Public Investment Management Training Course

Duration 10 days 18 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Ministry of Finance officials, Public investment planners and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PFM-007

Before you join: Participants should understand basic public budgeting, government planning processes and the purpose of capital expenditure.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Public investment decisions commit governments to long-lived assets, recurrent operating costs and fiscal risks. Weak project selection can leave hospitals without staff, roads without maintenance funding, or water systems with insufficient demand. Decision-makers need a disciplined way to move from policy priorities to an investable pipeline, compare options, assess affordability, manage procurement and monitor whether assets deliver intended public value.

This course teaches the full public investment management cycle, from strategic planning and project identification through appraisal, budgeting, procurement, implementation, asset handover and ex-post evaluation. Participants use the IMF Public Investment Management Assessment, PEFA Framework, cost-benefit analysis, multi-criteria analysis, fiscal risk assessment and the Green Book five-case model. They learn to prepare concept notes, test demand assumptions, quantify costs and benefits, price risks, structure governance, assess public-private partnership options and report performance.

Instruction combines concise technical briefings with worked public-sector cases, group analysis, simulations and structured application to participants' own project ideas. Cases reflect common investment choices in transport, municipal services, health, education, energy and digital government. During the course, participants progressively develop an investment proposal and supporting decision documents. They leave with a completed public investment business case, appraisal model, risk register, implementation plan and review checklist suitable for adaptation within their institution.

The course is designed for public officials and advisers who contribute to project preparation, capital budgeting, planning, procurement, infrastructure delivery or fiscal oversight. It is particularly relevant where institutions need stronger project pipelines, clearer investment decisions and better control of cost, schedule and benefit-realisation risks.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose public investment management arrangements using the IMF PIMA framework
  • Develop a strategic project concept note with measurable service objectives
  • Prepare cost-benefit and multi-criteria analyses for competing investment options
  • Construct a life-cycle cost model covering capital, operating and maintenance costs
  • Assess fiscal affordability, contingent liabilities and public-private partnership risks
  • Design project governance, procurement and implementation control arrangements
  • Create a benefits-realisation monitoring framework with baselines and indicators
  • Present a complete public investment business case for formal decision review

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce decision-ready public investment proposals rather than narrative project requests
  • Challenge unsupported demand, cost, schedule and benefit assumptions with evidence
  • Translate policy priorities into ranked, affordable capital investment pipelines
  • Communicate fiscal risks and delivery trade-offs clearly to senior decision-makers
  • Apply recognised appraisal and governance methods to current workplace projects

For your organisation

  • Higher-quality project selection based on public value, affordability and deliverability
  • Fewer unfunded operating commitments following capital asset completion
  • Clearer capital pipeline priorities for budget preparation and donor coordination
  • Earlier identification of procurement, land, permitting and contingent liability risks
  • Stronger evidence for cabinet, treasury, board and development-partner decisions

Course modules

18 modules over 10 days

Participants can map the public investment cycle and identify control points for project quality.

  • Public investment cycle from strategic planning through ex-post evaluation
  • Distinguishing capital expenditure, recurrent expenditure and asset renewal requirements
  • Gate reviews that stop weak proposals before budget commitment
  • Roles of finance, planning, delivery and sector ministries
  • IMF PIMA institutions for planning, allocation and implementation
  • Common causes of abandoned, delayed and underused public assets

Participants can diagnose institutional strengths and weaknesses affecting investment decisions.

  • Applying IMF PIMA dimensions to a public investment system
  • PEFA Framework links between budgeting, procurement and asset management
  • Scoring institutional gaps using evidence, maturity criteria and documented controls
  • Sequencing reforms by fiscal impact, feasibility and implementation ownership
  • Investment management regulations, delegated authorities and approval thresholds
  • Reform action plans with milestones, responsibilities and verification evidence

Participants can convert strategic objectives into investment priorities and selection criteria.

  • Theory of change linking assets, services and intended outcomes
  • Sector strategies translated into measurable investment objectives
  • Needs assessment using service standards, coverage gaps and asset condition
  • Spatial analysis for facility location, catchment areas and access
  • Prioritisation criteria balancing equity, economic value and policy commitments
  • Climate and disaster resilience embedded within strategic investment priorities

Participants can prepare a structured concept note for an identified investment need.

  • Problem statements supported by baseline data and stakeholder evidence
  • Options identification including demand management, rehabilitation and new construction
  • Project concept note using objectives, scope, beneficiaries and assumptions
  • Stakeholder mapping for users, affected communities and implementing agencies
  • Initial demand forecasts using demographic, utilisation and service data
  • Screening environmental and social issues before project design

Participants can establish a screened project pipeline for budget and appraisal decisions.

