Training Revenue Enhancement Planning in 8 Ethiopian Cities: 90 Certificates
During the Ethiopian Year 2013 and 2014 the Development Learning Centre of the ECSU was engaged in piloting the delivery of E-Learning-Based Trainings on Revenue Enhancement Planning (REP). The pilot has been finalised successfully for seven Ethiopian Cities, namely Debremarkos, Nekemte, Assosa, Gambela, Semera, Yirga Alem and Jijiga. 90 trainees received a certificate for revenue enhancement planning. Currently there is another training running for the city of Adua and is expected to be finalised during the month August 2014.
Figure 1 Map of cities that have participated in REP Training
Cities who are interested in participating in this training are welcome to get in touch with the Ethiopian Civil Service University, specifically the Ethiopian Development Learning Centre, which is one the centres of the university.
In order to book the REP Training, please get in touch with the
Centre for Training and Consultancy (CTC)
at the Ethiopian Civil Service University:
Tel: 0116-452025
Email: info@ecsu.edu.et
The Revenue Enhancement Plan (REP) in a Nutshell
A REP analyses past revenue performance and demonstrates which financial resources are needed in the coming three years and how the city will generate this amount. This means that a clear strategy should be presented, detailing from which sources urban administrations can generate their own revenues to cover their expenses.
The responsibilities for its implementation should also be clearly defined. The main revenue sources include taxes, service charges and fees.
At the same time, when preparing REPs, city administrations should pay attention to expenditure requirements, financial balance at hand and revenue enhancement options. As it is mentioned in the expenditure management section of this manual, this approach will help city administrations to identify the resource gap. The definition of planned expenditure needs (what do I need to spend) sets a precise target (what do I need to receive to make it possible) for the revenue amount to be generated.
Download your copy of the REP Manual (English Version) today!
The Importance of the Training for Revenue Enhancement Planning
Revenue enhancement means that a city administration or municipality is committed to optimising the revenue sources that are legally and administratively available. The intent is to use each source of revenue to its fullest potential in accordance with the wider goals and priorities of the country. Revenue enhancement involves exploring opportunities to diversify revenue sources when existing revenues are inadequate to meet the demands of the citizens. Finally, it means making a commitment to putting in place a wide-ranging series of improvements to its policies, procedures, staffing and organisational structure.
The capacity for city administrations to supply urban services and undertake the necessary infrastructure development is naturally constrained by limited financial resources. Insufficient revenue generation is most commonly the result of a combination of different factors, which are depicted throughout the training.
The massive accumulation of new infrastructure requirements and the substantial need of resources to maintain, renovate and replace older, deteriorating equipment has compounded the problems of limited resources. This calls for generating more revenue from own and external sources such as grants, intergovernmental transfers, revenue sharing and borrowing. The major objective here is to maintain a steady increase in own (municipal) revenue that is at least equal to increased inflation and population growth rates. This approach would help to offset the decline in the purchasing power of money.
The training is crucial for the upscaling of important Ethiopian reforms in urban governance and decentralisation. Trainees learn how to set up efficiently facilitate the processes of planning of revenue enhancements.
Teaching and learning takes place through a number of methods which allows the participants not only to grasp the theoretical concepts, but also to solve problems and experience the planning processes in a practical way as part of a business game. As a result participants with a certificate of successful completion are expected to be competent and to make a big difference for the cities planning process. They become an asset for their cities and are able to assist the city in implementing a more efficient and effective planning process with the citizens as a beneficial in mind.
The training is provided in a cost and time efficient way by using a combination of short face-to-face workshops, online-training and video-conferences using the Woreda-Net Connection.
Certificate
The following certificate is provided for the participants after successfully completing the training:
Figure 2 REP Certificate for Successful Completion page 1
On the backside of the certificate, the learning outcomes are documented:
Figure 2 REP Certificate for Successful Completion page 2
The trainings have been developed as part of the bilateral Urban Governance and Decentralisation Programme (UGDP) and sponsored by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).