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Newsletter: January 2026
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Highlights
IMF AFRITAC West 2 Director with Honorable Sheku A.F. Bangura, Minister of Finance
IMF AFRITAC West 2 Director led a mission to Sierra Leone in December 2025 to initiate planning for the 13th Steering Committee meeting to be held in Freetown in June 2026.
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IMF AFRITAC West 2 Director with EU Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Rune Skinnebach.
Coordination with the European Union (EU) Delegations in Ghana and Sierra Leone further strengthened partnership with AFW2.
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The Mid- Year Report for fiscal year (FY) 2026 was published in January 2026. The report highlights the achievement of member countries supported by the center from May to end-October 2025.
Read more
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Success Stories: Operational CD
The steps taken by member country authorities to turn capacity development recommendations into material institutional reform form the bridge between technical assistance and institutional growth. The success stories from The Gambia, Ghana, and Liberia capture optimistic steps towards set goals in public financial management (PFM), customs administration and foreign exchange (FX) operation. Results from technical training on anti-smuggling work delivered to officers of the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) were observed in real-time. Towards the end of November 2025, the Bank of Ghana announced the approval of a new Foreign Exchange (FX) Operations Framework, a major step toward strengthening monetary policy implementation and market transparency. With technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) in The Gambia has strengthened public investment management capacity. As work program design for FY 2027 is ongoing, the center is prioritizing support that will facilitate tangible and buildable improvements in institutional capacity.
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CD Highlights by Work Area (December 2025 - January 2026)
AFW2 PFM Regional Advisor with officials of the Federal Ministry of Finance in Nigeria
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Ministries of Finance in The Gambia, Ghana, and Nigeria were supported to develop capacity in fiscal risk management, focusing on State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) risk and arrears. Missions supported The Gambia’s State-Owned Enterprises Commission (SOEC) and Ministry of Finance in Ghana to enhance fiscal risk monitoring and performance management for SOEs. Targeted training combined theoretical insights with practical demonstrations of the IMF SOE Health Check tool. In Nigeria, FAD and AFW2 experts helped the Federal Government of Nigeria to develop a three-tiered fiscal risk management structure.
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AFW2 Statistics Regional Advisor with officials of Stats SL during the mission on quarterly GDP compilation, January 2026
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Statistical services in Cabo Verde, Liberia, and Sierra Leone were assisted to further the development of national accounts statistics. Support to the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) focused on supporting ongoing improvements in national accounts, reviewing GDP rebasing preparations, and addressing areas requiring additional technical assistance. Final estimates were released in January 2026. At the Instituto Nacional de Estatística de Cabo Verde (INECV), AFW2 experts supported the preparatory work on the next GDP benchmark estimates, ensuring alignment with international best practices. A mission in January also supported Statistics Sierra Leone (Stats SL) in initiating the development of quarterly GDP using production approach.
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Regional Workshops and Professional Attachments
AFW2 PFM Regional Advisor with IMF experts, and senior
officials from Anglophone SSA countries during the
workshop on PIM in Kenya, December 2025
AFW2 PFM Regional Advisor with ministry of
finance officials during the workshop on
Fiscal Risks in The Gambia, January 2026
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Outreach and Key Developments
AFW2 Team with IMF AFR Director, Mr. Abebe Selassie
during visit to AFW2
AFW2 Team with
IMF ITD Project officer, Ms. Malshini Perera,
AFW Economist, Mr. Celaine N’gotta and
Administrative Coordinator Ms. Marie-Aude N’Guessan
during AI training
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The second African Regional Technical Assistance Centre in West Africa (AFRITAC West 2), is a collaborative effort between the International Monetary Fund (IMF), recipient countries and several bilateral and multilateral partners. It originated from the IMF’s response to African leaders’ call on the international community to increase technical assistance (TA) to Africa and focus it more sharply on capacity building in core macroeconomic and financial management areas. AFRITAC West 2 provides TA and training to Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS
MEMBER COUNTRIES
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