Dr. Fernando Fernholz, associate professor of the practice of public policy at the Duke Center for International Development (DCID), led a team that provided training and advisory services to support the public investment system in Zambia. The program began with a one-week training of local faculty followed by a two-week Project Appraisal and Economic Management (PAEM) seminar in Livingstone, Zambia, from July 1-19, 2014. The overall objective of the program was to enhance project assessment and economic management skills of public sector professionals, contributing to development objectives.
The first week had six participants who were professors from Copperbelt University of Zambia (CBU) and the National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA). The seminar focused on review of topics, coaching, and sharing of inputs in the preparation of local training materials. The Zambian professors, who had completed the 2013 PAEM seminar in Zambia, were invited by the Ministry of Finance to become local training counterparts. They participated as faculty in the July 9-19 seminar.
The two-week PAEM seminar is part of a program of the Ministry of Finance in Zambia to strengthen analytical capabilities in government in financial, economic, risk and distributive analysis of projects. Organized by the Ministry of Finance, there were 45 participants representing several ministries in Zambia. The seminar was opened by Mr. Chola Chabala, Director of National Planning in Zambia’s Ministry of Finance.
Fernholz and Fernando Cossio, professor of economics and public finance at the Catholic University in La Paz, Bolivia, have been providing training to the country’s Ministry of Finance and several public sector officials since 2012. Fernholz and Cossio have provided similar training in ministries of finance and related departments in Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Ecuador. Together with DCID faculty, other programs were delivered in Kenya, Kuwait, India and other countries.
