Denis Opudo
Many African states have debt management challenges. Consequently, this has slowed down their rate of economic growth. But the countries affected should now be happy since Commonwealth has developed a modern technology that will help them overcome the challenge. The Eastern and Southern Africa governments can benefit from the Meridian technology. Meridian was first used by delegates in the regional workshop organized by Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI) in Harare, Zimbabwean capital.
According to Joanne Allin, systems specialist at Commonwealth, Meridian is the new public debt management technology. She added that the technology was designed and developed to support the modern debt management office. Allin said that the technology uses reporting features and more operational control. These features help it to improve governance. Moreover, it caters to a broader part of financial tools apart from having improved module to monitor and manage risky liabilities.
The effectiveness and usability of tools were strongly improved during the workshop. Delegates lauded the innovative of Meridian and new features. They also recommended for the improvement of the web-based technology. The technology has been piloted in India with debt experts and managers within the Commonwealth. Testing of the technology started in Barbados in May this year and many countries in line for the trial of the software. The rolling out of the technology will take place in the Q1 of 2019.
Meridian will be a replacement of CS-DRMS which is flagship software of Commonwealth. Currently, CS-DRMS is being used by more than 60 nations including half of sub-Saharan Africa. Countries which are not members of the Commonwealth are also using the technology. The move will probably minimize the losses experienced by many countries in the mismanagement of debt in Africa.
