Pan African Capacity Building Programme

The Pan African Capacity Building Programme (PACBP) is a partnership initiative of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). 

The Pan African Capacity Building Programme (PACBP) is a partnership initiative of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The partnership initiative was initiated in 2008, and operations commenced in 2009. The DBSA is the implementing agent of the partnership initiative.

The main objective of the PACBP is to build African capacity for infrastructure and general economic development. The programme builds capacity through regional DFIs, government departments, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) or other semi-government institutions (parastatals), and through any other locally based development stakeholders across sub-Sahara Africa.

  • The PACBP has four capacity building pillars, and these are:
  • Masters’ in Public Infrastructure Management (MPIM); 
  • Short Courses (3 – 5 day long professional skills enhancement sessions);
  • Developing Black Industrialists (only in South Africa for now); and  
  • Leadership Skills Development (Institutional Strengthening).

The programme focuses on skills development in the critical infrastructure development areas of water and sanitation, energy, roads and transportation. These areas were identified as vital for the continent’s development in a feasibility study carried out by the programme in 2009.

The programme is flexible and locally-driven (customized). This way, it will remain relevant to the needs of its African partners, clients and stakeholders, and will deliver capacity building interventions in response to stated requests for capacity support on the ground.

Pan African Capacity Building Programme1workshop2

The PACBP is governed through the following structure: 

PACBP Implementation Committee

The Implementation Committee consists of representatives from the two funding partners (IDC and DBSA). The role of the JSC is to provide strategic guidance, direction and oversight to the programme in order to achieve the overall objectives and to protect the interests of partner organizations. The partners are often referred to as shareholders. 

MASTERS IN PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT (MPIM)

The Masters in Public Infrastructure Management (MPIM) programme is a two-year academic course being implemented through three partner universities spread across three regional centres in the African continent: University of Pretoria (SADC); Makerere University (East Africa) and University of Dakar (West Africa). The programme aims to develop high-calibre skills for conceptualisation, development, management and maintenance of public infrastructure. Each university focuses on regional priority in the three sectors: roads and transport, water and sanitation, and energy. 

The MPIM Study Tour

The delivery of the MPIM programme has a study tour component, which aims to expose students to sites of best practice in terms of infrastructure development, management and maintenance. In addition to learning objectives, students shall also use the study tour opportunity to network with peers from other African countries and experienced practitioners, to deepen their learning and broaden their experiences.

The Study Tour event takes place over 5 days and sees the students visit some of the leading South African infrastructure projects. In 2014, the Study Tour visited Eskom’s Kusile electricity power generation project in Mpumalanga province, Rand Water’s water purification plants, SANRAL’s control centre, took a ride on the Gautrain, and visited the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC)’s inner city residential projects in downtown Johannesburg.

workshop3

PACBP Masters students during the 2014 study tour in South Africa

Black Industrialists

The IDC is supporting the development of Black Industrialists across different sectors in South Africa over the next few years. The PACBP will be coordinating the skills development part of the targeted support to the selected 10 Black Industrialists per year. An update on this will be given as the programme unfolds.

Institutional Strengthening

Through the PACBP, the African Development Bank (AfDB) will support a Leadership Skills Development programme targeting low capacity municipalities in three selected provinces in South Africa. The three provinces are KwaZulu Natal, Free State, and Gauteng. The low capacity municipalities will selected and recommend staff for this training and the PACBP will deliver this in collaboration with reputable institutions such as local universities and leadership training institutions. 

PACBP Contact Details

The PACBP can be contacted through the following: 

Ms Simangele Manganyela (Programme Coordinator): Tel.: +27-11-313 3923; Email: Simangelem@dbsa.org.  

OR

Dr Dumisani Magadlela (Programme Manager): Tel.: +27-11-313 3227: Email: Dumisanim@dbsa.org.