By Ignatius Chukwu LIFE-ND is a very sensitive and critical man-power and entrepreneurship scheme initiated few years ago to turn around the economic situation in the Niger Delta through massive investment in small-holder agric ventures. Now, to quicken the pace of turnaround, the financial reporting has been re-engineered. This was unveiled at a workshop in Abuja for West Africa and it made waves.
Details:
The financial automation system created to report on the special agric entrepreneurship for youths and women in the Niger Delta is said to have shone brightly. It is also said to have received endorsement in all of English-speaking West Africa.
The innovative financial automation package known as ‘Interim Financial Reporting (IFR)’ system is said to have been modified by the experts at the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises for Niger Delta (LIFE-ND), a project in Nigeria by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) which is a partnership project with the Federal Government to boost youth and women entrepreneurship in the Niger Delta in the area of agriculture.
The IFAD country office, Nigeria, thus organized a financial workshop from August 15 to 17, 2023, according to a statement from the LIFE-ND headquarters in Abuja.
According to the statement from the media unit made available to newsmen, the event was attended by the three IFAD-assisted projects in Nigeria; Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises – Niger Delta (LIFE-ND), Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), and Special Agro-Processing Zone (SAPZ).
Also in attendance were IFAD-Assisted Projects in English speaking countries in West and Central Africa; Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Ghana.
The highlight of the event, according to the statement, was the period of knowledge-sharing. “LIFE-ND actively participated during this session by showcasing the processes that led to their pioneering the automation of the Interim Financial Reporting (IFR) system.”
This is said to be a process recently introduced by IFAD (worldwide) geared towards improving financial reporting.
“In a bid to reduce the turnaround time for generating and rendering this critical report, the project finance team led by the Financial Controller, Mr. Matthew Erhima, shared the process that was adopted by the Project to finally automate the process.
“It was a watershed moment, and the LIFE-ND Project, which has a target of producing 25,500 youths and women in agri-entrepreneurship stood tall and received great commendation from IFAD for this feat.”
The media unit said IFAD takes issues related to financial reporting very seriously and does not fail to recognize any excelling Project under its supervision. “The essence is to encourage others to improve on their processes and continuously take advantage of the system.”
With a reliable and automated financial reporting system now endorsed, LIFE-ND projects in Nigeria are expected to run faster and attract more credibility that will positively impact funding sources.
