What the Alumni have to say about the AIFP: throwback to Bene Ndjate’s experience

The AIFP is a professional springboard for its participants, who can reinvest the skills acquired during the program in their day-to-day missions and share the knowledge they have gained with their teams. On this aspect, let’s look back at the AIFP experience of Bene Ndjate, fellow of the 2021 cohort. 

In 2021, Bene was Head of Office in charge of monitoring the execution of public contracts at the Congolese Ministry of Planning. Today, he is both Head of Division at the Ministry of Planning’s Directorate of Studies and Planning, and Assistant in charge of PPPs at the Investment Division of the Office of the Special Advisor in charge of External Resources and Project Monitoring. He explains his current responsibilities: “Now, I work at a strategic level. I’m in the President’s cabinet, where I bring my expertise in terms of analysis to questions that are addressed to the special advisor at the highest level.”  

According to him, the AIFP was a significant step in his career as a PPP expert: “It’s precisely this opportunity, the AIFP, that has opened certain doors for me so far. I’ve been a fellow in 2021 and part of the alumni network since then. Before that, I had a minimal advisory role on these issues, but I didn’t have the same view or the same knowledge that I gained through the AIFP. The AIFP has been a very good opportunity for me to apply the knowledge I’ve learned and acquired on issues directly related to PPPs.” 

A good way for him to become part of a network of change-makers in Africa, and to take part in a revolution in the acquisition of better infrastructure for the continent. “I joined the program because I had a particular interest in PPPs. This interest has grown over time. I wanted to take part in research to make up for the infrastructure deficit that currently exists in my country and perhaps in Africa in general. Therefore, I felt it was important to benefit from this program, because I needed to be among the ambassadors, the experts, on these PPP-related issues. The AIFP was an opportunity for me to acquire new skills. I can now share them with Africa, especially in my own country, and perhaps with the rest of the world”, he says 

For him, taking part in the program was a way of delving deeper into the issues surrounding PPPs, both from a theoretical and practical point of view. “I kept all the documents and continue to use them today to help me understand these issues. I also request documents from members of other cohorts. This allows me to conduct research for possible solutions, considering both the Congolese and African contexts. […] I use them in my analyses, in my reflections and in the discussions I have with colleagues”, he explains. He adds: “The way the program is structured allows us to be sufficiently grounded in a practical way. Some of these questions and concepts were a bit new to us. When you’re in immersion, it’s an opportunity to assert oneself, to gain a better understanding of the process, from design to delivery. These new skills can then be effectively applied and passed on to present and future generations.” 

Finally, Bene reminds us of the importance of the support network created between the AIFP professionals. “I’m in contact with some of the alumni from my cohort, but also with others who were not in my cohort. […] I must be grateful, because the opportunity that the AIFP offers us today is precisely to enable our countries, our States, to be able to acquire more quality infrastructure and provide better services, by means of this mode of financing that is the PPP”, he says. According to him, “The fact that the AIFP has designed this program for leaders, future leaders, or African executives, is a good opportunity to strengthen partnerships. If people continue to participate today, it’s precisely to strengthen this framework for exchange of experience, knowledge and technology transfer.”