African heads of public services target high performance

11 July 2015
News

Head of public services from 18 African countries in the Commonwealth are to gather in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, between 13-15 July 2015, at a major intergovernmental forum to improve the efficiency and impact of public services.

The Forum of Commonwealth Heads of African Public Service is convened by the Commonwealth Secretariat and hosted by President Dr Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of the United Republic of Tanzania.

The theme of the forum is ‘From Good Plans to Effective Execution: Anchoring Policy Coherence, Strategy and Execution for a High Performance Culture in the Public Service’.

Speakers include heads of public services, permanent secretaries and chairs of public service commissions, as well as senior representatives of organisations such as the African Union and UONGOZI Institute of African Leadership for Sustainable Development.

Commenting ahead of the meeting, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Josephine Ojiambo expressed her “deep appreciation” to the government and people of Tanzania for hosting the forum.

Dr Ojiambo said: “The purpose of this meeting is to help countries to share information on pragmatic responses to common challenges to public service delivery. What are the capacity gaps? How is data collected and analysed? What does the policy environment look like? What are the incentives offered to public servants? We are seeking answers to questions such as these.

“We will identify new and innovative ways to professionalise our public services, learning from our neighbours about policies that have achieved success and improved the lives of citizens. The goal is to entrench a high-performance culture in the public sector by drawing strength from one another.”

Countries represented at the meeting are Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Notes to Editors

Commonwealth Africa, comprising 18 countries, has experienced strong economic growth since 2000 with gross domestic product expanding at an average annual rate of 5.5 percent – exceeding the global average of 3.9 percent.

Eight out of ten of the best performing countries in Africa on Transparency International’s 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index are Commonwealth members.

In the 2014 Ibrahim Index of African Governance, seven of the ten best performing countries are Commonwealth members, while no Commonwealth countries are ranked in the lowest quartile.

The Commonwealth Secretariat promotes effective governance and principles of transparency and accountability, while helping member countries to eliminate corruption.

Press releases and photos from the Forum of Commonwealth Heads of African Public Service can be obtained by contacting [email protected]

Social media: @CommonwealthSec #PublicSector #Governance #GlobalDev