Management & Leadership3-day programme

Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali

Dates13–15 Sep 2027
LocationKigali, Rwanda
VenueShared on registration
Register by14 Aug 2027

Key facts

Dates
13–15 Sep 2027 (3 days)
Where
Kigali, Rwanda
Fee per participant
£1,500 (GBP)
Payment
By invoice and bank transfer
Registration closes
14 Aug 2027
Who it is for
Project Implementation Unit (PIU) directors; Public procurement directors and senior procurement specialists; Human resources development managers…
Certificate
Certificate of completion
On this page 12 sections

Programme Overview

Managing international technical assistance requires rigorous governance, clear procurement alignment, and intentional institutional capacity building. Executing agencies and Project Implementation Units (PIUs) frequently deploy external advisory teams under multilateral funding frameworks. However, without structured contract management and robust absorption systems, investments risk creating operational dependencies rather than durable public sector capability. This three-day executive programme in Kigali equips public managers with practical systems to supervise, monitor, and extract strategic value from international consultancies.

Delegates will examine the lifecycle of technical assistance operations, from precision structuring of Terms of Reference (ToRs) to final contract closeout. The curriculum covers fiduciary governance, delivery-linked payment frameworks, and active performance supervision under standard multilateral development bank regulations. Emphasis is placed on managing the complex relationship between external technical specialists and national counterparts, ensuring that consultant activities align directly with national institutional mandates and project development objectives.

A central component of the workshop focuses on sustainable skills transmission and institutional memory preservation. Participants will develop operational frameworks for counterpart twinning, intellectual property retention, and structured workflow handover. By examining real-world delivery instruments, public sector leaders will leave prepared to enforce accountability, manage professional performance, and embed knowledge directly into civil service structures before the conclusion of technical assistance assignments.

Public agencies across West Africa, including in Benin, are deploying significant international advisory support funded through multilateral lenders, as illustrated by recent operations requiring international technical assistance teams for large-scale institutional modernisation. The success of these operations depends on the procuring agency's ability to direct external expertise, enforce contractual milestones, and safeguard technical transfer rather than relying indefinitely on external delivery systems. Strengthening counterpart oversight and knowledge retention is essential to ensure donor-financed reforms build lasting sovereign administrative capacity.

Delivered by Risalat Consultants International in Kigali, Rwanda, it combines expert-led sessions, real cases and group work, so that participants can apply what they learn in their own institution.

The Programme Strengthens Institutional Capability

  • Aligning Technical Assistance requirements with multilateral procurement regulations and project development objectives
  • Drafting enforceable Terms of Reference: Scope boundaries, output specifications, and delivery timelines
  • Structuring consultant remuneration: Time-based versus lump-sum contracts and deliverable-linked payment milestones
  • Establishing the governance architecture: PIU reporting lines, counterpart designations, and advisory steering committees
  • Workshop on evaluating technical proposals and validating proposed methodology transfer mechanisms
  • Inception phase oversight: Reviewing inception reports, baseline validations, and detailed work plans
  • Active technical supervision: Monitoring consultant presence, field inputs, and milestone deliverables
  • Fiduciary oversight: Validating timesheets, reimbursable expenses, and deliverable verification protocols
  • Strategic thinking and direction setting
  • Leading and developing teams
  • Decision making and problem solving
  • Communication and influence

It is designed for project Implementation Unit (PIU) directors, public procurement directors and senior procurement specialists, human resources development managers in ministries and state agencies and others who want practical, current skills in leadership, management and communication.


The Growing Importance of Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali

Institutions change faster than ever: new policies, technologies and expectations from citizens and partners. Leaders and managers who can set direction, build teams and manage change make the difference between plans and results.

Strong leadership is a set of practical skills: deciding, communicating, negotiating, developing people and leading change. These skills can be learnt and improved with practice and feedback.

Organisations increasingly require professionals capable of:

  • Set clear direction and priorities
  • Lead and motivate teams through change
  • Communicate and negotiate effectively
  • Manage performance fairly
  • Make sound decisions under pressure

Strong leadership, management and communication systems help organisations:

  • Turn strategies into results
  • Build motivated, capable teams
  • Manage change with less resistance
  • Improve relations with partners and stakeholders

This Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali programme brings these elements together in a practical format, so that participants understand not only what good practice looks like but also how to introduce it in their own setting, with the people and resources they have.


Who Should Attend This Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali Training?

