Liberia: WAIFEM Holds Report Writing Workshop for Regional Financial Experts

The West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), in collaboration with the Central Bank of Liberia, commenced a regional training course on economic and financial report writing skills and presentation techniques on Monday.

The training course, which runs from July 3 to 7, in Monrovia, brought together participants from Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and The Gambia.

Dr. Alvin G. Johnson, Director of Governance and Institutional Development at WAIFEM, who represented the institution’s director general, said the objective of the course was to empower participants with the capacity to communicate well, which is a powerful tool for job effectiveness.

He said the special focus of the training course includes developing report writers’ appreciation of the English language and enhancing their competencies to structure, write, and present more effective economic, financial, legal, and other reports.

Johnson gave an overview of WAIFEM, saying the institute was established on July 22, 1996, by the Central Banks of The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, principally to strengthen capacity on a sustainable basis for macroeconomic, debt, and financial sector management in the countries of member banks.

He also amplified the importance of effective communication in today’s economic and business environment and the need to keep abreast of global developments, unprecedented changes, and transformations in communication, necessitating WAIFEM to add the training course to its menu of programs in 2002.

The WAIFEM Director for Governance and Institutional Development also urged the participants to make use of the opportunity to deepen their professional networking relationships with fellow participants to foster the course of integration in the sub-region. 

In his keynote address, Deputy Central Bank of Liberia Governor for Economic Policy, Dr. Musa Dukuly, said successful report writing requires professionalism, in-depth knowledge of the subjects discussed, concentration, and exceptional writing skills. 

"I found this course very relevant to every organization because even professions that don’t focus on writing require written communication skills, from the initial application to daily tasks and record-keeping," he explained. "Professional writing is a complex process that involves different skills for planning, drafting, and editing. Great writers must be able to quickly learn new concepts and translate ideas into original content." 

Declaring the regional course open, the Deputy CBL Governor said having effective report-writing skills can enable professionals in any industry to get noticed by employees, advocate for their interests, and get work done more effectively. Therefore, Dukuly added that the importance of reports in organizational life and for general administration is very great.

He added: "I hasten to add that whilst most managers may have the quantitative skills for policy formulation and analysis, which in itself is not a sufficient tool in modern economic management, This is because data gathered and analyzed but not effectively communicated and utilized for decision-making is worthless. Therefore, it is equally important for managers to sharpen their communication skills to enable them to pass information convincingly to the appropriate level of decision-making."

Dukuly, however, used the occasion to urge the participants to take maximum advantage of the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and skills for productivity at their various places of work.

He thanked the Director General of WAIFEM and his staff for selecting Monrovia as the venue for this important course.