Following the honorable invitation of the Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG), the Director-General of CAFRAD, Dr. Coffi Dieudonné ASSOUVI, accompanied by Madame Meriem Touil, Secretary of Programs, participated in the 8th edition of the African Forum  Conference of Territorial Managers and Training Institutes targeting Territorial Communities (FAMI8_2024), which took place from Monday 9 to Friday 13 December 2024, at Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, National School of Commerce and Management (ENCG), in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, in the Kingdom of Morocco.

This edition of FAMI8_2024 brought together experts, institutional leaders and practitioners from local authorities from across the African continent, under the central theme: “Educating an Africa adapted to the 21st Century: Roles and Responsibilities of Local Authorities”. This crucial subject addresses the challenges and opportunities linked to the training of territorial executives, as a catalyst for sustainable development and the modernization of local administrations in Africa.

In his speech, the Director-General of CAFRAD first expressed his deep gratitude to His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God help Him, may God glorify Him, to all the Governments of CAFRAD member states who have granted him their confidence by electing him to the position of Director-General, and thanked to the organizers, in particular Dr. Najat Zarrouk, for not only having invited him but also for her commitment and her interest in developing a useful strategic partnership between the two Organizations (CAFRAD and UCLG AFRICA). He took the opportunity to send his respectful greetings to His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God protect and bless him and the Government of Morocco and the Moroccan people for the warm welcome he enjoys in the Kingdom of Morocco.

Elected in July 2024 at the head of CAFRAD, the Director-General presented to the participants his vision of transformation of Africa and African public and private administrations for the well-being of citizens.

He underlined two major observations: on the one hand, according to him, the decline of a population is a consequence of the destruction of its educational system, intellectual pillage and manipulation of information; on the other hand, a population can destroy itself through the neglect of its educational system, not investing in education, the shoddy training of senior managers, as well as the flight of talents and the illusion of knowledge.

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It is with this in mind that he saluted all the African countries which have made education a priority and which are investing massively in this essential, existential and vital area. He recalled that an educated individual is an asset to humanity and highlighted “intelligent skills” which go beyond technical skills alone, by also integrating human values ​​(soft & smart skills) as an essential for the personal and collective development.

Then, the Director General presented CAFRAD, created in 1964 by African Governments, and celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. After the creation of the African Union in 1963, it was obvious that a training center dedicated to the modernization of African administrations was essential. Thus, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hassan II, may God have mercy on Him, and ten other African countries, the Intergovernmental Organization was created with the support of UNESCO. Today, CAFRAD has 40 member countries out of the 54 of the African Union. It is now the second Pan-African Organization after the African Union and the first Center dedicated to the reinvention and continuous modernization of public and private administrations in Africa, for the well-being of citizens.

CAFRAD carries out several essential activities: training, scientific research focused on innovative practices, benchmarking, publication and documentation. These initiatives enable African states to make informed decisions, by providing reliable and comprehensive information. CAFRAD also offers consulting services to support Governments in the implementation of their administrative reforms and public policies.

Since July 9, 2024, the Director General has led this Organization and has placed his mandate under the sign of complete transformation, in particular with an emphasis on the reform of high-level training. This plays a key role in allowing professionals to readapt, improve or retrain, and it is particularly necessary to respond to the challenges of development and transformation of African societies.

It is in this perspective that he presented the CAFRAD project on the development of territorial skills and talents.

Quality human capital is a raw material and an essential and fundamental material for the development of Africa. The roles and responsibilities of local authorities in matters of education are of the highest order. Thinking global, acting local reinforces the roles and responsibilities of local authorities as territories with a positive economy, as a center of concrete development actions. They constitute the prerequisite of any efficient education system but they lack resources. Educational decentralization is not yet effective in all African countries.

Solid institutional support is needed. This is why CAFRAD set up the territorial skills and talents development project.

Finally, the Director General concluded his intervention by emphasizing that it is imperative to rethink the African education system, school models and diplomas. To build “the world we want”, “the Africa we want” in the 21st century, a prosperous and unified Africa, Africa must adopt new educational models which favor human competence, transformational, situational, authentic leadership, as well as ethical and daring, and collective intelligence. The current challenges, the thorny and pernicious problems, cannot be resolved quickly, but sustained individual and collective commitment will be decisive in building a better future for the continent.