UK body withdraws trade-related Africa funding

The United Kingdom’s department for international development (DFID) has shut down its £100 million funding of TradeMark Southern Africa (TMSA) with immediate effect due to “serious f laws in governance”. However it remains committed to improving trade across Africa. The DFID programme – established to foster regional trade links across southern Africa – included plans for road infrastructure development and efforts to develop new markets for local producers, including regional farmers. Media sources claim that lavish salaries were being paid and that the aid funding had been spent on unauthorised projects in Zimbabwe. The UK’s Mail Online quoted “inside sources” as saying that one TMSA official was drawing a higher salary than David Cameron’s annual salary. TMSA was approached for comment, particularly on what had been achieved with the funding to date, but they declined. “We are exploring alternative, more effective mechanisms to support the important steps being taken to drive trade,” Michael Haig, senior press officer for DFID told FTW. He said it was “unacceptable” that problems in accountability at TMSA were not picked up by several independent reviews. “It is clear there are serious f laws in the governance, oversight and management of TMSA – stretching back to its design and implementation phase in 2007 to 2010,” said Haig. DFID commented in a statement that while some objectives had been met – of the £67 million spent to date – “TMSA had not achieved a significant number of the key objectives expected”. Haig said Her Majesty’s Government would now reclaim the remaining uncommitted funds, which amount to around £42 million. Development secretary for the UJ government, Justine Greening, announced last week that programme management controls would be further strengthened. These measures include mandatory annual reviews and programme improvement plans. “Programmes with significant weaknesses that fail to improve significantly will be considered for closure,” said Greening. She added that she had expanded DFID’s internal audit capability to enable an enhancement of its riskbased approach. Haig said DFID remained “firmly committed” to improving trade across Africa. “We are considering how to break down barriers, boost infrastructure and help southern Africa integrate,” he said. INSERT & CAPTION 1 Programmes with significant weaknesses that fail to improve significantly will be considered for closure. – Justine Greening INSERT & CAPTION 2 Inside sources claim that one TMSA official was drawing a higher salary than David Cameron’s annual salary.