TSA hits almost 100% compliance, as Gambia studies initiative 

The Director, Treasury Single Account (TSA), Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Sylva Okolieaboh, has rated the Treasury Single Account (TSA) almost 100 per cent in terms of compliance, with the exception of few agencies.

Noting that this achievement was made possible with the unflinching support of the President and other relevant stakeholders, he said there is still room for improvement in foreign mission and currency.

Okolieaboh made the disclosure at the joint interactive session with payment system stakeholders by officials of the government of The Gambia, who are in Nigeria to understudy the TSA implementation.He added that there is need to improve on management of the foreign mission and currency using TSA. “The process has started, and we expect that we should be done with it in the next four months,” he added.

On understudying Nigeria’s TSA, he said: “The Gambia, like other African countries, discovered that we have made a lot of progress in implementing our TSA ,and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised them to understudy the process. The Gambia has requested our support and I believe the government will be more than willing to support them,” he said.

Okolieaboh, however, said that more African countries, including Ethiopia and Kenya, are interested in the TSA, and would come for to understudy as well. “Nigeria has been able to bring the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) together, and is making savings of over N 45 billion on interest monthly. I think that other countries should understudy this success,” he added.He maintained that government is committed to the reform such that it even holds so many unplanned benefits like job opportunities and revenue generation for individuals and organisations.

Accountant General of The Gambia, Momodou Lamin Bah, said they have come to understand the dynamics of the TSA, saying: “We have to understand the approach, relevant stakeholders to work with for the TSA to be a success. We have learnt the technology provided and how it is implemented.”
“What we need to work on in the Gambia is the technology. We have everything other things but the payment platform, which is the gate way. We have requested for the Nigerian government support so we can adopt with ease,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Remita gateway has been described as an important tool that serves as a passageway for the Treasury Single Account.Divisional Head, Remita International Business, Demola Igbalajobi, explained that authorised financial institutions and schemes can partake in the national payment scheme, through bridging between government systems and the financial ecosystem.

This secures integration with the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) of Nigeria, and provides an indelible electronic invoice for every collection transaction, to giving Government full oversight of its cash inflows and outflows amongst many others.