FreeBalance Participates in Regional Public Financial Management (PFM) Conference in Livingstone, Zambia

Annual ESAAG event to explore contribution of PFM in addressing fiscal impact of financial crisis

Ottawa, Canada (February 22, 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 invited to participate in the 17th Annual Eastern and South African Association of Accountants General (ESAAG) Conference. The ESAAG event will take place from February 22 to 25 in Livingstone, Zambia.

ESAAG supports the improvement of the democratic processes through transparency and accountability and by strengthening of the government accounting profession. ESAAG member countries include Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Over 500 delegates from member countries and the international public financial management and accounting community are expected. FreeBalance has been a strong supporter of ESAAG since first participating as an exhibitor and sponsor of the 2006 conference in Maseru, Lesotho.

The 2010 ESAAG event is well aligned with the FreeBalance vision for financial management in governments in Africa. The FreeBalance Accountability Suite is designed specifically for public financial management and covers the entire budget cycle including budget preparation, budget execution and civil service management. Countries in Africa that are introducing public financial management reforms require an experienced partner that has repeatedly overcome the challenges of rolling out a modern public financial management system in challenging circumstances. This includes overcoming the lack of physical infrastructure, low capacity, resistance to change and an appropriate sequence to reflect legal reform.

“The annual ESAAG event is important for the public financial management community in Africa. The member countries of ESAAG are at various stages of fiscal reform and have a unique opportunity to share lessons learned and experiences to support their initiatives,” said Manuel Pietra, President & CEO of FreeBalance. “FreeBalance is working in Africa to support government efforts to promote accountability, transparency and performance with the use of Government Resource Planning (GRP) solutions.”

FreeBalance customers span the globe and the user community includes public financial management professionals in 18 countries, including Namibia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Southern Sudan. FreeBalance operates in 15 customer time zones. FreeBalance has more than 60,000 users around the world. FreeBalance software manages a global civil service workforce of 1,500,000, and also manages a quarter trillion ($US) annual budgets worldwide.

About ESAAG
The East and Southern African Association of Accountants General – ESAAG – is the regional body of Accountants General which supports its members in adoption and implementation of best practice in Public Financial Management practices. ESAAG holds an International conference every year to which its members and non-members are invited. The objective of the conference is to appraise participants from ESAAG and those from outside the association of the developments in Public Financial Management Reforms. The conference is also an excellent opportunity for networking, exchange of ideas and information and sharing solutions on issues of mutual concern in public sector financial management.

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, Namibia, Afghanistan, Antigua & Barbuda, Timor-Leste, Republic of Kosovo, Palestine, Panama, Southern Sudan and Uganda.