MCA Selects IBTCI as Fiscal Agent in Namibia

FreeBalance Accountability Suite Government Resource Planning software to manage Poverty Reduction Grant

Ottawa, Canada (January 18, 2010) - FreeBalance, a For Profit Social Enterprise (FOPSE) software company that helps governments around the world to leverage robust Government Resource Planning (GRP) technology to accelerate country growth, has been selected to provide Fiscal Agent financial software to the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Namibia Project, funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). IBTCI, International Business & Technical Consultants, Inc. will act as Fiscal Agent to provide financial management services for a poverty reduction grant. The poverty reduction grant will support approved educational, tourism, and agricultural projects as part of the Millennium Challenge Compact. Using FreeBalance financial software, IBTCI, as Fiscal Agent, will diligently oversee all that financial management activities are conducted in strict compliance with MCC and MCA Namibia regulations.

“As a For Profit Social Enterprise software company, FreeBalance is eager to assist MCA Namibia in the goal of poverty reduction,” said Manuel Pietra, President & CEO of FreeBalance. “The MCA Namibia Compact has identified three key areas for development: education, tourism, and agriculture. Strong financial management is required to ensure improvements, especially in the education sector, so that the MCA Namibia goal of ensuring a textbook to learner ratio of 1 to 1"

As Fiscal Agent, IBTCI will deploy the fully integrated FreeBalance Accountability Suite that includes financial, treasury, and purchasing modules. The FreeBalance Financials module will provide a common repository for all financial data, and will enable data audit management and reporting on multiple levels. The FreeBalance Purchasing module will provide an integrated procurement process to manage multi-item requisitions, purchases, and the receiving process. And, the FreeBalance Treasury module will manage cash, investments, debt and banking. In addition, the Treasury module will harmonize treasury operations across all levels of MCA Namibia as it mitigates fiscal risk. All of these modules were designed specifically for financial management with flexible budget controls and built-in commitment accounting. And, as MCA Namibia is an autonomous institution, these modules will be separate from the government of Namibia's system.

“We're very pleased to have been selected as Fiscal Agent for MCA Namibia,” said Ajay S. Kalotra, CEO of IBTCI. “The importance of implementing a FreeBalance financial management system that ensures MCC funds are distributed properly to the three key areas of development is critical to the success of the overall MCA Namibia project.”

In July 2008, the MCC signed a five-year, $304.5 million Compact with the Government of Namibia to reduce poverty and accelerate economic growth. This Compact aims to improve the quality of education and training for underserved populations, and attempts to capitalize on Namibia’s comparative advantages.

About MCC
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a United States government-owned corporation responsible for the stewardship of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). In January 2004, with strong bipartisan support, the US Congress established the MCC. Congress provided nearly USD1 billion in initial funding and USD1.4 billion and USD1.7 billion in the following years for the MCC and its assistance programs. For more information please visit http://www.mcc.gov/.

About IBCTI
IBTCI has worked in over seventy countries and a hundred projects. IBTCI has served governments, private sector companies and institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Union (EU), Department for International Development United Kingdom (DFID), the FIRST Initiative (FIRST), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank (WB).

IBCTI is headquartered in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, with project offices in Africa, Asia, Europe, Near East, and the Caribbean. For more information please visit www.ibtci.com/.

About FreeBalance
Founded in 1984, FreeBalance is a For Profit Social Enterprise (FOPSE) software company that helps governments around the world to leverage robust Government Resource Planning (GRP) technology to accelerate country growth. FreeBalance software solutions for public financial and human resource management support reform and modernization to improve governance, transparency and accountability. Good governance is required to improve development results.

FreeBalance is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with sales and support offices in Washington, DC (United States), Lima (Peru), Lisbon (Portugal), London (Great Britain), Pristina (Kosovo) and St. John (Antigua and Barbuda). FreeBalance solutions have been implemented in countries across the globe, including Canada, United States, Sierra Leone, Guyana, Pakistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Antigua & Barbuda, Timor-Leste, Republic of Kosovo, Palestine, and Uganda.

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