In March 2021, FSD Africa partnered with the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI) under the Debt Management Support programme. The programme aimed to support MEFMI member countries in four key areas: Debt Sustainability Analysis, developing Medium Term Debt Management Strategies, enhancement of debt transparency and development of debt databases and knowledge management initiatives.

As part of the knowledge management initiatives the following knowledge pieces were developed.

• Study on Managing Sovereign Debt in Times of Crisis: Insights from the COVID-19 Pandemic and Lessons for the Future. The study aimed to harness and leverage a range of lessons and insights emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic for effective and efficient debt management practices going forward.
• A Conceptual Framework for Contingent Liabilities and Guidelines for managing loan guarantees andon-lending in the MEFMI region. The guidelines provide countries with a framework for identifying, measuring, reporting, and managing contingent liabilities, loan guarantees and on-lent loans. The guidelines also cover aspects related to governance and institutional arrangements for these kinds of liabilities.

The two knowledge pieces have been finalised and validated in various fora and shared with relevant stakeholders. Some of the expected results from the initiatives and the programme in general are: more effective policies on debt management, better skilled and informed debt management stakeholders in the relevant countries, increased investor confidence in the debt markets in target countries, more capital allocated efficiently and effectively to finance long-term inclusive economic growth.