President of the Association of African Distance Learning Centers; Dr. Mor Seck,
Secretary General AADLC; Eng. Charles Senkondo,
Heads of AADLC Commissions,
Directors of Member Centers,
ABU Consultants,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to be here to preside over the official opening ceremony of this important AADLC workshop organized by the Kenya Global Development Leaning Centre on “Knowledge Transfer in Change Management”. I am glad that this forum has brought together Directors of Development Learning Centers within the Africa GDLN region, some selected Training Coordinators and ICT Managers from different institutions. I am delighted that four consultants from ABU Consulting, Germany are also here to facilitate and to share their international experience and views with the participants. I wish you very fruitful deliberations.

Ladies and Gentlemen, before I proceed, let me take this opportunity to welcome you all to Kenya and in particular to this beautiful coastal city of Mombasa. I understand some of you are visiting Mombasa for the first time and I wish you an enjoyable and memorable stay. I have no doubt you will find the warmth and friendly nature of our coastal people both refreshing and enchanting. KARIBU KENYA HAKUNA MATATA

The workshop has been made possible through the Institutional Development Fund (IDF) Grant that was recently extended to AADLC by the World Bank for the purpose of strengthening the organizational and management capacity of the Association. The IDF is managed by the Kenya DLC under the supervision of my Ministry, the Ministry of State for Public service, on behalf of the AADLC. I have therefore taken some personal interest on how the fund is being utilized and the activities that are being undertaken.

The overall objective of the IDF and the workshop in general is to;
• Enhance the capacity of the Association to organize itself more strategically and effectively as a virtual membership organization providing essential services to its members
• Impart organizational and management skills needed by the Association to operate as an executive secretariat for Africa’s Global Development Learning Network, performing agreed functions on behalf of its members e.g. establishing and managing partnerships with key international development partners and organizing forums where members can interact and learn from each other
• Development of critical business skills needed by the Association and the individual DLC Directors to run their centers more successful as business enterprises.

I am aware that the International Firm, ABU Consulting that is working with you was recruited through a rigorous and competitive bidding process which saw the Firm emerge at the top of more than 24 others that had initially shown interest in working with AADLC. The selection of ABU was approved by my Ministry through the Ministerial Tender Committee.

My expectation therefore for this consultancy is very high and I will be waiting to receive from the members some very positive feedback on the ongoing transformation of the Association and the individual DLCs.

I am informed that ABU has been working with AADLC members for the last six months through some online interactions and a lot of gain has already been achieved. It is expected that the consultants will continue to support the members for some time during the coming months to ensure that the AADLC knowledge transfer and change management process is concluded successfully and participate in the implementation of what is agreed. I am gratified to note that this is not just a consultancy where a report is written and left for the white pages to turn yellow in some office self but it is an initiative where the process of implementation starts before the exit of the consultants.

Ladies and Gentlemen, at this juncture I wish to sincerely thank the World Bank for the support provided through the IDF that has made this workshop and the intervention by the consultants possible. What I see is a great opportunity for the DLC’s and the Association in particular to take this invaluable opportunity to put in place all necessary measures to reform and transform the Association and the DLCs and ensure that after the ongoing process, the DLC’s will operate more efficiently. In that respect, DLCs should evolve into global centers of excellence and make a distinct contribution in complementing Africa’s capacity building efforts.

Most of the DLCs in the African region were established through some form of partnership with the World Bank and in some cases the UNDP and their respective governments and a lot of investment was put in place to have the centers operational. The heavy investment by government was ultimately expected to pay off as the centers were primarily established to leverage on ICT making world class training accessible and affordable for the public and other sectors. Through use of technology it was anticipated that the cost of training especially that which involves foreign travel would be reduced considerably. This was an important consideration for establish the DLCs considering the annual reduction of training budget in many African countries.

Ladies and Gentlemen; As a manager of your DLC it is important to strive to make your center relevant to your government. One way of doing this is work closely with all government agencies mandated with addressing the capacity building needs in your country so as to identify the country gaps and priorities.

Consequently the next step is to be part of the solution by developing high quality products and programs that address these gaps and provides the country with the required competencies. There is therefore need for the AADLC network to move away from offering generic programs to focusing on programs that directly impacts on employee’s productivity and improved service delivery to the citizenry.

We live in modern times in an era where the common citizen is increasing becoming informed and aware of his/her rights. To meet their expectations you must prove your relevance and be in touch with the times by being more creative and innovative. Your institutions must go beyond the expectations of your clients and must be a reflection of the seriousness with which government deals with capacity building as part of its national development agenda. Identify your niche, which must be that which you know you are well equipped to do better than any other institution in the country. Focus on this and develop the competencies of the center in this to the highest regional and international standard and you will soon get known for it and government will appreciate your contribution and support your activities.

Ladies and Gentlemen; I have no doubt that you are well equipped and have the potential to succeed I therefore throw the challenge to you, proposing that you take advantage of this workshop and after your deliberations agree on implementation of some key strategies that will drive the Association and your individual DLC’s in the right direction.

As I conclude, let me wish you a fruitful workshop, most enjoyable and memorable stay in our country. Although you are on a tight program, do not be in a hurry to travel back home but take a little time to sample the scenic tourist attractions that are available in our country.

Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is now my pleasant duty to formally declare this workshop officially opened.

THANK YOU ALL OR AS WE SAY IT IN EAST AFRICA, ASANTENI SANA