Economic Management & Private Sector Development

Since MDI's inception, the Economic Management & Private Sector Development department has been one of the key areas of MDI's programmes.

The majority of current activities are centred on consulting and training requests from the public, private and NGO sector. It has also been selected as the key trainer for the National Executive (NEX) training programmes, which have been set up by the government's Policy Analysis Unit, in association with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Also, with the success of the government's Structural Adjustment Programme and the on-going Programme for Sustained Development, the department's mandate has expanded to include:

• economic management programmes for economists in the public sector;
• strategic planning workshops for senior executives;
• seminars on the implications of the national budget to the private sector;
• public sector budgeting seminars (public investment programming and public expenditure programming);
• refresher courses for planners and statisticians;
• loans and debt management;
• customer care for banks.

Focus used to be on project management for development staff in government, NGOs and donor agencies and these courses are still on-going. Complimentary programmes include business skills courses.

The department also played a key role in conducting the training courses initiated by the UNDP-sponsored Economic Management Capacity Building Programme and when USAID operated in The Gambia, the department also ran several business courses sponsored by USAID.

Coordinator, Habib Sallah.