QUESTION TWO

Case: Rural Community Projects

The Economic Expansion in Outlying Areas (EEOA) programme was initiated in 1995 as a response to the liberalisation of the economy in the early 1990s by the Zambian Government elected in 1991. Specific (immediate) objectives were elaborated in the programme document as:

1. To enable anyone involved in agricultural production marketing and processing to recognise opportunities under a liberalised market regime and to create self-awareness and self-confidence sufficient for individuals to exploit these economic opportunities

2. To create the conditions for sustainable economic expansion by contributing to the improvement of local infrastructure and management training through public and private institutions

3. To improve access to lending by commercial financial institutions to entrepreneurs for viable projects and to improve the financial management skills required by entrepreneurs.

The programme has therefore evolved into the current five closely-linked components.

1. Facilitation is the foundation or core of the programme. This is a process of dialogue, discussion and learning with local communities in facilitation areas to develop an understanding of local business opportunities and identify interest groups and individual entrepreneurs. Training needs are identified and training provided.

2. Rural Economic Expansion Facility (REEF) supports rehabilitation or construction and local management of rural infrastructure to enhance production and access to markets according to local priorities. REEF requires a 20% local contribution in cash or kind.

3. Business and Management Training provides formal and intensive training to emerging and established entrepreneurs in the district according to identified needs.

4. Financial Services for Economic Expansion facilitates access to information, savings and microcredit in order to support business expansion in the district.

5. Business Promotion and Marketing is a new component (introduced in 2001) which grew out of the facilitation approach. It is designed to allow increased emphasis on comprehensive business identification and market research, finding ways for businesses to exploit these opportunities and developing better links between producers, agro processors, associations and business organisations.

Required:

Assume that the Economic Expansion in Outlying Areas (EEOA) programme was initiated by, implemented and funded by government:

1. What public sector accounting information would the implementing MPSA be required to produce? [10 marks]
2. Outline the key role players/stakeholders interested in the resultant public sector accounting information indication the reasons why they would be interested in such information. [20 marks]
3. Discuss the duties of the Accounting Officer responsible for the accounting function in this project. [10 marks]

[40 marks]

TOTAL: 90 MARKS