FACTORS AFFECTING EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERGRATED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (IFMIS) PROJECTS IN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Since the 1980s, several major international aid agencies, such as the World Bank, have promoted IFMIS as a core element in reforming PFM in low-income countries (LICs). The expectation is that IFMIS will make information on public finances comprehensive, efficient, secure and transparent. However, these expensive systems frequently fail to realize the promised benefits. The top risks are the scope, schedule and budget of IFMIS. Federal Government of Ethiopia under Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation has successfully initiated a number of major PFM reforms over the last few years among these Reforms, this study will focus only on Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS). The objective of this study is to identify major factors affecting the successful implementation of IFMIS project in Ethiopia; a case study on twelve federal public bodies currently uses the system. In this Public finance Management reform Implementation and enable the Reform owner i.e. Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation (MoFEC), to work with the factors hindering the implementation and not to happen on the future implementation at federal and Worda (at regional) level. On focus were determined change management, political and institutional factors, capacity and skills of IFMIS users, technological infrastructure and project planning affected IFMIS implementation. The study employed descriptive survey research design. The target population constituted 720 employees. The study adopted quota sampling design. Structured questionnaires were used for data collection. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences tool aided in data analysis. Both descriptive statistics were employed in data analysis. The findings were presented in form of statistical tables. The study revealed that the institutional, political, staffing and staff capacity, technical factors and resistance to change challenging the IFMIS implementation not to Moving forward as desired. The study recommended that the government of Ethiopia, IFMIS project office should uphold the strategic plan to overcome the identified constraints that derail implementation of IFMIS project.