_{By Jane Anyango}

Makerere University Centre of Excellence in Public Investment Management (PIM CoE) on 4^th October, 2021 launched an assortment of IT equipment and furniture worth USD 77,000 (approximately UGX 277million) funded by the World Bank in collaboration with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The WB and FCDO supported the university with a grant of USD 810,000 to undertake a number of activities including training, research and capacity building at the School of Economics. Part of the capacity building is the procurement of IT equipment and furniture.

The equipment was commissioned by the Principal, College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS) Prof. Eria Hisali on behalf of the University Management witnessed by representatives from the Government of Uganda and the World Bank online.

The equipment launched includes a state-of-the-art video conferencing facility theVivitek86” collaborative and interactive flat Novo touch screen that cost USD 34,000. On the screen, you can teach, split and have different people connected to it wirelessly. You can also demonstrate and annotate your presentation on this screen.  The smart board has an inbuilt camera that can zoom in and reset videos at any time.

Other IT equipment launched include12 Computers, 4 laptops, 2 LCD projectors, and an all-in-one printer scanner copier all procured at USD 27,000.

The centre also procured office furniture comprising 5 office desks and 5 office tables, 40 training chairs and 20 training tables and a 20-seater boardroom table all worth USD 16,000.

Launching the equipment, Prof. Eria Hisali appreciated the support received from the World Bank, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Uganda’s Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. He emphasized that this should not be looked at as the end but rather, an ongoing process of strengthening the collaborations for the mutual benefit of all the participating institutions.

Dr. Hisali reported that the university has made progress in terms of inputs into this exercise of establishing the Centre of Excellence and had started taking huge steps away from looking at inputs to focusing on certain outputs and outcomes.

In terms of outputs, the Principal said, there were ongoing studies and efforts to integrate PIM into the curriculum of the university, initiate a new master’s program in investment and economic modelling as well as the training and capacity building that has been undertaken both for staff and officials from other areas of government.

The Principal said, the Makerere has all it takes in terms of staff capacity to undertake studies and was now focused on making the PIM CoE more vibrant and planning for its sustainability.

“The challenge we want to focus on now is to go beyond the outputs we have and even ones that we have conceptualized up to this point.  We need to continue to develop this as a very vibrant centre of excellence, a centre that speaks to its name, actualizes research in other areas as well as contributes to computation of certain key parameters like the shadow prices etc.

But all these issues speak to one important subject of sustainability of our centre beyond the current support being given by the bank and they are going to be a number of ways we want to look at this. In our previous engagement, we started discussions with the bank on the possibility of additional support but we will also be looking at other avenues of ensuring that the activities of the centre continue”, Dr. Hisali explained.

He said the university has resources from the Government of Uganda through the Research and Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF) and a college scheme to support small studies that the centre can benefit from.

The Principal Investigator PIM CoE Prof. Edward Bbaale who is also Dean School of Economics described the day’s event as remarkable in the history of the school as well as the PIM CoE and extended gratitude to the World Bank, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Government of Uganda for the support.

Prof. Bbaale said the World Bank and FCDO extended a grant of USD 810,000 to establish the centre of excellence as a response to the fact that so much of public investments were going to waste.

He reported that for every dollar that was being invested, only 38 cents or less was realized meaning 60% was lost. As a result, Prof. Bbaale said many strategies were designed to make sure that when government invests, public resources will gain the maximum out of a very dollar invested.

One of the interventions according to the PI was to build capacity on a sustainable basis in a premier institution like Makerere University thus the establishment of the PIM CoE to undertake training in public investment management.

Prof. Bbaale explained that public investment management goes beyond financial analysis of projects to the complex economic analysis of projects.

The Professor said, the computations that are involved in the economic analysis of projects are not only very complicated but also lacking, due to limited capacity in government and universities.

He added that the ongoing intervention is to make sure that this work can be done not only by staff but also graduate students equipped with the required knowledge.

He said the World Bank and FCDO grant has been used for training staff and other stakeholders in impact evaluation methodologies and public investment management and many are lined up including university staff capacity building training slated for November in Ghana.

“What we have done today is one of those things the grant has enabled us to fulfill. We have acquired one of the newest video conferencing facilities at Makerere University that will go a long way in facilitating online learning, online conferencing and online research which is open to be used by the university community.

The World Bank in collaboration with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has also facilitated us to buy laptops and computers and we have been able to furnish an office with an interim manager. We have a conference table and chairs for training participants and Wi-Fi-enabled projectors which do not need to physically connect to the laptop, but can pick the information on the laptop and project” Prof. Bbaale reported.

The Interim Manager PIM CoE Dr. Willy Rwamparagi Kagarura said, the project aim is to establish a centre of excellence as a training facility that can contribute towards strengthening public investment management in the country. 

“Out of the USD 810,000, around USD 626,000 (77.3%) has been disbursed. Strategically, this was to sustainably build Capacity in PIM by addressing three areas namely training, research and advising government all aimed at improving returns on public investments.

We targeted to a PIM Centre of Excellence with a pool of experts both physically and structurally. We want to build capacity at the CoE and School of Economics. We are developing Curriculum and training materials to make this a reality.  We are to train technical staff at the Ministries, Departments and Agencies  and Local Governments, then we have an outreach program where we are doing research and studies after which mainstream PIM into University Economics Curriculum”, Dr. Kagarura said.

Besides the acquisition of the IT equipment and furniture, Dr. Kagarura said the centre has moved fast and trained 37 members comprising  staff, students and government officials in impact evaluation methodologies, and drafted the Strategic Plan ready for validation and final print.

Using local curriculum, Dr. Kagarura reported that the centre has trained 45 MDA staff in the first process of a project cycle on how to develop a concept, profile and how to put it in the Integrated Bank of Projects.

The centre according to manager has also trained 10 lecturers to increase capacity for long-term PIM training, drafted the curriculum in Masters of Economic Investment and Modelling submitted to University Senate for approval and onward submission to NCHE.

Dr. Kagarura further said the centre conducted two impact evaluations on Luweero Rural Development Program and on how the improved stoves affect the welfare of people while that final draft of the study on impact of Covid-19 on public investments was awaiting final comments before validation.

As a matter of preparation, Kagarura said 3 members are scheduled to attend training in Mbale in the Financial Analysis Module of PIAR (Economic Analysis due 10^th – 23^rd October) while at the beginning (8^th Nov – 3^rd Dec 2021)  4 core staff will be attending a  Training of Trainers  in Ghana.

The interim manager hailed the World Bank and FCDO for the funding saying, the startup grant has created a capacity building asset for the country which should be nursed to maturity.

Kagarura however noted that in order to nurture a sustainable capacity building framework or institutional arrangement for the country and the region,there is need for increased capacity among trainers through TOTs whose outputs will be in the areas of capacity building, research and outreach and Advisory Services.

The other need he said, is to lift capacity at the centre to professional levels both in project management professional and impact evaluation so as to completely cover the project cycle.

The centre he also said needs support and to be fully popularized and to work with government so that its collection of tuition from participants is appreciated.

Jane Anyango is the Principal Communication Officer, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES)