Newspress

Lusaka, Zambia 12 April 2021 (ECA) - The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) stands ready to cooperate and provide technical support to member States so they can meet their national aspirations as well as continental and global goals such as the African Union's Agenda 2063 and the 2030 agenda for the sustainable development.

This was said Monday by the ECA's Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa Acting Director, Sizo Mhlanga, in his welcoming remarks during a Government of the Republic of Namibia stakeholder validation workshop on the country's efforts to create an integrated performance management framework that would contribute to the effective and efficient delivery of services to its citizens.

The two-day virtual national validation workshop, convened by the Office of the Prime Minister, the ECA and the European Union, is being held under the theme: "Enhancing the Performance Management System of the Government of the Republic of Namibia: Towards an Integrated Performance Management System."

Mr. Mhlanga advised the ECA was currently supporting the Government of Namibia, through the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and SME Development, in developing a national strategy for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as was with many other African countries.

The a/Director congratulated the Government of the Republic of Namibia for embarking on an important initiative of integrating the performance management systems of the civil service and that of Public Office Bearers (POBs) into one comprehensive and coherent framework.

"The critical role that an effective and efficient performance management system plays in any organization cannot be overemphasized. Performance measurement is fundamental to delivery of improved services and results and to facilitating accountability," Mr. Mhlanga noted.

In her remarks, the Director of Performance Management in the Office of the Prime Minister's Office, Susan Ntema, observed that for the public service to succeed, it must have the support of both the country's political and administrative leadership at all levels. She noted that a few bottlenecks remained to be ironed out and these included, the absence of automated M&E and reporting system, non-adherence to timelines and insufficient institutional arrangements.

In his opening remarks, the Executive Director in the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. I-Ben N. Nashandi applauded ECA and the EU for the assistance and support provided to the Government of the Republic of Namibia in its efforts to enhance its Performance Management System.

He advised that, under the new system, government offices or departments would be expected to draw up 5-year strategic plans, annual plans and performance agreements with performance reviews being undertaken quarterly.

"The foundation will serve as a cornerstone for any improvements and automation of the performance management system in government, which is the reason for this workshop," Mr. Nashandi said.

The Director called on the participants to take advantage of the workshop to brainstorm on how they could strengthen the PMS framework, which he noted, needed to respond to Namibia's desire to enhance performance and service delivery. He advised that the PMS should be a tool that could easily be used by all levels of government.

The National Stakeholder Validation Workshop is being attended by senior government officials, regional councils, public enterprises, UN representatives and experts from academia, among others.