Modernizing public sector management in Yemen

Synerma’s CMAs help modernize the government’s financial function

By Julie Demers

Although we often criticize public sector management in Canada, the system we have is comparatively sophisticated and the knowledge that management accountants have of that system can benefit other countries around the world.

Synerma, a Canadian consulting firm with about 15 CMAs located in Toronto, Montreal and Hull, is a good example of a company that has taken its in-house, Canadian knowledge and shared it with other nations. It has, for some time, been working in close cooperation with the Yemen government to modernize that country’s financial system.  And given the company’s extensive financial experience with the Canadian government, this is not the first time the firm has been involved in an international project. Their experiences in Yemen offer a good illustration of the challenges and rewards of working in the developing world.

Synerma has in fact undertaken other foreign assignments including projects for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the governments of Morocco and Ethiopia, as well as other French and U.S. organizations. Associates have been working outside the country for a while. 

“The Canadian Government is relatively well managed compared to other governments throughout the world and it often serves as a point of reference,” says CMA and FCMA Jacques Côté, vice-president, operations, at Synerma.  During his career, Côté has successfully implemented many financial systems for central agencies and federal and provincial departments. He spent the first 20 years of his career as a financial officer and director of finance for the federal government. In addition, he served as vice-president, customer service, for a financial software firm both in Canada and abroad.

These qualifications made him the ideal candidate for coordinating the implementation of the new financial software application for the Government of Yemen.  “The experience I acquired working for the Canadian government is easily exportable,” he says. 

The Republic of Yemen is located in the southeast corner of the Arabic Peninsula, near the Gulf of Aden.  His consulting firm landed the contract through the World Bank, which is funding the operation.

There are no magic formulas for obtaining this type of foreign contract. It’s a matter of knowing the right people and having a good reputation in a given field. In this case, Côté was approached by one of his many business contacts.  The person who contacted him about this project worked at the World Bank in Washington and was aware of Côté’s expertise in financial systems, so he offered him the opportunity to get involved in the project. 

“To help developing countries break free from chronic poverty, the World Bank has invested heavily in their infrastructure, and in doing so came to the realization that it had to do much more than just that,” he notes. 

The World Bank found that one of the most effective things to do for the countries it was trying to help was to improve the countries’ public sector management, particularly its accountability and accounting. The assistance Côté is providing the Yemen government comprises various components. He and his team have the task of modernizing public sector management, which includes implementing a financial software application and updating project management methods. 

A Canadian consultant was already working with the Yemen government on a call for tenders when Côté joined the project, which is operated in partnership with two Yemen companies, Yemensoft and Computer Engineering World (CEW).  The financial software applications marketed by Yemen firms, although generally good, were lacking in the accounting, project management and performance improvement areas.

“Our contribution to the project entails the management accountability framework, project  management expertise, and everything affecting accountability and pure government accounting, such as cash management,” notes Côté, specifying that there is a tremendous need at that level.

Although modernization efforts were initiated about two years ago, when Côté went to Yemen last year implementation hadn’t really started. This type of operation takes a tremendous amount of time and preparation before implementation takes place. “We’re still in the preliminary phase,” he says. Abroad, especially in developing countries, sometimes you have to expect it to take a number of years before you can think about making changes to the financial system. Côté stresses that to succeed at this type of work you need to be patient. 

“Before getting involved in such projects, you must be cognizant of the fact that you’ll be in it for the long term,” says Côté, noting that he expects to be working with Yemen for at least another three years.

One of the first steps that takes tremendous patience and time is building a relationship of trust between the parties. “Only once there’s trust between the parties will you be able to talk more and move forward,” he says, indicating that it’s not just the foreign contractors who are mistrustful but absolutely everyone involved.

To establish this trust, Côté went to Yemen and representatives from Yemen visited Canada. Between visits, they talk over the phone and through e-mail.  Since Yemen is a Muslim country and their weekend falls on Thursday and Friday, and ours on Saturday and Sunday, the actual workweek during which they can communicate amounts to just three days. The seven-hour time difference between the two countries reduces the time available for communicating even further, making the preliminary phase lengthier than it normally would be. 

The various steps involved in the call for tenders have only just been completed and during his last trip to Yemen, the project was on the point of being launched.  “Submitting an order for computers takes about 10 minutes here, but there it can take at least three months,” says Côté. Everything takes time.

The project includes the purchase of computers and software but also a significant training component. “The people involved are going from a totally paper-based — and also fairly limited — system to a computerized system,” he says, pointing out that given the country’s poverty, communication links and electricity are practically non-existent outside the capital city of Sana’a and a few large cities. Côté maintains that the Yemen government has a long way to go, and people on both sides have to adapt. 

“Everyone has to cope with cultural differences in addition to our adapting to their realities,” he says. “We cannot expect to bring them up to the 21st century.  That would be unrealistic.”  Rather the initial goal should be to bring them up to the technological equivalent of the 1970s.  Eventually, the country will develop these systems further and get to the point where it can use the technologies we take for granted.

Most of the government departments in Yemen do not use computers. Côté notes that in the capital, the government has a few computers it uses to communicate with and obtain payments from the World Bank. He notes that the Central Bank of Yemen, for example, uses computers extensively, but that is more the exception than the rule. According to him, the Government of Yemen prefers to hire people to perform most tasks because human resources are far less expensive than purchasing computer equipment.  “Everything is relative. Here we’re replacing people with computers because salaries are costly,” says Côté.

The Yemen companies with which Côté works are dynamic, highly computerized organizations, in sharp contrast with the government, which still pays civil servants in cash. His business partners use the same software suites as he does, and these are companies that run very well. Côté’s partners have assumed responsibility for several aspects of the project, and he is satisfied with the results to date. CEW is in charge of supplying the computers and peripheral equipment, whereas Yemensoft is focused on the software applications with assistance from Côté’s firm to ensure compliance with World Bank requirements and international accounting standards. “Our goal is to transfer knowledge to them, not to exploit them,” he insists.

His desire is to see the government of Yemen become better equipped to undertake project management, risk management, monitoring, and so forth.

Since he can work only a few days a week on the Yemen project, Côté always has other work on the go. Foreign contracts are not Synerma’s sole source of revenue, so he and the rest of the company are still working on projects for Canadian public sector and private sector companies, specifically companies in the manufacturing and services sectors.

In addition to managing numerous contracts, Côté found the time in 2002-2003 to be President of the Bureau of the Québec CMA Order.  He loves the profession and enjoys sharing his knowledge with other members.

Julie Demers (jdemers2000@hotmail.com) is associate French editor of CMA Management magazine.

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