[ad_1]
The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) was founded in 1988. The foundation organizes, among other things, master’s and doctoral studies in economics to promote financial development in African countries.
One of the largest donors is Sida, which has a seat on the AERC board. Until last year, the Swedish authority had supported the foundation with just over SEK 185 million, according to a review by Omvärlden.
The assistance went to travel and executive salaries.
Sida’s support for AERC continues to this day. This despite the fact that the authority already during the funding period 2015-2020 noticed problems with the finances of the foundation.
When Sida called auditing firm KPMG in 2016, it was discovered that AERC’s executive salaries had risen significantly, to more than a million per year. Furthermore, in recent years the foundation has spent more than a third of its annual turnover on travel, roughly between 30 and 40 million SEK. These included train and plane travel in business class, Omvärlden reports.
This at the same time that Sida itself does not allow traveling in business class.
The auditors also found that up to SEK 20 million of the foundation’s annual aid was channeled to partner organizations. But AERC said it lacked clear guidelines for deciding where the money would go.
Page: “Few who agree with us”
AnnaMaria Oltorp, head of Sida’s research collaborations unit, defends the agency’s continued support for AERC. She tells Omvärlden that the foundation is crucial to strengthening financial systems in African countries.
However, she says that Sida will not approve business class travel during the next financial period, and that Sida has previously pushed the issue of salaries for AERC managers within the donor pool.
– But none of the others, even for this question, says AnnaMaria Oltorp to Omvärlden.
READ MORE: For you with premium, all the latest in:
Career and money
Reporting and review
