25 April 2024 (ECA) – Addis Ababa Policymakers have been asked to adopt digital tools to promote more openness, efficiency, and effectiveness in order to support national planning operations.

The call to action was issued during the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development’s Tenth Session side event, “Leveraging Digital Technologies for Integrated Planning to Advance the SDGs and Agenda 2063 in Times of Multiple Crises” (ARFSD-10).

The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Deputy Executive Secretary, Mr Antonio Pedro, emphasised the value of technology in assisting economic planning systems. Although many nations do a great job of establishing their goals through significant stakeholder involvement, he claimed that the sheer number of stated priorities frequently makes implementation difficult.

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In response to this difficulty, ECA created the web-based Integrated Planning and Reporting Tool (IPRT), which aims to improve planning efficacy. By utilising technology, the IPRT seeks to improve planning systems by enabling the digital tracking of sector, national, and provincial plans that are in line with yearly budgets and global commitments like Agenda 2063 and the SDGs.

Chief of Development Planning at ECA’s Macroeconomics and Governance Division, Mr. Bartholomew Armah, emphasised the tool’s capacity to support integrated and coherent planning, resolving the problem of disjointed planning frameworks at different levels and guaranteeing compliance with international obligations. “By providing a unified approach to progress reporting, the IPRT represents a significant step forward in the integration of multiple development agendas into national development plans,” the speaker stated.

The South African Department of Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation (DPME)’s Ms Annette Griessel, Deputy Director General of National Planning Coordination, emphasised the revolutionary role that technology plays in addressing the development gaps brought about by South Africa’s apartheid history.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa’s Agenda 2063, “which is seen as a cornerstone in building a capable developmental state,” were in line with the planning system reforms that have been undertaken, she said.

With continuous efforts to guarantee its adoption by other countries on the continent, the IPRT has already been implemented in over thirty countries. It facilitates easier tracking of performance on the National Development Plan’s indicators.

The Office for Eastern Africa and the Macroeconomics and Governance Division of ECA hosted the virtual conference.