Zimbabwe News Update
newshawks
4 min read
When angela nyangani, a public service worker, was appointed to a new role in her department, there were some leadership gaps that needed filling. “i was expected to lead as someone who had just been appointed to a new position,” she recounts. Her appointment came at the right time, as she was enrolled in the africa capacity building foundation’s leadership excellence in africa’s public sector (leaps) programme, which enhances leadership in public financial management across africa. She is part of the fifteen senior officials from zimbabwe’s public financial management institutions who were selected for the programme and graduated from the first cohort.
The six-month leadership development journey, tailored to africa’s unique context, covers essential topics such as self-leadership, team dynamics, organisational strategies, and the public financial management ecosystem. “from the programme, i got an understanding of what leadership is all about and how i can add value as a manager or as a leader in the division that i work in and in the organisation that i work in, and how i can also add value as we collaborate with the different ministries,” she says. She says she has learnt how to add value to the section she operates under. “i got to know that, as a leader, i need to create a self-working environment for my colleagues so that they are able to contribute and also to share ideas.
“then, when it comes to self-leadership, it is all about being aware of oneself, emotional intelligence, how my emotions can impact others, and how i should manage those emotions, especially when i’m working with colleagues.” another participant, tapiwa gumbo, says that the training has improved his leadership capabilities. “i feel that we are enriched; we are conscious now of these perspectives of leadership,” he says. “in our daily exhibition of our duties, we reflect on ourselves, we reflect on the organisation, we reflect on the ecosystem. We feel improved.” “we feel empowered together in the public service.
We really feel that this training should be continued for our deputies and other colleague directors who have not gone through this programme.” using ai in public finance management programs officer, economic and social governance at acbf, mohamed salat osman, said that they have also been teaching public leaders how to use artificial intelligence and technology for public finance management. “one of the key interventions for the leadership excellence in africa’s public sector is the technical seminars that the participants or the selected cohort members were undertaking. And one of the key technical seminars was on public financial management and artificial intelligence,” salat said.
“we’re seeing a lot of developments in the ai space, with new and more tools being developed that can be used towards streamlining or enhancing the capacities within the public financial management space.” he said that, as part of efforts to improve the technological aspect of public finance management, they have engaged an expert from the organisation for economic co-operation and development (oecd), an international organisation that stimulates world trade. “the oecd has undertaken a lot of research on the interface of pfm and ai. And they’ve recently even “so ai provides a lot of opportunities, including having robust forecasting capacities. And it’s important that now, for the countries and in this technical seminar, what we focused on was the needs assessment.
What do we need in terms of using artificial intelligence or digitalising? What exactly do we need to get? Which services will mainly benefit? “what are the current systems that we have in place? And what now can we do to position the country to benefit from the improved computing capacities and improved artificial intelligence?” deputy minister of finance and economic development, kudakwashe mnangagwa, said programmes such as the leaps programme are crucial for strong financial systems. “i would like to express my sincere gratitude to the acbf for spearheading the leaps programme,” he said. “public financial management is fundamental to good governance. It is imperative that we equip our leaders with the skills necessary to navigate the complexities of today’s challenges.
“today’s ceremony marks a symbolic milestone in the roll-out of the leaps programme dedicated to transforming leadership in africa’s public sector. “leaps embodies an ambitious vision: to strengthen the strategic leadership capacities of senior officials in public financial management systems, thereby enhancing performance, accountability, and economic governance across african states.” for nyangani, the training goes beyond technological and effective public finance management. “the emotional intelligence module has helped me to manage my emotions, to be aware of myself, and also to use them effectively. So i must say this is a very insightful and also a very effective way of capacitating leaders,” she says.
