WAIFEM at a glance

Establishment of the Institute

The West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) was established on July 22, 1996 by the Central Banks of the Anglophone West African Countries namely:

  • The Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Liberia
  • Nigeria
  • Sierra Leone

Since 2012, the Republic of Guinea has an observer status in membership of the Institute.

The Institute became operational in January 1997 with diplomatic status under the Headquarters Agreement with the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on June 19, 1998.

Objectives

The broad objectives of WAIFEM are to:

  • build capacity required for macroeconomic policy formulation, implementation, analysis and management
  • strengthen capacity to manage public and publicly guaranteed external debt, private sector debt and domestic debt including contingent liabilities
  • enhance the skills and knowledge required for the development, regulation, management and supervision of the financial sector including banks and non-bank financial institutions, and strengthen capacity for the management of international reserves and
  • conduct evidence based research on relevant macroeconomic issues in the West African sub-region in particular and Africa in general.
Governance Structure

The governance framework of WAIFEM consists of a Board of Governors, a Technical Committee and the management cadre headed by a Director General. At the apex of the organogram of WAIFEM is the Board of Governors, composed of the member central banks. The Board appoints its chairman in rotation among its members for a term of two years. It is responsible for the formulation of the overall policy direction of the Institute and the appointment of the Director General who is in charge of the day to day management of the Institute.

The Board meets at least twice a year to approve the annual budget and training programmes and appoint the external auditors. It also receives the annual audited financial statements and reports of the Institute as well as undertakes other actions that it deems necessary to promote the purpose of the Institution.

At the second layer of WAIFEM's organogram is the Technical Committee appointed by the Board of Governors to assist the Board in the discharge of its responsibilities. The Committee is comprised of senior officials of member central banks (usually directors of research, directors of international economic relations and directors of human resources), representatives of ministries of finance (usually permanent secretaries), other principal stake holders and donors.

Management and Staff

The day-to-day management of WAIFEM rests with the Director General who is the chief executive officer of the Institute and answerable to the Board. He is assisted in this task by the departmental directors. The staff of the Institute consists of professional staff and service persons

The Institute currently consists of the following departments:

  • Debt, Fiscal and Regional Integration Department
  • Financial Sector and Payments System Department
  • Research and Macroeconomic Management Department
  • Governance and Institutional Development Department
  • Finance and Administration Department

The Director General and the Directors of the departments constitute the Management Staff of the Institute.

The current Director General is Dr. Baba Yusuf Musa.

Target Audience

The target audience of the Institute's programmes comprises senior / executive level officials of:

  • Central Banks
  • Ministries of Finance
  • Ministries of Economic Planning
  • Budget Offices
  • Statistics Offices
  • Accountant General's Department
  • Debt Management Offices
  • Parliaments
  • The Mass Media
  • Other Public and Private Sector Agencies involved in macroeconomic and financial policy formulation and management.
Cooperating Technical Partners

Some of the Institute's Cooperating Technical Partners are: