Carilus Odumbe, Adviser Debt Management represented the Commonwealth Secretariat as a resource person at the MEFMI Debt Managers' Forum organised for Heads of Debt Management Departments/Units in the Ministries of Finance and Central Banks of the MEFMI member countries.

The objective of the forum was to raise awareness of the participants on best practices and on new tools/frameworks (DEMPA, MTDS and DSF) that have been developed by the World Bank and the IMF to aid effective debt management in the low income developing countries and to appraise the participants of the facilities that exist in the Commonwealth Secretariat Debt Recording and Management System (CS-DRMS 2000+) for debt portfolio analysis. The forum also provided a platform for the participants to share experiences and exchange views on ongoing reforms and challenges facing debt management departments/units in the MEFMI countries.

The forum held in Victoria Falls Town, Zimbabwe during March 2-5, 2010 was attended by 19 Debt Managers from Rwanda, Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, Angola, Kenya and Uganda. It was officially opened by Mr. Willard Manungo, Secretary for Finance, Ministry of Finance, Zimbabwe. Dr. Ellias Ngalanda the Executive Director, MEFMI, attended and made opening remarks during the official opening of workshop.

The workshop was facilitated by resource persons from MEFMI, the World Bank, UNCTAD and the Commonwealth Secretariat.