This programme is designed for:

  • Project Implementation Unit (PIU) directors
  • Public procurement directors and senior procurement specialists
  • Human resources development managers in ministries and state agencies
  • Institutional reform and modernisation officers
  • Technical directors responsible for counterpart team supervision
  • Public sector contract managers and legal advisors
  • Monitoring and evaluation directors for donor-funded projects
  • Ministry focal points overseeing bilateral and multilateral advisory assignments
  • Directors and senior managers
  • Heads of department and unit
  • Middle managers and team leaders
  • Project and programme managers

The programme suits experienced professionals as well as those moving into new responsibilities. Groups that mix institutions and countries are encouraged, because participants learn a great deal from each other’s experience.

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Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali Training Objectives

Upon successful completion of this Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali Training, participants will be able to:

  • Draft Terms of Reference with explicit capability metrics, deliverables, and counterpart support requirements
  • Apply standard multilateral contract provisions and key performance indicators to manage international advisory teams
  • Establish formal counterpart mentoring structures and professional twinning arrangements within civil service departments
  • Implement milestone-based verification mechanisms for payment authorisation and technical quality assurance
  • Manage contractual variations, operational disputes, and non-performance through established administrative procedures
  • Secure legal ownership and structured archival handover for all project methodologies, data, and intellectual property
  • Formulate institutional absorption strategies to sustain reforms following the demobilisation of external experts
  • Explain current approaches to leadership in public and private institutions
  • Set direction and priorities for their team
  • Lead, motivate and develop people

Each objective is practised during the programme through exercises, cases or group work, so that participants leave able to do it, not only to describe it.


Programme Contents and Structure

Your 3-day journey tap a day to see the sessions
    • Aligning Technical Assistance requirements with multilateral procurement regulations and project development objectives
    • Drafting enforceable Terms of Reference: Scope boundaries, output specifications, and delivery timelines
    • Structuring consultant remuneration: Time-based versus lump-sum contracts and deliverable-linked payment milestones
    • Establishing the governance architecture: PIU reporting lines, counterpart designations, and advisory steering committees
    • Workshop on evaluating technical proposals and validating proposed methodology transfer mechanisms
Full day-by-day contents

The programme runs over 3 days. Each day combines expert input, practical work and a closing workshop or case study:

  • First Day: Contractual Governance, TOR Structuring, and Technical Selection
  • Second Day: Performance Management, Supervised Delivery, and Dispute Mitigation
  • Third Day: Counterpart Twinning, Institutional Absorption, and Contract Closeout

Full day-by-day contents

First Day | Contractual Governance, TOR Structuring, and Technical Selection

  • Aligning Technical Assistance requirements with multilateral procurement regulations and project development objectives
  • Drafting enforceable Terms of Reference: Scope boundaries, output specifications, and delivery timelines
  • Structuring consultant remuneration: Time-based versus lump-sum contracts and deliverable-linked payment milestones
  • Establishing the governance architecture: PIU reporting lines, counterpart designations, and advisory steering committees
  • Workshop on evaluating technical proposals and validating proposed methodology transfer mechanisms

Workshop: Contractual Governance, TOR Structuring, and Technical Selection: Applying It to Your Institution

Working in small groups, participants apply the day's methods to examples from their own institutions and agree practical next steps.

Second Day | Performance Management, Supervised Delivery, and Dispute Mitigation

  • Inception phase oversight: Reviewing inception reports, baseline validations, and detailed work plans
  • Active technical supervision: Monitoring consultant presence, field inputs, and milestone deliverables
  • Fiduciary oversight: Validating timesheets, reimbursable expenses, and deliverable verification protocols
  • Managing underperformance: Contractual default notices, remediation plans, and formal contract variation procedures
  • Case clinic on mitigating operational frictions between international experts and national public servants

Workshop: Performance Management, Supervised Delivery, and Dispute Mitigation: Applying It to Your Institution

Working in small groups, participants apply the day's methods to examples from their own institutions and agree practical next steps.

Third Day | Counterpart Twinning, Institutional Absorption, and Contract Closeout

  • Designing structured counterpart pairing frameworks: On-the-job training, job shadowing, and joint delivery
  • Intellectual property governance: Source code, methodological manuals, analytical models, and data security
  • Evaluating knowledge transfer: Competency assessment tools for national counterparts and civil service staff
  • Final contract closeout procedures: Operational handover checklists, completion reports, and final audit clearance
  • Practical simulation: Designing an institutional continuity plan to sustain systems post-demobilisation

Capstone Exercise: Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali Action Plan for Your Institution

Participants bring the week together in an action plan for their own institution, with priorities, owners and first steps, and present it for feedback from peers and facilitators.

