THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Revised Guidance Note For Aid Management Platform
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EXTERNAL FINANCE DEPARTMENT
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
DAR-ES-SALAAM
16.10.2012
1.0: Guidance Note
Guidance Note for Collection and Handling of Aid Information by Government and Development Partners through the Aid Management Platform System
1.1 Introduction
To date, information on Tanzania’s ODA has been maintained by means of an Excel spreadsheet. This system has been shown to be inadequate in responding to the different needs of stakeholders, and faces a number of challenges, including difficulties in collecting routine disbursement data from development partners, incomplete information for MTEF purposes, and inadequate information to monitor projects constrained by poor implementation progress, funding delays and irregularities. In sum, these constraints have led the Government of Tanzania to implement a new aid information system, the Aid Management Platform and to clarify and revise the rules and requirements regarding the provision of data on ODA flows.
In the JAST, Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda for Action, we agreed that greater predictability in the provision of aid flows is very important to enable Tanzania to plan and reduce poverty as highlighted in MKUKUTA/MKUZA. We will take the following actions to further improve the predictability of aid;
· Tanzania will strengthen budget planning processes for managing domestic and external resources and will improve the linkages between expenditures and results over the medium term,
· DPs will provide full and timely information on annual commitments and actual disbursements so that Tanzania is in a position to accurately record all aid flows in the budget estimates and accounting system;
· DPs will provide each year, at country level, comprehensive estimates of aid flows they plan to provide over 3-5 year period;
· Tanzania and DPs we work together at the International Level to review ways of further improving medium term predictability of aid, including developing tools to measure it.
1.2 Purpose
This note and the attached National Budgeting Process/ calendars / schedules and operational Manual of Aid Management Platform, seek to establish a clear system in which the responsibilities of Government and DPs are clearly delineated in such a manner that as a matter of routine the AMP is kept up to date, maximizing its effectiveness as a tool for improving aid management.
1.3 Structure
This guidance note begins by summarizing the Government and DPs required inputs into the AMP. It then offers specific guidance note on what data is required to be entered into the system for certain data fields, before giving details on how certain types of project should be handled – specifically those for Zanzibar, and those with NGO components.
1.4 Implementation of AMP is expected to:
1. Support MOF management of ODA in accordance with the Budget process and the Joint Assistance Strategy for Tanzania (JAST):
• Facilitate reporting of DPs commitments / projections and actual disbursements on all ODA (to Government and non-state actors) to MOF, increasing accuracy and data quality (‘visibility’ incentives of DPs to report on time)
• Allow all MOF-required reports to be predefined and generated on demand, including on project/program results and outputs.
• Meet new monitoring and reporting needs on the JAST, Paris indicators, and new commitments made in Accra.
2. Increase transparency and accountability by introducing broad access to a data repository on ODA-funded projects/programs
i. Make ODA data visible online to different users through predefined access rights to AMP
ii. Increase the analytical capacity of both DPs and Government on the volume, distribution and effectiveness of ODA
iii. Seek to capture the involvement of implementing partners and non-state actors in implementing ODA funds and programs and facilitate their integration into Government planning processes.
3. Better alignment of aid through improved mapping of aid resources against MKUKUTA clusters
4. Further progress on Division of Labour through sectoral / DPs based aid mapping
5. Increase DPs confidence in government systems through an improved data recording and reporting system, and enhance government-led coordination, allowing the government to take even more control of their own development process.
However, for the system to bear such results, high quality information must be entered into the database on a regular basis.
2.0 Roles and Responsibilities
The roles and responsibilities for maintaining the AMP are clearly defined as in the diagram above. DPs and MOF Desk Officer Roles in providing inputs are clear. Outputs may be produced by any party. However, the main scheduled outputs, for the budget and annual aid portfolio reports, are the responsibility of the Aid Coordination Unit of the Ministry of Finance. Routine reports for specific purposes can be produced by any user of the AMP in each workspace to which they have access. All users will be granted reporting access to a workspace including all valWorld Bankted activities in the AMP. This means they will be able to design reports that include all activities from other partners, but not to edit any activities created by other DPs.
3.0 Calendar: Schedule of Government and DPs Inputs into AMP
Calendar: ANNEX II relates the key activities to be undertaken by the Government to ensure that AMP is accurately and comprehensively populated with information. The workload is almost equally divided between data entry and data checking.
· Actual disbursements for basket funds and budget support must be entered by the Aid Coordination Section into the system from information provided by the Bank of Tanzania on a monthly basis with a deadline of the 5th working day of the next month, and verified by DPs within 7 working days of the month following the month of disbursement (in the US Dollar);
· Actual disbursements for project support are entered into the system by DPs on a monthly basis with a deadline for data entry of the 5th Working Day of the next Month. Verification of data will be done by desk officers at MOF within 7 working days of the next month (DPs’s currency);
· MTEF projection data is entered into AMP in September each year by DPs in accordance to the budget calendar.
· A monthly compliance report will be produced by the Aid Coordination Unit on the 15th of each month, to show the extent to which development partners are adhering to data provision requirements and shared by government and DPs through the DPG.
· A detailed annual report will be prepared and issued in every October of each year.
· The role of GOT is to create the project name DPs shall contact Aid Co-ordination whenever there is a new project. Once project is created; DPs shall enter all other relevant informations, e.g implementing organizations, sectors,contact information etc
· MDAs and LGAs will be responsible for entering actual disbursements for the direct project funding.
4.0 Key Data Requirements
Fields in AMP that are frequently entered in incorrectly or omitted but are very important for using the system analytically include the following:
Actual Approval Date / Date of Agreement Signed: This is the date on which the project agreement was signed. If it was signed by the DPs and the Government on separate days, then the later date should be taken.
