Achievements:

The Ministry is not a project-executing agency but a coordinating organ of the Government. The Ministry is new, really, for it took off on August 4, 2003. Notwithstanding, it has made bold strides in the following areas:

(i)         The Production of AK-SEEDS:

It successfully produced the Akwa Ibom State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (AK-SEEDS) document. Akwa Ibom State is the first State in Nigeria to produce the SEEDS document. His Excellency, the Executive Governor, Arc. (Obong) Victor Attah presented the initial draft of AK-SEEDS at a stake holder’s public forum held in Uyo on April 5 and 6, 2004 in an occasion chaired by the then Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Prof. Charles Soludo, now Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor.

The AK-SEED is a medium-term economic framework of the State for the years 2004 – 2007. It is the State’s equivalent of the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) at the national level. It contains the State’s economic profile as well as specific programming of projects for socio-economic transformation of the State. It also offers an integrated framework for the coordination of the State’s development programmes.

(ii)        Door Profile of the State 1988 – 2003:

A draft donor profile of externally funded/assisted programmes and projects in the state has been produced.  It is a compendium of the operations of donor agencies in the state form 1988 – 2003. It also serves as a framework for appraising and defining relationship with development partners.

(iii)       Plan/Budget linkage:

For the first time, a veritable institutional framework, linking the plan and the budget has been established. Thus budgeting, beginning from the 2004 budget, is derived from the plan document and put in tandem with the overall macro-vision of the state’s development objectives. 

(iv)       Expansion of Development Assistance:

Administrative actions and reforms have been undertaken first to upgrade the institutional capacity and the machinery of development management in keeping with best practices and international standards to induce the confidence of development partners.  Today the Ministry has a full fledge department of International Cooperation that has responsibility for the coordination of all Official Development Assistance (ODA) flowing into the State. Besides the UNDP, UNICEF and World Bank that has been making for many years with the State Government, new development partners have shown interest or are already working in different development fields in partnership with the State. These include, EU, DFID, DAPAD, UNESCO, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Elf Petroleum, UNIDO, etc. the expansion is not only in the realms of number of donors but in the volume and areas of programmes intervention. 

(vi)       Formation of the State Programme Coordinating Committee:

This has been inaugurated with Commissioners/Chief Executive Officers of agencies implementing all donor-assisted programmes in the State.  The Ministry, as the coordinator of all Official Development Assistance (ODA) chairs the committee, uses it as the basis of promoting Public Private Partnership (PPP), transparency, due process and integrity in the entire development management process in the State.

(vii)      Formulation of the 2004 Capital Estimates:

The Ministry produced a collectively acceptable capital estimates for year 2004 for all Ministries /Agencies and Local Governments.  This formed the capital base for the 2004 budget.