By Judith Ugwumadu | 06 December 2013
The UK’s Department for International Development will axe a $100m trade programme aimed at helping poor people across southern Africa after a watchdog found ‘serious deficiencies’ in financial management and governance.
TradeMark Southern Africa, which began in 2009, was designed to promote regional integration and trade in order to build roads, raise trade standards, and eliminate agricultural diseases. But it made slow progress, which jeopardised its potential to generate a meaningful impact in the region, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact said today.
ICAI also revealed that weak governance resulted in £80,000 of payments given to the Zimbabwean government in ‘contravention of UK government policy’, which only allows aid to go to international agencies and charities working in Zimbabwe. The watchdog graded the programme ‘red’, the worst in its traffic-light rating system.
International Development Secretary Justine Greening told Parliament on Wednesday that she was fully prepared to stop funding the five-year programme, adding that it did not ‘not offer value for money’ and ‘failed to achieve [its] objectives’.
She said £67m had already been spent on various projects run by TMSA, but £46m would now be taken back by the government following investigations by auditors and ICAI.
Greening said: ‘I have given notice to commence shutting down TMSA with immediate effect. In parallel, DFID is exploring alternative more effective mechanisms to support the important steps being taken in the region to drive trade and regional integration.
‘The oversight of TMSA has clearly fallen below expected standards. As a result, DFID is making changes to its capability and expertise in DFID Southern Africa to strengthen oversight and financial control.’
Greening said that she would expand DFID’s internal audit capability to enable an enhancement of its risk-based approach and increase the frequency of reviews. She added that the department had already strengthened its programme and financial management procedures.
‘I will continue to take robust action on value for money throughout the department, and I will continue to take decisions to exit underperforming programmes and redirect resources into those that deliver poverty reduction and value for money for taxpayers,’ Greening said.
ICAI welcomed the fact that DFID has now decided to close down TMSA.
