Taking the pulse of the finances
The brothers of the Provincial and District Councils of Africa reflected on the financial situation of the Administrative Units of Africa with the General Council in order to try to arrive more or less at a model of economic, financial and administrative management that will lead to in the near future the self-financing of each Administrative Unit.
Africa has functioned for many years with an economic and financial management greatly dependant on other Provinces of the Institute; thus, mother-Provinces which were at the origin of the new Provinces that were founded in Africa, or thanks to generous contributions from other Provinces or the General Administration.
The challenge currently facing the brothers of Africa in financial matters is that of maintaining fidelity to the mission of the Institute at the same time as finding the necessary resources for the support of people and of apostolic works. This objective demands a change of mentality in order to pass from a model of economic and financial management of dependence to a model of autonomy and interdependence.
In the shared reflection references were made to the management of a certain Province of the Continent which works with the poor and has organised the solidarity well at the same time of obtaining the resources for living.
Among the conclusions evident in the assembly, we need to highlight the general desire to improve the management, of having a transparent accountancy and trying to harmonise, as far as possible, an identical accounting model in each Administrative Unit which would produce, when it is possible, a greater production of resources. The possibility of generating products capable of producing different resources that come from schools or colleges was also considered. To be able to arrive at these objectives it is considered necessary that the brothers be trained for the financial management of centres, as well as those who currently have assumed this responsibility and those being trained at MIC.
The change of mentality that this new model of financial management requires among all the brothers is linked to transparent information of the economic realities of each of the works, an efficient formation of the brothers on the way of handling technically the financial management of a school, a creativity and an innovation for discovering new possibilities in the way of obtaining resources and of organising the management.