By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The European Commission (EC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Friday said they have signed €20 million contribution to the Regional Technical Assistance Centers in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Regions.

According to Nemat Shafik, Deputy Managing Director (DMD) at the IMF, on October 3, the EC and IMF signed an Agreement for a contribution of €20 million to the RTACs in the ACP regions.

“This contribution is crucial for scaling-up our capacity development in the seven ACP RTACs, which have a proven track record in providing flexible, responsive, and tailored technical assistance to their member countries. I would also like to note that the work being carried out by the RTACs will be reinforced by other IMF capacity development initiatives, including those that utilize today´s ever advancing technology, such as e-learning,” Shafik said.

On his part, Marcus Cornaro, Deputy Director General (DDG) of DG Europeaid, EC, said the program is proof that the strategic partnership between the EU and the IMF has a real added value, in improving their coordination and effectiveness in capacity building.

“I am pleased that the work we do together is intensifying and confident that it will help us in implementing key policy elements of the EU ‘Agenda for change’ and the new approach to EU budget support,” Cornaro said.

According to the IMF, it supports the development of the productive resources of member countries by helping them design appropriate macroeconomic, financial, and structural policies, build more effective institutions, and strengthen their capacity to ensure the sustainability of reforms.

The RTACs were set up to provide hands-on technical assistance that is in the IMF key areas of expertise, complementing strategic technical assistance from Washington headquarters. They were also established to make it easier to respond more quickly to recipient countries’ needs.

The IMF said currently, six (6) RTACs are operating in the ACP regions and  Four (4) of these c are in Africa: Africa Technical Assistance Center East, West, Central, and South, which are located in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Libreville, Gabon; and Mauritius, respectively.

While two (2) other ACP RTACs are the Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Center in Suva, Fiji, serving 16 Pacific island countries and territories; and the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Center in Bridgetown, Barbados, serving 20 Caribbean island countries and territories.

According to the Fund, a seventh center in the APC region is slated to open by end-2013 in Ghana to cover Anglophone and Lusophone countries in West Africa.