Public Sector Governance and Accountability Series: Budgeting and ...

418 Salvatore Schiavo-Campo
study). In brief, of the African countries examined in the study, only
Tanzania and, to a lesser extent, Uganda have handled the introduction of
financial management information systems properly and have thus been
comparatively successful. The many reasons for the failures in other countries
are identified as follows:
Lack of clarity in ownership of the system and unclear authority to
implement it
Failure to specify the user needs and functional requirements
Too little time spent on the design phase
Failure to improve the underlying budgetary procedures (the “computerization
of inefficiency” mentioned earlier) and neglect of the required
complementary reforms
Neglect to “sell” the system to spending agencies
Overly ambitious scope and inclusion of too much information (related to
the failure to specify clearly the user needs and distinguish the important
from the unimportant)
Unrealistically short timetables, often leading to damaging shortcuts
Lack of incentives for the individuals involved
Failure to provide funds for the requisite operations and maintenance
Absence of many prerequisites, such as computer literacy and adequate
information.
This daunting list of failures is not a reason to reject out of hand initiatives
to introduce informatics into the financial management apparatus of
African countries. It is abundant reason, however, to be extremely careful
and to do so at the right moment and in the right manner; to allow for all
required preliminary studies, design, implementation time, and resources;
to take full cognizance of the mistakes of other countries; and, above all, to
tailor the scope and pace of computerization to the realities and limitations
of the specific country. This point leads to the next section.
Fit Capacity Building to Local Realities
In general, simplicity is a guiding criterion for capacity building.As well stated
in a recent World Bank Institute publication (Levy and Kpundeh 2004: 3):
“Instead of dwelling on politically unrealistic ‘best practice’ reforms, the focus
shifts to a ‘good fit’ approach using modest, viable initiatives, with observable
results.”The technical assistance provider should particularly be on the lookout
for evidence of a supply-side dynamic at work, because, as noted earlier,