Mr. Wynand Wentzel, an executive officer at the African Organization for Supreme Audit Institutions in English-speaking countries (AFROSAI-E), traveled to Eritrea alongside the AFROSAI-E team for the Management Development Program workshop, which took place in Asmara from August 19th to 23rd. Eritrean Profile has spoken with him; here are the excerpts.
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First, I thank you for your time. Do you introduce yourself and the organization that you are representing to our readers?
Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you about a few things. My name is Wynand Wentzel. I am an executive officer at the African Organization for Supreme Audit Institutions— English-speaking countries (AFROSAI-E). We have 26 countries that are members of the AFROSAI-E. Not all of them are English-speaking. We work with countries that also use other languages.
What can you tell us about AFROSAI-E’s human resource development policies and initiatives?
Historically, at AFROSAI-E, we have focused primarily on the technical aspects of development. We prioritized adherence to audit standards and technological development. However, I think these development programs often overlook the human element. The human element forms the foundation of the program. The challenge lies in effectively managing both individuals and organizations.
We aim to equip the audit offices and their personnel to conduct audits that are pertinent to their respective countries. Even in this workshop, we place a strong emphasis on understanding job roles and responsibilities, with a particular emphasis on soft skills.
This is why we’re targeting office leaders. Obviously, they need to change the behavior and capabilities of the junior staff. So we are working to capacitate the audit offices to ultimately make
a difference in the lives of the citizens.
We have several programs that concentrate on human resources. We refer to this specific program as a management development program, which spans a period of twelve or eighteen months. We provide in-country training and development. Our other programs exclusively concentrate on the development of senior leadership skills.
However, we also utilize a variety of other tools. For example, we conduct regional programs with all the human resource (HR) personnel at the audit offices, providing them with the opportunity to share their experiences and collaborate effectively.
How do you describe Eritrea’s Office of the Auditor General (OAG); what makes it different?
I firmly believe that there are both differences and similarities. In terms of audit legislation, a lot of audit offices struggle with things like clear mandates, roles, and responsibilities. We observe this phenomenon throughout the continent, but I believe they should reexamine the audit legislation to evaluate its continued relevance over time.
Another aspect to consider is the recruitment process. We need to acknowledge that the auditing profession is a specialist field.
We, AFOSAI-E, are committed to continuously supporting and developing the offices. The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) has been very active since I joined AFROSAI-E 12 years ago. I think the Auditor General has always been able to put the OAG at the forefront. As a leader, I have immense respect for Mr. Gherezgiher’s ability to implement under challenging circumstances.
The current workshop is a continuation of related workshops. AFROSAI-E and OAG are partnering to organize a five-day Eritrea Management Development Program. How do you assess the previous two workshops?
Despite not being physically present at the previous two workshops, I’ve observed that many of the topics we discussed are currently in implementation. For example, we engaged in a discussion about a set of projects that the participants had agreed upon. The participants provided feedback on the work they had done since the previous workshops. So the audit office’s people collectively decided and identified focus areas or projects that they would like to implement. The news of significant advancements is encouraging. I have observed that there are significant challenges related to capacity. I believe we have made significant progress in developing policies, but they still require approval before implementation. I think we need to take those next steps to finish the work we started in the first two modules.
What are the current workshop’s objectives and focus areas?
The overall objective is to ensure that we equip people with the necessary skills to effectively implement the audit.
This workshop does not focus on teaching people how to audit; instead, it focuses on teaching them how to manage their staff effectively, enabling them to conduct audits. That’s why I consider it a softer skill in the context of people management.
More than just human resources, it is organizational capacity development. In the end, our goal is to inspire and motivate individuals to perform the audit to the best of their abilities. We want to make a difference in people’s lives and contribute to Eritrea’s development efforts.
In this workshop, we focused a lot on ethics and integrity. This encompasses both organizational values and culture. I believe that organizational values and culture are closely intertwined, as we frequently discuss ethics and culture, yet defining these concepts can sometimes be challenging.
