By Charles K Mark
South Sudan has signed a memorandum of understanding to become the 15th member of the Microeconomic and Financial Management Institute (MEFMI).
The Governor of the Bank of South Sudan (BoSS), Dr. James Alic Garang, signed on behalf of the Government of South Sudan, while Dr. Louis Kasekende signed on behalf of the institute.
Dr. Alic said the move provides for a pool of financial resource mobilization as well as the building of human and institutional capacities.
He added that South Sudan, through the MEFMI, will be able to lobby for funding and loans, as well as discuss debt management and debt relief strategies.
“We are not young anymore, and we are joining this institute hoping that we will catch up,” Alic stated.
The governor expressed a desire for South Sudan to engage fully in the financial market, the development financial market, and the bond market.
MEFMI was first established in 1994 under the name of the Eastern and Southern Africa Initiative in Debt and Reserves Management.
In 1997, it was renamed the Macroeconomic and Fiscal Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa.
For his part, Dr. Louis Kasekende, head of the delegates from the Financial Institute, mentioned microeconomic management, debt management, and financial sector development as the main areas of the MEFMI.
He said the MoU marks the beginning of the relationship between the South and the rest of the fourteen member countries of the institute.
“But we pride ourselves on responding to the capacity needs of the country. We have tools that we use to respond,” Kasekende stated.
He mentioned some of the tools as in-country, where a team is sent to a country to train people or convene a regional conference to share expertise.
The head of delegates also noted that the institute will work closely with South Sudan in terms of up skilling the staff.