71
ment’s new direction policy which elevated youth
development as a high priority issue of the nation.
Weaknesses of the YEEP
Implementation Process
It is important to note that the significant shortcomings identified in the project do not have anything to do with a specific lack of programme
planning and development and/or staff capacity.
Partner institutions (PIs) decided not to start any
training in their institutions until they receive the
first trances of payment for the MOU signed with
the Lattanzio Kibs consortium in May 2019. The
PIs were to start training the youth in their institutions since September 2019. The project
encountered two major challenges, including the
delay of funding from the consortium to provide
resources to support the project and to the delay
in the arrival of tools that the National Youth
Commission was responsible for purchasing.
The lateness in tools and financial support
resulted in a lowering of staff morale. Staff were
asked continuously by the heads of partner institutions when the funds and tools will be delivered
to them to implement the training programme.
Other issues contributing to low staff morale
include late payment for service providers by the
key expert consultants.
NAYCOM, like other governmental agencies
in African LDCs, is faced with staff shortages
due to budgetary cuts which have created problems for the institution to implement programmes
at national, regional and district levels adequately.
The AfDB provided resources for the agency to
hire a project manager for the YEEP to provide
technical support for the agency to implement the
project on behalf of the government. However,
the project manager lacked the knowledge and
expertise in project management to effectively
implement the project. This caused undue tensions between consortium team and the
NAYCOM PIU.
Documents submitted by the consortium to
NAYCOM PIU took considerable time to provide
feedback on materials to the consortium. When
feedbacks were provided, the quality of the feedback was often poor and resulted in the undue
extension of the timeframe for implementing the
stages of the project. The absence of timely contributions from government institutions responsible for providing technical support to NAYCOM
on the development and approval of the deliverable per project stages also extended the implementation timeframe. For example, the
Public-Private Partnership Secretariat was
responsible for providing technical feedback and
consent for the PPP framework paper, while
NCTVA had responsibility for approving curricula and training manuals. The delay in confirming these documents resulted in an extension of
stage 2 from 4 to 12 months.
Even when NAYCOM had not yet approved
the stages, the project team on the ground in
Freetown were made to start implementing phase
3 and 4 to avoid further delay in the implementation of the stages. Nevertheless, the consortium
did not provide the necessary financial resources
to the team to implement the project activities
according to the plan. Poor management and
coordination on the part of Lattanzio Kibs head
office in Italy meant that there had been instances
when project activities were rescheduled three to
four times due to the delayed arrival of financial
resources from the headquarters in Italy.
Threats to the Successful
Implementation
Key experts and non-key experts raised the issues
of poor work morale as an area of concern for the
consortium in moving forward with the implementation of the YEEP. The lack of timely payments to key experts for service provided resulted
in staff feeling disrespected and undervalued.
This problem is compounded by the lack of funds
to PIs to deliver courses to the youth. Although
key experts can associate the non-payment of services with the delay in the approval of project
deliverable/stages by NAYCOM, priorities must
be given by the consortium to provide payments
to staff on a timely manner.
In November 2019, the AfDB was expecting
60% of the project funds to be utilised; however,
the team was only able to use approximately only
40% of the resources. In December 2019, the
project was “red-flagged” by the AfDB, i.e. the
bank at any time could terminate the project.
The Piloting of the Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Project (YEEP) in Sierra Leone, West Africa
ment’s new direction policy which elevated youth
development as a high priority issue of the nation.
Weaknesses of the YEEP
Implementation Process
It is important to note that the significant shortcomings identified in the project do not have anything to do with a specific lack of programme
planning and development and/or staff capacity.
Partner institutions (PIs) decided not to start any
training in their institutions until they receive the
first trances of payment for the MOU signed with
the Lattanzio Kibs consortium in May 2019. The
PIs were to start training the youth in their institutions since September 2019. The project
encountered two major challenges, including the
delay of funding from the consortium to provide
resources to support the project and to the delay
in the arrival of tools that the National Youth
Commission was responsible for purchasing.
The lateness in tools and financial support
resulted in a lowering of staff morale. Staff were
asked continuously by the heads of partner institutions when the funds and tools will be delivered
to them to implement the training programme.
Other issues contributing to low staff morale
include late payment for service providers by the
key expert consultants.
NAYCOM, like other governmental agencies
in African LDCs, is faced with staff shortages
due to budgetary cuts which have created problems for the institution to implement programmes
at national, regional and district levels adequately.
The AfDB provided resources for the agency to
hire a project manager for the YEEP to provide
technical support for the agency to implement the
project on behalf of the government. However,
the project manager lacked the knowledge and
expertise in project management to effectively
implement the project. This caused undue tensions between consortium team and the
NAYCOM PIU.
Documents submitted by the consortium to
NAYCOM PIU took considerable time to provide
feedback on materials to the consortium. When
feedbacks were provided, the quality of the feedback was often poor and resulted in the undue
extension of the timeframe for implementing the
stages of the project. The absence of timely contributions from government institutions responsible for providing technical support to NAYCOM
on the development and approval of the deliverable per project stages also extended the implementation timeframe. For example, the
Public-Private Partnership Secretariat was
responsible for providing technical feedback and
consent for the PPP framework paper, while
NCTVA had responsibility for approving curricula and training manuals. The delay in confirming these documents resulted in an extension of
stage 2 from 4 to 12 months.
Even when NAYCOM had not yet approved
the stages, the project team on the ground in
Freetown were made to start implementing phase
3 and 4 to avoid further delay in the implementation of the stages. Nevertheless, the consortium
did not provide the necessary financial resources
to the team to implement the project activities
according to the plan. Poor management and
coordination on the part of Lattanzio Kibs head
office in Italy meant that there had been instances
when project activities were rescheduled three to
four times due to the delayed arrival of financial
resources from the headquarters in Italy.
Threats to the Successful
Implementation
Key experts and non-key experts raised the issues
of poor work morale as an area of concern for the
consortium in moving forward with the implementation of the YEEP. The lack of timely payments to key experts for service provided resulted
in staff feeling disrespected and undervalued.
This problem is compounded by the lack of funds
to PIs to deliver courses to the youth. Although
key experts can associate the non-payment of services with the delay in the approval of project
deliverable/stages by NAYCOM, priorities must
be given by the consortium to provide payments
to staff on a timely manner.
In November 2019, the AfDB was expecting
60% of the project funds to be utilised; however,
the team was only able to use approximately only
40% of the resources. In December 2019, the
project was “red-flagged” by the AfDB, i.e. the
bank at any time could terminate the project.
The Piloting of the Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Project (YEEP) in Sierra Leone, West Africa