Personal values often lack complete alignment with organizational values. A lot of the discussions focused on people management. It’s important to approach it constructively rather than solely focusing on its negative aspects. While managing poor performance is always necessary, it’s crucial to consider culture, ethics, and integrity to ensure practitioners adhere to international auditing standards.
So what do we expect out of this workshop?
I believe there is a clear link between expected outcomes and behavior change. It involves ensuring that our employees possess highquality qualifications and competencies. You know, it’s no longer solely our responsibility as AFROSAI-E to define the changes. It is collectively the responsibility of the audit office to articulate the changes they are working towards. I hope they will have a clear understanding of the importance of ethics and organizational culture, which we can potentially incorporate into the next phase of developing job profiles. So it is a continuous process with a broader outcome than just a one-week management development program. We are not going anywhere as AFROSAI-E; we are committed to supporting all member countries, and we will do it to the best of our abilities.
How can this workshop aid the OAG?
This brings us back to the initial seven projects. One of the projects was to develop OAG’s next strategic plan. You can now review the strategic plan and determine if it aligns with the country’s needs. In my opinion, this is a significant step forward and a positive outcome.
Our assistance ensured that they had a strategic plan. The OAG has effectively disseminated this plan.
Eventually, it is the implementation that counts most. What should the OAG do to put the acquired knowledge to work?
Indeed, we aim to bring about positive change and ensure that stakeholders or audit clients fully comprehend the objectives of the OAG. Stakeholders need to share their experiences and understandings in terms of policy development and implementation. I believe, is the challenge we face as auditors’ offices is the technical nature of our audit reports. Our offices must simplify the communication of recommendations, challenges, and results to ensure audit clients or stakeholders fully understand the expectations. We expect stakeholders to fully engage with the OAG to realize mutual objectives. They also need to develop a strategic plan that goes hand in hand with that of OAG.
So we ask the audit offices to prepare a report that talks back to the strategic plan and if that report can indicate the desired objectives. I believe it is crucial for audit offices to establish their own targets and objectives. The audit offices can also use that report to highlight certain challenges and eventually solve backlogs.
Based on your observations, what can you say about the workshop participants?
It is pleasing to see that there are younger people coming in. There are undoubtedly distinct perspectives and aspirations regarding life. It’s evident that older individuals are familiar with the audit environment.
In terms of competence, it’s evident that individuals are capable of understanding the concepts. However, the real challenge lies in implementation, a task that an external organization cannot undertake. Only those individuals can complete it. Please contact us for additional support—we’re delighted to help. From a competency standpoint, they are undoubtedly highly competent, motivated, and dedicated individuals. I think we just need to make sure that we pull all the strings together and manage the people realistically.
Can we strengthen AFROSAI-EOAG ties in the next steps?
We do have a capacity-building program for the audit offices that is specifically based on their development needs. The challenge for us is to secure external funding from development partners and donors. It is very difficult for a donor to give money for an organization (AFROSAI-E) in South Africa to support an organization in Eritrea. So if there are development partners and donors in Eritrea that can provide us with funding, it will make the overall process a lot easier. We base the capacity-building plan on specific needs.
We collaborated with them to develop the capacity-building plan, and we are not imposing any restrictions. Over the past five or seven years, we have implemented programs with the support of the Norwegian-based INTOSAI (International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions) development initiative. But we are getting to a point where we need to constantly look for funding to keep supporting the audit office. There is also a need to develop member states’ infrastructure to achieve the desired goals.
Let’s wrap up with this. I’ve learned that this is your first visit to Eritrea; how has your time been? Is there anything you want to share?
Beautiful! I’ve enjoyed it. It is different. It’s much greener than I had anticipated. I was not expecting rain. They offered to take me to the coast. I would like to return and explore more. I love the city; you can see the people are amicable.
Locals told me that I don’t have to worry about crime. It’s such a united community.
Thank you,
Mr. Wynand Wentzel.
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