Executive Seminars on Strategic Planning and Management of Municipal Infrastructure Programs, South Africa.
1999-2006

In 2006, the Institute restarted the international education program in South Africa with the planned offering of courses in Pretoria and Capetown.  The original program in South Africa was developed by Mona Serageldin at the Center for Urban Development Studies for Provincial and Municipal Officials in 1998.  The courses addressed issues of strategic planning, infrastructure investment and partnerships for local economic development.  Over 700 participants attended the courses from 1998 to 2004.This program aims to build the capacity of provincial and municipal officials to use the Municipal Infrastructure Grant in order to foster economic development.  The government grant channels over $1 billion annually into poor communities to finance the development of new infrastructure and the rehabilitation of existing systems.  The Pretoria course, “Strategic Planning for Sustainable Infrastructure Development,” was held November 13-17.  36 participants from provinces in northern and central South Africa attended the course, many of whom were engineers charged with implementing infrastructure projects. 

The course focused on such topics as the importance of NEPAD and SDIs as the context for regional economic development strategies; planning and management of local development; local revenue generation, and establishing partnerships for local development (see attached program).  Case studies from Africa, Latin America, South and East Asia and Europe were presented to illustrate key principles.  A special session was given for interested participants on strategies for planning and implementation of infrastructure for major events to address the planning concerns some municipalities are facing as they prepare to host the 2010 World Cup.

During the final two days of the course, the participants were divided into four groups for an interactive workshop exercise designed to encourage application of the concepts and methods discussed during the course.  Each group was given a specific problem to address relating to one of four issues: Infrastructure and the Millennium Development Goals, Infrastructure and Municipal Finance, the Impact of Migration on Housing and Service Delivery, and the Sustainability of Infrastructure Projects.  The groups engaged in spirited debate during the workshop sessions and developed excellent proposals which they presented to the group in the final session.

In evaluating the course, participants were extremely pleased with the quality of the case studies presented during the sessions, noting that they were very applicable to the issues they were facing in their current positions.  Several stated they were able to view their work in a new light after attending the course.

(Mona Serageldin, John Driscoll, David Jones, Christa Lee-Chuvala)