Governor of Central Bank of The Gambia, Buah Saidy said the preliminary result indicates the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) project is being rated satisfactory and that the need to commend the efforts of all those who contributed to this success.
He urged other projects to follow the IFMIS project which had been successfully implemented.
He made the revelation while presiding over the opening of the validation seminar for the IFMIS project implementation completion results report, held at Sir Dawda Kairaba international conference hall on Friday.
“The overall objective of the IFMIS project was to improve the capacity of the Government of The Gambia in public resources management. The project commenced 2010 and is expected to closed 30 November 2020. The enclose of the project was 15Million US Dollar,” he said.
He added: “ there is no doubt that the report has also provided us with the opportunity to learn lessons from the implementation of the project with focus on issues of concern such as system sustainability that would require government attention and action.”
He disclosed that the project is due for end by 30 November 2020, a self-assessment is being done with the preparation of project implementation completion results report through the services of an independent Dr. Julien Bandiaky.
He also recalled back that far back in 2001 to 2006, the World Bank funded a reform project called- Capacity building and Economic Management project and part of this project funds was used in funding the pilot phase of the Integrated Financial Management System IFMIS. This pilot phase was followed by the roll out of the IFMIS to other ministries, Departments and some Agencies in 2011.
He added: “The overall objective of the IFMIS project was to improve the capacity of the Government of The Gambia in public resources management. Since its introduction, the IFMIS system has supported public financial management in terms of budgeting, accounting and financial reporting.”
He said in 2013, both The Government of The Gambia and World Bank, undertook the efforts of expanding the system capacities including the first ungraded from the Epicor version 7.3.5 to Epicor 9.0.5 which was characterized by challenges such as the system performance due to the inherent design of the Epicor 9.0.5.
“In the course of addressing these challenges and based on the advice of the system developers, a decision to upgrade to Epicor 10 was reached and funded from the (IFMIS) additional financing11. Other activities funded from this financing are the introduction of electronic record management system (ERMS) statistical capacity building, national energy development and start- owned enterprises reforms,” he said.
Also speaking, deputy accountant General Mamadou Salifu Jallow, praised the excellent implementation of the IFMIS and commended the project management team for the commitment, dedication and devotion to ensure that the IFMIS is successfully implemented.