Essien Abel Essien Director, Strategic Planning ECOWAS Commission

1. VISIONING AND THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS: JOURNEY SO FAR Essien Abel Essien Director, Strategic Planning ECOWAS Commission

2. Content Page • Objectives of the Town Hall session • ECOWAS Vision 2020 • Linking the Vision to our role • SPU’s Strategic Mandate • What we need to do • Best Practices vs. the Current Reality of the Commission • So where are we now? • Development of the 2010-2014 Strategic Plan • Pyramids of Success and Translation • Role of Staff

3. Objectives of this townhall session • To communicate the ECOWAS Vision 2020 • To communicate the strategic planning process • To indicate the role of each individual within the pyramids of success and translation developed as backbones to the strategic development process • To examine critical success factors for achieving an efficient implementation of the strategy • To ensure a participatory approach in the implementation of the strategic plan

4. KEYWORDS ENABLERS • Borderless • Peace • Prosperity • Cohesion • Good governance • Access • Harnessing • Creation of opportunities OBJECTIVES • Sustainable development • Environmental preservation ECOWAS Vision 2020 • To create a borderless, peaceful, prosperous and cohesive region, built on good governance and where people have the capacity to access and harness its enormous resources through the creationof opportunities for sustainabledevelopment and environmental preservation

5. Linking the Vision to our role KEYWORDS ENABLERS Borderless Peace Prosperity Cohesion Good governance Access Harnessing Creation of opportunities Trade Dept. etc. Political Affairs, Peace & Security Dept. etc. All Departments Macroeconomic Dept., Human Development Dept. & Gender Dept. etc. Political Affairs, Peace & Security Dept., ECOWAS Court of Justice, and Parliament, etc. Infrastructure Dept. etc. All Departments Macroeconomic Dept., Human Development Dept. etc. WHO ADMINISTERS AND PAYS FOR THE PROCESSES? Administration & Finance Dept.

6. SPU’s Strategic Mandate MANDATE 1 MANDATE 2 MANDATE 3 MANDATE 4 MANDATE 5 Formulate a regional strategy based on regional integration and aligned with the development agenda of the NEPAD Framework Ensure conversion into operational, sectoral, regional and national programs Develop a detailed regional strategic plan indicating key implications and strategic options for implementation Develop short/medium and long term work plans Develop a mechanism for facilitating coordination of the Commission strategic plans in collaboration with the Commissioners and Directors.

7. What we need to do Allows us to consciously be responsive to the demands of the Communitiy We need to appreciate the resources we have available to meet these objectives We need to be clear about the objectives of ECOWAS region/Commission • Carry out a SWOT analysis to appreciate our strengths and identify our obstacles • Define our critical issues • Decide what resources are required • Define goals and intermediate and short-term objectives • Develop a strategy profile for the future • Draw an action timetable • Determine our main strategic mandate • Determine our strategic vision & mission How are we going to do this? Strategy lies in making the tough decisions about what is most important to achieving success.

8. Best Practices vs. Current Reality of the Commission BEST PRACTICES CURRENT REALITY Low Capacity to Decentralized Lack of Competencies/Prioritizing Financial Resources/Knowledge Meeting-Based Institution Absence of Projects Donor Dependency Decentralized planning system Large workforce to address competing pressures Modern IT Infrastructure Knowledge-Based Institution Community Projects Project Generated Funds

9. The 2010-2014 Strategic Plan has been submitted to Management We have commenced the preparation of the medium term action plan that will define the activities under the Strategic Plan Other plans such as the Capacity Building Plan, Communication Plan etc. to support and announce the strategies are being developed So where are we now? The region has adopted the 2020 Strategic Vision which sets out a clear strategic direction We are clear about our main strategic mandate, vision and mission We have aligned the strategic plan with the 2020 Vision We have started defining the programs/projects/ activities under the Strategic Plan

10. Institute a planning and programming system within a program planning cycle Communicate Strategic Plan to internal and external customers Established an Institutional Framework Arrangement Defined a clear process strategy Develop an Action Plan Development of the 2010-2014 Strategic Plan Activities Develop Capacity Building Plan having identified capacity gaps Documented and submitted Draft 0 Version of the Strategic Plan Details • Develop a capacity building plan • Monitoring and Evaluation System • Supportive ICT infrastructure • Implementation Review Reports • Midyear Execution Report • President’s Annual Review Reports • ECOWAS Commission Agenda • Mission • Core Values • Environmental Scan • Strategic Framework • Implementation Strategy • Identify Short Term, Medium to Long term planning issues • Integrate into a multi-year budgetary framework • Set up different Stakeholder Forums • Management Committee • Strategic Planning Steering Committee • Strategic Planning Operational Committee • Participatory Approach • Ownership • Acceptability/Commitment • Stakeholders Confidence

11. Where are we going? A borderless, peaceful, prosperous and cohesive region, built on good governance, and where people have the capacity to access and harness its enormous resources through the creation of opportunities for sustainable development and environmental preservation. VISION What are we here to do? Coordinate all activities leading to the promotion of cooperation and integration among member states in order to raise the living standards of its people, by enhancing their capacity to access and harness resources, maintain political and economic stability, through the pursuance of sound economic management and good governance, and adopting dialogue as a means of fostering relations among member states. MISSION How are we going to achieve this?...What plan should we follow?...How do we know when we have met our goals?...How do we keep on track? How do we do this? The methods and tools necessary to achieve our mission. It involves preparing the best way to respond to the circumstances of the organization's environment, whether or not these circumstances are known in advance STRATEGY How should we structure our capabilities to realize value and work efficiently as an organization? Our capabilities can be structured into 3 key sub-architectures: Processes, Technology and Organization CAPABILITIES ARCHITECTURE Processes Technology Organization Good Governance Facilities Culture Good Governance Funding Institutions People Pyramid of Success

12. ECOWAS CITIZENS END POINT of Delivery to ECOWAS Citizen Programs/projects can only be successfully delivered to ECOWAS citizens within an established program management framework. There is a need to ensure that only viable programs/projects (aligned to the vision) are embarked upon, internal resources are properly directed for effective implementation, and resources are properly managed to ensure program/project sustenance over time. PROGRAMS /PROJECTS Managing the financial resources for the programs and projects These are key drivers of an effective process management system as they continuously ensure that the right people occupy the right positions, and they possess the right tools to carry out their duties. FINANCE (management) PEOPLE MGMT SYSTEM ICT FACILITIES CONTROL SYSTEM(Components – M&E, AUDIT, ICT etc.) CULTURE A process management system defines how a business operates and the way in which it delivers value to both to its internal and external customers. Processes involve both manual and automated activities, and integrating these activities into a seamless and harmonious flow provides process excellence and competitive/cost cutting advantages. PROCESS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Ownership/ Responsibilities Business Process Manual Business Rules/ Authority Limits/ Operations Manual Reports Automation Support Key Performance Indicators Data Forms Having defined the vision, finances must be sourced in-house and through external channels to translate the vision into reality. FINANCE (mobilization of resources) START POINT of Delivery to ECOWAS Citizen ECOWAS VISION Pyramid of Translation

13. Our Role in the Implementation of the Strategic Plan