Actual Start Date: This is the date on which the project became active (when funds can be disbursed to the project). In many cases it is the same as the Date of Agreement Signed / Actual Approval Date. It is only different where there are conditions for effectiveness or the agreement makes it clear that the project only starts after a certain date.
Proposed Completion Date / Date of Actual Completion: This is the date on which the project is scheduled to close, according to the agreement.
Revised Completion Date / Current Completion Date: This need only be filled in if any extension to the project has been agreed or it is expected to close earlier or later than originally completed.
Status: The status should reflect the current status of the activity – whether it is ongoing, planned, has been cancelled or is closed (in the sense that no further disbursements will be made to the project).
Implementation Levels / Location: Projects in the AMP can be selected as implemented on a National Level, a Regional level or both. The implementation level should be selected. If the project is regionally implemented, the location can be selected using the ‘Implementation Location’ drop down menu. The precise location can then be added using the ‘Add Location’ button. This should be entered for all projects to allow analysis of aid by region and district in Tanzania.
Sector: To date the sector for each project has been entered in well: almost all projects have a sector allocated to them. For all new projects, this must be maintained, with the sector selected from the drop down menu provided, (see ANNEX IV - The Approved Sectors /thematic classification by Government in Consultation with Development Partners.)
MKUKUTA / MKUZA Classification / National Planning Objectives: To improve alignment, it is necessary for all activities to be allocated an MKUKUTA/MKUZA Cluster. If the activity is not aligned to the MKUKUTA/MKUZA at all, this field should be left empty and the activity will be assumed to be not aligned. This field is often left empty, but is critical for analytical reasons. For Budget Support, the MKUKUTA/MKUZA allocation selected from the drop down menu in the AMP should simply be ‘MKUKUTA’/’MKUZA’ rather than any specific cluster.
Currency of Disbursements: It is critical to ensure that the correct currency for disbursements is selected, and to ensure that figures are entered in full. Common errors are the inclusion of a disbursement with the correct figure but the wrong currency (often US$ is selected when the actual currency is, for example, JPY). Another common mistake is accidentally adding an extra ‘0’ or even ‘000’ to the end of the figure, inflated the disbursement amount. Disbursement figures must be checked before they are saved.
Executing Agency: These fields are commonly left empty, but are crucial for budgeting and for fostering accountability. The Executing Agency is the agency who handles funds for the project. This may be the DPs agency themselves, if they make payments on behalf of an implementer themselves. In other cases, it may be an MDA, if resources are disbursed to the MDA to use for project activities. In cases where the funds are channeled through the Exchequer but transferred immediately and in total to an MDA, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) is not the executing agency. This is the MDA who receive the funds in bulk from MOF and decide how and when to use them. Only in cases where funds must be requested by the Implementing Agency (see below) from MOF for specific activities is the executing agency MOF.
Implementing Agency: The Implementing Agency is the agencies who manage the project activities. This may mean directly undertaking activities itself or managing agencies at one level lower who carry out the physical workload. It is the agency who has the overall remit to oversee activities and ensure that project objectives and outputs are achieved.
Failure to enter these data accurately will be noted by MOF as a failure to provide information on time.
Technical Assistance: Entered into the system as other disbursements /projection in the system by selecting Technical Assistance on funding option. DPs will be also responsible to report the expenditure/procurement of Technical Assistance in the system.
Humanitarian Assistance: can be captured like other project. However, in the identification section of AMP the tick box for ‘Humanitarian Aid’ must be checked, and in sector section the sector should be selected as ‘Humanitarian’.
4.1 Projects Supporting Multiple Implementers
A project implemented by more than one MDAs/Regions/LGAs needs to be entered according to the number of implementers. This is for budgeting reasons to know the exact amount allocated. Therefore, the commitment, projections and actual disbursements for each implementer should be separated. Each line is created as a separate project, and should be named with the convention: ‘Project Name – MDA 1 Component’ (for example ‘Public Financial Management Reform Project – MOF Component’).
4.2 Official Development Assistance Related with NGOs
The Development Partners will be responsible to report in the system all Official Development Assistance provided to Local NGOs, CSOs, and Private Sectors as well as International NGOs operating in Tanzania. This is very important to know the exact amount of official development assistance received in the country. Each project name should be created in the system and shown whether it is local NGO or international NGO support. Actual disbursements to Local NGOs and International NGOs for project support must be entered directly into the AMP by Development Partners on a monthly basis. Disbursements for each quarter must be entered into the system (in the DPs’s currency) within 5 working days of the next month following disbursement as per ANNEX II
5.0 Zanzibar
There is a dedicated AMP workspace for the Ministry of Finance of Zanzibar, allowing them greater autonomy in data collection and analysis. Activities relating to Zanzibar should be reported as follows:
All loans relating to Zanzibar are to be reported as normal to the Ministry of Finance on mainland Tanzania for entry into AMP. These should, however, be clearly marked as for Zanzibar.
Grants which are solely to activities on Zanzibar should be reported to MOF Zanzibar for initial entry into AMP and thereafter updated with details of actual disbursements and projections in line with the calendar of DPs inputs into AMP attached here.
Where a grant has a component for Zanzibar and a component for mainland Tanzania it should be reported as two separate grants. The naming convention should be: ‘Name of Project – Zanzibar component’ and ‘Name of Project – Mainland Tanzania component’. The overall commitment of the project should be split between the two components based on the expected breakdown of disbursements. Disbursements should be entered into AMP in the appropriate project (Zanzibar component or Mainland Tanzania component) according to which region the disbursement is made for use in. Separate MTEF projections for the two components must also be made, and reported to the respective Ministries of Finance and Economic Affairs, and should be entered into AMP for each component.