ACEP Boss gets International appointment

Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Mohammed Amin Adams, has been appointed unto the Advisory board of the Open Contracting Partnership.

Gavin Hayman has also been appointed as the group’s new Executive Director, effective January 2015.

According to a statement, Mr. Hayman brings to the Partnership nearly two decades of experience as a champion on the global transparency and accountability agendas.

For the last seven years, he was part of the Senior Management of Global Witness where he currently serves as Executive Director. Mr. Hayman has led significant efforts in the fields of openness and fiscal transparency such as the Publish What You Pay movement.

“Governments across the world spend over nine and half trillion dollars a year on goods and services. Too much of that money is misspent, squandered or stolen. Our mission is to end secret deals and to ensure that those resources are spent openly, effectively and efficiently”, said Mr. Hayman.

Robert Hunja, the World Bank’s Director for Public Integrity and Openness, will serve as the Chair of the Advisory Board of Directors. A leading voice in the fields of open government and procurement, Mr. Hunja, has played a key role in the inception and establishment of the Open Contracting Partnership since its foundation in 2012.

“As someone who has worked on procurement and public contracting his whole life, it has been heartening for me to see such strong interest and growing engagement around open contracting. It is an honor to chair the new Advisory Board of Directors, a group of talented and experienced individuals, which will ensure the Partnership continues to advance this crucial agenda”, explained Mr. Hunja.

Rakesh Rajani, the future Director of Democratic Participation and Governance at the Ford Foundation, will serve as the Vice-Chair of the Board. Mr. Rajani is the outgoing head of the citizen-centered initiative Twaweza, a founding member of the Open Government Partnership and an advisor of multiple transparency-led international initiatives and civil society organizations.

“For governments and companies that have nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of, open contracting is their friend. It can build greater understanding, confidence and trust, and help make sure everyone benefits from public transactions”, said Mr. Rajani.

Ten additional high-level representatives from government, civil society, and private sector complete the Advisory Board, to which they bring a wealth of views and experiences:

1. Mohammed Amin Adam, Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy.

2. Chris Anderson, Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the University of Queensland, and Lead for Communities & Social Performance in the Americas for Rio Tinto.

3. Alan Detheridge, Board Member of the Natural Resources Governance Institute, the Natural Resource Charter, Management Sciences for Health and former Vice President for External Affairs at Royal Dutch Shell.

4. Angelita Gregorio-Medel, Undersecretary for Institutional Development of the Department of Social Welfare and Development of the Government of the Philippines.

5. Jeffrey Gutman, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

6. Rueben Lifuka, Director of Dialogue Africa and former Board Chairperson of Transparency International Zambia.

7. Beth Simone Noveck, Director of The Governance Lab and of the MacArthur Research Network on Opening Governance.

8. Claire Schouten, Senior Program Officer for International Advocacy at the International Budget Partnership.

9. JeniTennison, Technical Director at the UK Open Data Institute.

10. Maria Margarita Zuleta, General Director of Colombia CompraEficiente in the Government of Colombia.

“Opaque contracting leads to waste, inefficiency and corruption – none of which helps deliver goods, services and infrastructure to people in need. That’s why open contracting is so vital. Its focus on disclosure and participation helps ensure improved development outcomes for governments, citizens and companies”, explained Mr. Detheridge.

“Publishing open contracting data does not just help increase transparency and accountability, but also provides a vital source of information that can be incorporated into decision making by governments and businesses” stated Ms. Tennison.

“Above all, my hope is that by modeling, studying, and disseminating open contracting innovations and spurring a global conversation about such innovations in governance, the Open Contracting Partnership can be a global force for the development of more effective solutions to social challenges”, said Ms. Noveck.

The new Executive Director and the Advisory Board of Directors will lead the Partnership as it establishes its new independent governance structures and as it continues to advance more transparent and participatory processes in public contracting, with the objective of fostering economic growth and prosperity for all.

The Partnership and its new leadership would like to celebrate and recognize the efforts of the Partnership's outgoing Steering Group, which has been coordinating the Partnership's activities since its foundation. The Steering Group included the participation of the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST), the government of Colombia, GIZ, Integrity Action, Oxfam America, the government of the Philippines, Transparency International and The World Bank Group.