After Gambia, Kenya, Ethiopia line up to understudy how TSA works in Nigeria
Following the observed success so far recorded by the Federal Government accounting system powered by the introduction of Treasury Single Account (TSA), more African governments are lining up to understudy and adopt the regime to drive spending transparency and efficiency.
This was revealed by the Director of TSA in the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Sylva Okolieaboh in Lagos on Monday.
Giving details during an interview on the sidelines of the training session put together by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, in the Ministry of Finance for The Gambian team understudying the workings of TSA at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Marina, he said “As you can see, in the last two weeks, The Gambian team lead by its Accountant General, Mr. Momodou Lamin Bah, had been studying how TSA works in Nigeria.”
“From their impression, they are likely to adopt TSA as they have begged the Nigerian Government to assist them with technological aids and Nigerian technology firms are ready to do so.
Okolieaboh added that “Two other African governments have already indicated their interest to join Gambia in not only understudying, but adopting the financial system to boost spending intelligence and transparency in their national income and expenditures.
In his remarks, the Gambian Accountant General, Mr Bah, averred that “So far, we have gotten strong reasons to not only adopt but see how we can improve as soon as we begin the implementation of TSA in The Gambia”.
“We want express our sincere gratitude to the people and government of Nigeria for availing us this strategic opportunity to restructure how we spend our national income. However, we will also want the Nigerian government to assist us especially at this beginning stage so that we can stand firmly on takeoff of the scheme in The Gambia.
Corroborating Bah’s position, the Permanent Secretary, Gambian Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Mrs Ada Gaye, thanked the Federal Government and the office of the Nigerian Accountant General for giving The Gambia the opportunity to come and understudy TSA.
The Gambia team came with their technical team and have been drilled with inputs from select Nigerian technology firms who are facilitating the training programme at the training floor of the CBN building, Marina, Lagos.
Business Hilights recalls that TSA is a financial policy in use in several countries all over the world. It was proposed by the federal government of Nigeria in 2012 under the Jonathan Administration and was fully implemented by the Buhari Administration.
It is a public accounting system whereby government receipt, revenue and income are collected into one single account The Central bank of Nigeria is responsible for the maintenance and management on such account.
TSA initiative is the operation of a unified structure of Government Bank Accounts, in a single account or a set of linked accounts for ‘ALL’ Government payments and receipts so as to aggregately monitor and knowingly approve every expenditure that passes the test of all approvals and audit terms and condition. The key targets of TSA include transparency, accountability and block several forms of abuse of government funds.
In Nigeria, the scheme is driven by well integrated world class software locally developed by Remita Technology Group
