The City Creditworthiness Academy is a hands-on learning program that teaches city leaders the fundamentals of creditworthiness and municipal finance, including issues determined by the enabling environment and options for financing: revenue management and enhancement; expenditure control and asset maintenance; capital investment planning; debt management; and scoping out options for financing. Using a self-assessment tool, participants develop a customized preliminary action plan of specific institutional reforms, capacity building, and other actions that will improve their creditworthiness and their ability to plan, finance and deliver infrastructure services. In order to identify challenges and develop a preliminary Action Plan, local authorities complete the process below.

This four-day hands-on learning program for city leaders covered the fundamentals of creditworthiness and municipal finance and was co-hosted by the City Creditworthiness Initiative and the Global Platform for Sustainable Cities.

Topics covered included: revenue management; expenditure control and asset maintenance; capital investment planning; debt management; the use of special purpose vehicles to “ring fence” specific revenues; scoping of options for financing; and developing the enabling environment for private sector involvement. Participants in the program used a Self-assessment Toolkit (www.citycred.org) to identify challenges and develop a customized preliminary Action Plan.

The Academy was designed for technical staff in Municipal Administrations working on financial and/or planning areas. While the Academy was open to other Municipal representatives, each city was encouraged to identify two candidates to work together during the Academy, covering both the financial and planning sides. Specific benefits for participants included:

• Practical training modules to master the foundations of strong municipal financial management;
• Identification and sharing of best practices from participants and international experience;
• Interaction with global technical experts;
• Production of diagnostic reports on municipal finance for city; and
• Development of detailed action-plans to strengthen urban financial performance.