Mr. Jackson, who spoke during a panel held as part of the Forum of African Regions (FORAF) under the theme “Regional governments and challenges of human and financial resources”, noted that financial decentralization corresponds above all to transfer of resources but also of State charges to local entities and the autonomous management of their budget.
When it comes to financing, he stressed, it is necessary to ensure that local development, whether organized or founded by the local state, by the municipality or by the region as such, should take place in a “holistic” and “positive” environment.
The UN official also explained that in the event of decentralization, local authorities must face a triple challenge: ensuring the functioning of the community in political and organizational terms, managing relations with partners (local partners, State , external partners) and optimize the management of their resources.
Following suit, the executive director of the observatory of the South African province of Gauteng, Rashid Seedat, affirmed that the support systems for communities through external aid depend on the regulations of each country, noting in this meaning that depending on the case, the State intervenes or not in the redistribution of funds allocated by donors.
Returning to the South African experience, Mr. Seedat observed that decentralization made it possible to constitute a sort of administrative division with a view to better efficiency in terms of local development, in addition to bringing public authorities closer to the populations and indirectly facilitate their participation in decision-making processes.
In the same context, he noted that on average, South African municipalities finance 90% of their expenditure through resources that they mobilize themselves, while specifying that state transfers do not constitute only 10% of their budget.
Mr. Seedat also stressed that the very high share of external financing for local authorities can lead them not to develop their own resources, which risks keeping them in a form of dependence in the very long term.
Organized under the High Patronage of HM King Mohammed VI by the Association of Regions of Morocco (ARM), in collaboration with UCLG Africa and the Oriental Regional Council (CRO) and the support of the Ministry of the Interior (Directorate General of Territorial Communities -DGCT-), this first FORAF meeting has the theme “The contribution of Regional Communities to sustainable development and the integration dynamic of Africa”.
During this event, the constitutive General Assembly of FORAF will be held as a governance body within UCLG Africa, which will allow member regions to work together for the development and integration of Africa.