Out of the total proposed ETB561.67 billion annual budget (2021/2022), Ethiopia allocated ETB183.5 billion, 33%, for capital expenditure alone which is largely dispersed through projects. Given the huge and ongoing infrastructure development, it would be fair enough to claim that project management is and will continue to be the key component of the economy for years to come in the country.
Of course, project management is the most viable and effective means to manage risks, issues, change, quality, cost and add value to the project economy across the globe and it is here to stay for long.
Despite a clear potential of being an important tool to the economy, the level of attention given to project management in the Ethiopian economy is so minimal, and if any traditional. For example, it is not fully considered as a career choice, and in fact, and as far as my knowledge is concerned, there is no any project management accreditation institution ( apart from the general courses in few colleges and universities) in the country. Neither are the international institutions accessible to the ordinary citizens. This needs to change and if you follow me, I will shade light why, how and where to focus.
Project Value Driven Approach
From project identification, selection, establishment, implementation, test and commissioning, handover to operation and maintenance, project management principles and processes, phases, techniques and tools are useful frameworks and guides to gauge whether the project initiative can add real value to organizations and society. It is also a means to communicate and engage the wider stakeholders of the specific projects in time.
The usual practice in Ethiopia is, however, far from what project management processes and principles entail. Projects are usually initiated top down and executed without passing through a rigorous process and assessment at different stages, be it technical, financial, institutional, commercial, delivery, sustainability or stakeholder wise.
Project units are set up based on relationships rather than project management experience and expertise as it is considered benefits for individuals as opposed to organizations and society. Worse, project status is poorly communicated to society and opens the Pandora box for every likely guess of the larger public.
To capture a real value from projects, it is fundamental to put in place a standard metric (value capturing systems) and conduct deeper assessments across all project dimensions and communicate effectively rather than depending on individuals’ subjective opinions. Leaders are there to set the tone and direction, yet the actual project work shall be executed through the scientific approach rather than mere orders.
Project Incentive Schemes
From the setup, project management units are not often empowered and there is no clear incentive of performance and accountability in place. Project teams are assumed to manage projects of millions of dollar sizes with the normal operational compensation despite the fact that projects have their own characteristics, challenges, and, of course, pressure. The assigned project management team goes extra rounds to ensure their benefits unofficially, ultimately falling under the very people or companies they are supposed to manage. Quality, cost, delay and assumed service delivery all left under the bus costing the country and society immensely.
Training in foreign countries is usually part of project packages under the premise of technology transfer while in reality it is an indirect incentive to the team and the people behind the project. It is quite common to witness people being sent to a training that has nothing to do with the project or the operation there after. In fact, there is a dominant public perception that projects are designed or initiated to benefits individual groups as opposed to the organizational value they would bring in.