ECA collaborates with Malawi on enhancing development planning
The Economic Commission for Africa collaborated with the National Planning Commission of Malawi, to carry out a four-day applied training on the ECA’s Integrated Planning and Reporting Toolkit (IPRT) from 2 – 6 July 2024 in Lilongwe. The IPRT is a web-based tool that enables the digitalization, monitoring, integration and alignment of development plans to the 2030 Agenda, Agenda 2063, and the Doha Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries, and the strengthening of planning and financial frameworks.
Organized by the Macroeconomics, Finance, and Governance Division (MFGD), in partnership with the ECA Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa, the training brought together about thirty-five government representatives from key ministries including Agriculture, Energy, Finance, Health, Local Government, Unity and Culture, the National Local Government Finance Committee, and Salima District Council, as well as United Nations representatives in Malawi. Bartholomew Armah, Chief of the Development Planning Section notes that “the training is important in strengthening Malawi’s capacity to accelerate progress on the implementation of its national development plan.”
The training saw representatives of the National Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance working together with participants to use the IPRT to interrogate the extent to which the national budget and the national plan were aligned. This functionality complements the work of establishing Malawi’s Integrated National and Financing Framework being carried out by the United Nations Development Programme in Malawi. Grace Kumchulesi, Director for Development Planning at the National Planning Commission, Malawi said that “Malawi is excited to link the budget to MIP-1” and noted the centrality of insights provided for use in policy and decision making.
The ECA in March 2022 had worked with Malawi to digitalize the Malawi 2063 First 10‐Year Implementation Plan (MIP‐1), and to align the MIP-1 to the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063. A key achievement of the July 2024 training was the alignment of the MIP-1 to the DPoA. This was crucial as the DPoA aims to enable graduation from least developed country category, which is in line with Malawi’s MIP-1 goals to graduate to a middle-income country by 2030.
Furthermore, in recognition of the significance of the sub-national and sectoral levels in implementing national development plans, and continued request by member states, the ECA is including this functionality in the IPRT. Malawi was the first country to use the IPRT to align a District Development Plan to the 2030 Agenda.
ECA intends to continue supporting countries to strengthen their development planning processes with the use of the IPRT. The IPRT has been deployed in over 30 Member States and one Regional Economic Community (SADC) with ongoing efforts to ensure its use by the remaining countries on the continent.
