AHC has signed a contract to undertake country monitoring and evaluation small holder baseline studies for AGRA (www.agra-alliance.org). The studies involve the collection of extensive baseline information from small holder farmers, agro-dealers and agricultural stakeholders in Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Burkina Fasso and Mali covering areas that include fertilizers, soil structure, seed systems, etc which will form a basis for intervention by AGRA in these countries in the coming years.    

M/s Energy Infratech Pvt Ltd (EIPL) – AHC’s associates in Energy Consulting – have been selected to undertake the design and construction supervision of the prestigious Karuma Hydro Power Project estimated to generate 650MW. Expected to last over 5 years, the project will involve design of the KHPP and eventual supervision of the construction work. Speaking to AHC News, Mr. Herbert Rwamibazi, the Managing Director of AH Consulting had this to say: “We are proud to be associated with EIPL (www.energyinfratech.com) in the design and construction supervision of this project and look forward to the significant contribution of this project to the economy of Uganda”.  

AH Consulting has teamed up with McKinsey & Co (www.mckinsey.com) in Ethiopia to undertake rapid assessments of 3 irrigation schemes including Fantale Irrigation Project, Borena Underground Water Project and Tigray Reforestation Project, on behalf of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Speaking from Addis Ababa, Mr. Morgan Mukasa, the assignment Project Coordinator informed AHC News that the rapid assessments involve a blend of international, regional and local multi-disciplinary experts with experience and expertise in irrigation systems, watershed management, institutional and organisational development, sociology, hydrology, financial and economic modeling, agronomy and environmental management. IWMI Ethiopia is providing the quality assurance role in the assessments.  

AH Consulting has been engaged by the Office of the Auditor General to undertake unit cost study comparisons for public universities in Uganda and India.  The assignment report is expected to contribute significantly to the budgeting processes of public universities’ costs in the 2010/2011 budget cycle.  

AH Consulting is currently reviewing the Ethiopian Civil Service Reform Program (CSRP) under the Public Sector Capacity Building Program (PSCAP) being implemented by the Ministry of Capacity Building. Having commenced in 1994, the CSRP in Ethiopia is of a unique kind in Africa. Initially, the CSRP adopted five components comprising Top Management Systems, Human Resource Management, Ethics, Expenditure Management and Service Delivery all running in a parallel approach. Today, the five components are running in a more integrated and coordinated approach being reinforced by management tools such as Business Process Reengineering (BPR), Balanced Score Card (BSC) and Charter Mark. The review will result into an independent assessment of the performance of the program over the years with appropriate recommendations on the potential program improvements.  

AHC has completed the procurement consulting work that has been ongoing for the last 15 months under the USAID ACT Project. The assignment involved training of 20 procurement audit professionals, revision of the procurement audit methodology and the associated procurement audit manual of the Uganda Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA), conduct of procurement audits for 22 entities in central and local governments, procurement audit follow-up of 10 previous procurement audits, and development of an audit follow up database. Speaking to AHC News, Mr. Cuthbert Kagabo – the CEO of AH Consulting said that: “The assignment had to be delivered on time since the ACT Project had a definite end date of 31^st December 2009. The ACT Project Team supported the implementation of the activities under the assignment and ensured the expected results were achieved”. AHC also supported the delivery of Public Financial Management Training to selected staff of the Inspector General of Government, Criminal Investigation Department and the Department of Public Prosecutions selected from offices country-wide and Audit Recipient Training to selected Local Government Officers countrywide under the USAID ACT Program.