Leading changeDiagnoseEnvisionEngageActEmbed
Leading changeChange sticks when it is embedded in systems and habits, not only announced.

Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali Training Methodology

The training is delivered through interactive lectures, practical case clinics, and hands-on simulation exercises. Participants work with standard contract templates, real-world project terms of reference, and counterpart supervision protocols. Daily peer-review sessions allow institutional leaders to analyse common procurement and operational pitfalls, applying multilateral development bank standards to real administrative scenarios and drafting usable workplace instruments.

The programme combines:

  • Expert-led sessions on current practice
  • Regional and international case studies
  • Group work and practical exercises
  • Simulations and role plays where relevant
  • Discussion of participants' own challenges
  • Peer learning across institutions and countries
  • Practical tools and templates to take back to work
  • Daily reflection and action planning

Before the programme, a short pre-assessment helps the facilitators understand each participant’s role and priorities, so that examples and exercises can be adjusted to the group. Each day ends with a short reflection in which participants note what they will apply at work.


Expected Outcomes

Upon completion of this Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali Training, participants will be able to:

  • Complete operational capacity to draft, review, and negotiate technical assistance scopes of work and contracts
  • Functioning supervisory frameworks to enforce deliverable schedules and manage consultant performance effectively
  • Standardised counterpart pairing and mentoring plans embedded into project execution structures
  • Auditable deliverable acceptance and milestone verification procedures for multilateral financial compliance
  • Comprehensive institutional protocols for retaining data, software licenses, and procedural documentation
  • Actionable handover strategies that ensure project initiatives continue seamlessly following consultant departure
  • Set clear direction and priorities
  • Lead and develop teams

Participants leave with a personal action plan and practical tools they can use in their institution from the first week back. Institutions that send several participants can use the programme to agree shared methods and templates across teams, which makes improvements easier to sustain.

Plan your team's places

£1,500 per participant · invoice and bank transfer · groups of 5 or more receive a discount

1participant(s)
£1,500at the standard fee

Registration closes in 275 days (14 Aug 2027)


Institutional Application of Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali Training

This programme supports organisations in strengthening:

  • Leadership and management
  • Team development
  • Change management
  • Communication
  • Performance management

Participants return with practical tools to improve:

  • Team plans
  • Coaching
  • Change plans
  • Stakeholder communication
  • Performance reviews

The programme is built so that learning moves from the classroom into the institution. Participants work on their own processes and documents where possible, and leave with an action plan that their managers can review and support.


Regional Relevance & Application

Europe

European institutions apply leadership, management and communication within detailed regulatory frameworks and reform agendas. Participants from Europe can compare their practice with colleagues from other regions and test how established methods work under different conditions.

Africa

Across Africa, ministries, agencies and project teams working in leadership, management and communication increasingly operate alongside donor-financed programmes that expect clear systems and evidence. The programme helps participants adapt good practice to the institutions and resources they work with.

Middle East

In the Middle East, national development strategies and diversification plans place growing demands on leadership, management and communication. Participants explore how to build the capability these plans need inside public bodies and companies.

Asia

Institutions across Asia combine rapid growth with ambitious modernisation programmes. Participants from Asia can share their experience of scaling systems quickly and learn from approaches used elsewhere.

Pacific

Small island and Pacific states face particular constraints of size, distance and capacity. The programme highlights practical, proportionate approaches to leadership, management and communication that suit smaller institutions.

Holding the programme in Kigali, Rwanda brings participants together away from their daily pressures, so they can compare how leadership, management and communication is handled in different settings. The same programme can also be delivered in-house for one institution, in its own country or online, with cases taken from its current work.


Host Country Profile – Rwanda

Programmes, Workshops, Exposures, Training Courses in Kigali, Rwanda by Risalat Consultants International

Studying away from their own country gives participants time to focus, a fresh view of their own institution and the chance to build a network with colleagues from other countries.


Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali Training Deliverables

Participants receive support before, during and after the programme, so that preparation, learning and follow-up form one continuous experience.

