INTRODUCTION


As part of its training programme in the Legal Aspects of Debt and Financial Management for Sub-Saharan Africa, UNITAR brings together African public officials from a range of agencies including the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney-General's Chambers, the Central Bank as well as Members of Parliament, parastatals and other agencies involved in borrowing or negotiating international agreements. The primary aim of such workshops-conducted on a regional basis- is to bring together officials with different backgrounds to appreciate the multidisciplinary nature of financial management issues and the centrality and importance of the legal aspects in the borrowing process. Participants at these workshops are not only lawyers but also negotiators, decision makers, financial experts, economists and accountants.

As part of a similar initiative, UNITAR conducted a sub-regional workshop on the Mechanics of Loan Agreements (Banjul, 3 to 7 May 1999) jointly with WAIFEM (West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management). Some 40 participants were drawn from the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The purpose of this workshop was to expose African government officials to current developments in international finance as well as sharpen their understanding of the primary sources of finance and the legal documentation utilized therein. The primary mandate of UNITAR in such exercises is to deal with the legal aspects of financial management. Thus, the workshop also dealt, to a great extent, with the legal mechanisms in relation to debt operations as well as the role of the lawyer in the borrowing process.

This document is a logical outcome of the issues discussed at the Banjul workshop. It comprises two chapters dealing with some of the practical issues facing African nations in as far as financial management is concerned. Let me however hurry to say that the Issues raised in these chapters may also apply to other nations just as much as they apply to African economies. The last section of this document contains a communiqué drafted and presented by the Banjul workshop participants at the completion of the workshop in the Gambia.

We hope that this publication is useful to the readers.



Marcel A. Boisard
Executive Director of UNITAR


>> Go to:
Chapter 1: Sub-Saharan Africa and Development Finance
Chapter 2: The Role of the Lawyer in the International Debt Operations of Developing Countries