture on the challenges of mobilising State resources and building systems of transfer. He told Cameroon Tribune that his contribution was to outline the main points concerning the financing of decentralisation process. "The idea is to put the decentralisation process in Cameroon on solid ground, starting with the most important side which is revenue," he said. The workshop is expected to help in the taking of many decisions within the broad strategy already defined in the decentralisation process in Cameroon.

Participants at the workshop include representatives of the Prime Minister's Office, ministries involved in the devolution of powers and resources to local governments, other State institutions, local councils and World Bank officials.