PERSONAL DETAILS

rhooper@lawdevelopment.com

Private Sector Development and Institutional Development Consultant, specialising in civil service and public sector reform.

Africa Programme Director, The Law & Development Partnership Limited

MA in Natural Science, Cambridge University
Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales

English (excellent), Swahili (intermediate)
French (intermediate), German (basic)

EXPERIENCE SUMMARY

DETAILS OF EXPERIENCE.....

2000 onwards: Director of The Law & Development Partnership Limited

As Director of The Law & Development Partnership Limited, Mr Hooper is responsible for business development, project oversight and implementation, with regard to private sector development, governance and institutional development activities. Mr Hooper’s assignments with LDP have included:

• joint team leader for design of monitoring framework and programme for Uganda’s Medium Term Competitive Strategy (MTCS) (Nov 2002). The MTCS is Uganda’s holistic programme for private sector development and addresses issues including enabling environment; trade (in the context of WTO and regional trade arrangements) and hard infrastructure. The assignment involved considering the appropriateness of the proposed interventions, their relationship with on-going initiatives and designing performance indicators and a monitoring framework;
• joint team leader for the design of the Business Environment Strengthening for Tanzania “BEST” Programme, financed by DFID. The Programme will be the core component of the Government of Tanzania’s developing private sector strategy. It will support private sector development in Tanzania through better business regulation, strengthened commercial justice systems and enhancements to the Tanzania Investment Centre (1999-2000). BEST has recently been embraced by the President and Government as a key policy initiative. In October 2002, Mr Hooper was engaged to advise on the implementation of this multi-donor funded programme;
• baseline survey for the Uganda commercial justice reform programme;
• development of next phase (2002-2007) of Uganda’s Public Service Reform Strategy;
• team leader for the development of an enhanced legal sector reform programme in Kenya, including all elements of the legal system: police, prisons, courts, and legal services.

1997 to date: Governance & Institutional Development Consultant for DFID
Mr Hooper was retained by the British Department for International Development in Eastern Africa as a governance and institutional development consultant from 1997 to 2000, and continues to provide support on a regular basis. His assignments have included:

• governance consultant to 2002 OPR for the DFID Ghana Forestry Sector Development Project, including analysis of the regulatory constraints on private sector forestry and wood processing operations, and development of specific strategic proposals to create greater opportunity for sustainable economic utilisation of the forest resources by micro and small enterprises and large businesses.
• design of local governance support programme for DFID in Kenya including reforms at both central ministry and local government levels, and the development of performance monitoring systems;
• governance consultant for the 2001 OPR for the DFID Uganda Forest Sector Policy and Strategy Project;
• development of business plan for the proposed National Forest Authority in Uganda;
• design of budget and financial management component of DFID local government reform support programme in Uganda
• responsible for institutional development design inputs to Phase 2 of the DFID Uganda Forest Sector Policy and Strategy Project;
• development of a pay reform strategy for the Kenya civil service;
• review of the Uganda Public Service Reform Programme, and recommendations on requirement for future support
• joint team leader of multi-disciplinary reviews of commercial justice sectors in Kenya and Uganda, identifying constraints on economic development caused by institutional weaknesses in the judicial system, and recommending improvements, within the context of sector-wide reform programmes and MTEF constraints;
• participated in Uganda financial accounting review to support development of the second Economic and Financial Management Project;
• review of Government of Tanzania financial management systems and procedures to strengthen disbursement of, and accounting for, transfers to local government;
• development of financial management procedures and systems for Government of Uganda and donor financing for education development in Uganda;
• technical support to Government of Uganda budget preparation;
• development of a budget and financial management strategy for the Uganda Commercial Court;
• development of a capacity building programme for the Tanzania Revenue Authority;
• output-to-purpose review of several DFID projects including support to the Office of the Auditor General in Uganda, and the Kenya HIV/AIDS prevention programme;
• institutional development review of nine small/medium scale direct funding initiative (DFI) projects in Tanzania and Uganda;
• development of a pay reform strategy for the Tanzania Civil Service, which addressed key strategic considerations of affordability, motivation, transparency and fairness;
• strategic planning for support to decentralisation in Uganda, including an appraisal of the local government reform programme and design of financial management capacity building interventions;
• appraisal of institutional, public policy and public finance implications of local government reform programmes in Kenya and Tanzania;
• review of institutional and financial aspects of health and education sector reform programmes in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania; and
• cost benefit analysis of Tanzania civil service retrenchment programme.

1998 – date: Other Assignments.

In addition to his work for DFID Eastern Africa, Mr Hooper is currently responsible for other on-going assignments including:

• Institutional development inputs to Malawi forestry programme (scheduled to commence mid-2002)
• Governance/institutional development review of Ghana forestry programme for DFID
• Periodic assistance to the Government of Malawi in the design and implementation of the Malawi Decentralisation and Public Service Reform Programme.
• Assisting the World Bank and the Government of Zambia to develop the next phase of the Zambia Civil Service Reform Programme.

1994 - 1997: Senior Adviser to the Uganda Civil Service Reform Programme (DFID financed)

For three years Mr Hooper was under contract to DFID as the Senior Adviser to the Uganda civil service reform programme. This is one of the most successful civil service reform programmes in Africa and is supported by several major bilateral and multi-lateral donors, including World Bank, UNDP, DFID, SIDA, DANIDA, the Netherlands and Austria. The ultimate objective of the reform programme is to improve the delivery of services to the people of Uganda by creating a smaller, more efficient and effective civil service. Programme activities include large scale downsizing through voluntary and compulsory retrenchment, design of “safety net” arrangements, restructuring of ministries, Government departments and agencies at the national and local levels, pay reform, strengthening control systems, training, retooling, anti-corruption initiatives and the introduction of results oriented management.

Mr Hooper, supported by a team of local consultants, was responsible for advising the Government of Uganda at the most senior level on the overall design and implementation of the programme, as well as co-ordination of all donor inputs.

Mr Hooper was closely involved in the development of the decentralisation programme in Uganda, especially the design of the centre/local grant system, and the formulae for the computation of conditional and unconditional grants.

1993 - 1994: Financial Expert for RRC Restructuring Project, Ethiopia (GTZ financed)

Mr Hooper was the financial expert for the GTZ/RRC project in Ethiopia. This was a major GTZ project to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC). RRC is the Ethiopian Government agency responsible for the administration of all relief activities in the country, directly affecting the lives and well being of up to eight million people suffering from drought and other disasters. RRC has the status of a full ministry, and the restructuring project is a key element of civil service reform in Ethiopia. Major objectives of the project include reorganisation to improve efficiency, the divestiture of autonomous agencies to provide relief services, introduction of commercial accounting and budgeting systems, the commercialisation and privatisation of relief transport services and improved management information systems.

1988 - 1993: Manager, Coopers and Lybrand, Nairobi

As manager in the Nairobi office of this major international consulting firm, Mr Hooper was responsible for accounting, audit and management consultancy projects throughout eastern Africa. He was involved in a wide range of work in both the private and public sectors, including several privatisation and divestiture assignments.

1984 - 1988 Consultant, Deloitte Haskins and Sells, London

Mr Hooper started his career in the London head office of this major international accounting and consulting firm, where he was recruited on a “fast track” scheme by the Management Consultancy Division. In addition to passing all his professional accountancy examinations in the shortest possible time, Mr Hooper gained significant working experience at a senior level in the areas of financial management, systems development and financial audit. This work included a six month secondment to the head office of a major international bank, where Mr Hooper was involved in developing budgeting and costing systems.