Before the Programme

  • Participant Pre-Assessment
  • Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali Readiness Assessment
  • Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali Resource Pack
  • Preparatory Reading Materials
  • Complimentary Visa Support & Advisory

During the Programme

  • Airport Pickup & Welcome Assistance
  • Accommodation with Breakfast
  • Welcome Networking Dinner
  • Risalat Training Kit (Bag, Bottle, Mug, T-Shirt, Cap, Passport Cover, Pens, Notebook, Magnet & Keychain)
  • Comprehensive Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali Training Manual
  • Leadership Self-Assessment
  • Team Development Plan Template
  • Change Plan Template
  • Negotiation Preparation Sheet
  • Practical Workshops & Simulations
  • Group Discussions & Peer Learning
  • Daily Lunch and Refreshments
  • Full Access to Training Venue Facilities
  • Mini Pad / Tablet with Digital Learning Materials
  • Field Visit (where applicable)
  • Entertaining City Tour

After the Programme

  • Certificate of Completion
  • Risalat Programme Participation Recognition Award
  • Post-Training Reference Materials
  • Personal Development Plan Template
  • Coaching Conversation Guide
  • Post-Training Support & Follow-Up Guidance
  • Programme Report

Institutions can also request a tailored in-house version of this programme, delivered at their premises or online. Request a proposal.


Common Challenges in Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali, And How This Training Helps

How can institutions set clear direction and priorities?

The programme addresses this directly on the first day (Contractual Governance, TOR Structuring, and Technical Selection), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions lead and motivate teams through change?

The programme addresses this directly on the second day (Performance Management, Supervised Delivery, and Dispute Mitigation), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions communicate and negotiate effectively?

The programme addresses this directly on the third day (Counterpart Twinning, Institutional Absorption, and Contract Closeout), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions manage performance fairly?

The programme addresses this directly on the first day (Contractual Governance, TOR Structuring, and Technical Selection), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.

How can institutions make sound decisions under pressure?

The programme addresses this directly on the second day (Performance Management, Supervised Delivery, and Dispute Mitigation), where participants practise the methods involved and adapt them to their own institution, then build it into their action plan.


Frequently Asked Questions

When and where does the Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali programme take place?

It runs from 13 Sep 2027 to 15 Sep 2027, in Kigali, Rwanda. The registration deadline is shown at the top of this page.

Who should attend?

The programme is designed for project Implementation Unit (PIU) directors, public procurement directors and senior procurement specialists, human resources development managers in ministries and state agencies, institutional reform and modernisation officers, and others who want practical skills in leadership, management and communication.

Will I receive a certificate?

Yes. Participants who complete the programme receive a Certificate of Completion from Risalat Consultants International.

Can this programme be delivered for our institution only?

Yes. We can deliver a tailored in-house version at your premises, in another city or online, built around your own cases. Use the proposal request on this page.

Do I need prior experience in leadership, management and communication?

No specialist background is required beyond experience in a related role. A short pre-assessment helps the facilitators adapt the sessions to the group.

Who Will Deliver This Programme

Each date is delivered by a team assigned from Risalat's expert network for this subject. For this programme we assign:

Lead facilitatorA senior management & leadership specialist with at least 10 years of practice on public-sector and donor-financed projects, who has done the work this programme teaches (Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer) and trained teams in it.
Practitioner co-facilitatorA current or recent practitioner from a project implementation unit, agency or consulting team, who brings live cases, documents and the mistakes to avoid.
Guest speakersWhere the programme allows, specialists from host-country institutions or financed projects who explain how the system works in practice.
Programme coordinatorA Risalat coordinator who handles the pre-assessment, logistics, visas and the follow-up after the programme.

How we choose them: Experience in the region of the participants or comparable settings; Command of the financier rules that apply (World Bank, ADB, AfDB, EU, UN) where relevant; Delivery in English; other languages on request for in-house groups; No conflict of interest with participants' institutions.

Names and short CVs of the assigned experts are shared with registered participants and sponsoring organisations before the programme, on request. Are you an expert in this subject? Join our expert network.

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Why Kigali for this programme

Kigali is known for clean, safe streets and public sector reforms, with easy visas for African travellers.

The Management of International Technical Assistance Teams and Knowledge Transfer in Kigali programme in September 2027 brings together officials and professionals from across the Africa region and beyond. Sessions combine short inputs, case studies and group work on participants' own files, and the city's institutions can be added as a study visit on request.

Getting there: Kigali International (KGL).

Check whether you need a visa with the free Visa Checker, and ask for an invitation letter once you are registered.

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For teams and institutions

Bring your team

Teams that learn together apply more at work. Tell us how many people and how you would like to take part: we reply with a group quote within two working days.

How

No commitment. Invoices to your institution; payment from project or training budgets.

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