  • Pipeline registers recording status, costs, sponsors and approval history
  • Readiness criteria for land, designs, permits and financing
  • Stage-gate screening before feasibility studies and detailed appraisal
  • Portfolio balancing across sectors, regions, maintenance and new assets
  • Removing duplicate proposals through common demand and geographic analysis
  • Annual pipeline updates aligned with medium-term expenditure frameworks

Participants can test service demand and define credible intervention options.

  • Demand forecasts built from population, usage, price and capacity data
  • Scenario analysis for high, central and low demand cases
  • Without-project and do-minimum cases defined for appraisal comparisons
  • Technical options compared by capacity, service quality and operating requirements
  • Distributional analysis identifying who gains, pays and bears disruption
  • Sensitivity tests for demand elasticity, utilisation and demographic change

Participants can estimate project costs across the full asset life cycle.

  • Work breakdown structures separating design, construction and commissioning costs
  • Quantity-based estimates using unit rates, contingencies and escalation
  • Life-cycle cost models covering operations, maintenance, renewal and disposal
  • Whole-life cost comparisons between build, rehabilitate and lease options
  • Optimism bias adjustments based on comparable project evidence
  • Reference class forecasting for cost and schedule uncertainty

Participants can prepare an economic appraisal using quantified costs and benefits.

  • Economic versus financial analysis of public investment proposals
  • Discounted cash flow calculations using net present value
  • Economic benefits valued through time savings, avoided costs and health gains
  • Shadow pricing for taxes, subsidies, foreign exchange and labour
  • Sensitivity analysis for discount rates, costs and benefit assumptions
  • Switching values identifying assumptions that change investment decisions

Participants can compare options where important benefits cannot be monetised credibly.

  • Multi-criteria analysis for equity, resilience, strategic fit and deliverability
  • Weighted scoring matrices with transparent criteria and documented weights
  • Avoiding double counting between economic benefits and qualitative scores
  • Distributional weights for benefits received by lower-income population groups
  • Equity impact assessments for gender, disability and geographic access
  • Decision rules combining economic appraisal and non-monetised public value

Participants can assess funding needs, budget affordability and recurrent cost implications.

  • Financing plans separating grants, borrowing, revenues and budget appropriations
  • Medium-term expenditure framework entries for capital and recurrent costs
  • Fiscal space analysis using debt, deficit and expenditure ceilings
  • Cash flow profiles for commitments, payments and financing drawdowns
  • Operating subsidy forecasts following asset commissioning and service expansion
  • Affordability tests for central government, municipalities and state-owned enterprises

Participants can identify, quantify and manage project and fiscal risks.

  • Risk registers covering technical, financial, legal and stakeholder risks
  • Probability-impact matrices calibrated with defined scoring criteria
  • Risk owners, treatment actions, triggers and review dates
  • Quantitative risk analysis using expected monetary value calculations
  • Contingent liabilities from guarantees, termination payments and revenue support
  • Risk allocation principles between government, contractors and private partners

Participants can incorporate climate, environmental and social factors into investment appraisal.

  • Climate risk screening for floods, heat, drought and sea-level rise
  • Greenhouse gas appraisal using project emissions and avoided emissions
  • Environmental and social impact assessment scoping and mitigation hierarchy
  • Resettlement, land acquisition and livelihood restoration cost provisions
  • Climate adaptation options assessed through life-cycle costs and avoided losses
  • Environmental management plans linked to contracts and supervision arrangements

Participants can assemble evidence into a decision-ready public investment business case.

  • Green Book five-case model for public investment decisions
  • Strategic case defining need, objectives and policy alignment
  • Economic case comparing options, benefits, costs and critical risks
  • Commercial case addressing procurement approach and market capability
  • Financial case setting affordability, funding sources and cash flows
  • Management case defining governance, milestones and benefits realisation

Participants can select procurement approaches and plan controls for contract delivery.

  • Procurement strategy based on market analysis, risk and project complexity
  • Packaging works, goods and services to encourage capable competition
  • Evaluation criteria balancing price, quality, delivery and life-cycle cost
  • Contract forms allocating design, construction and performance risks
  • Bid evaluation records supporting transparency, challenge and audit
  • Contract management plans for variations, claims and payment certification

Participants can assess whether partnership delivery offers value for money.

  • PPP screening against public delivery, financing and management alternatives
  • Value-for-money assessment comparing whole-life costs and risk transfer
  • Affordability analysis for availability payments, guarantees and subsidies
  • Revenue risk assessment for user charges, demand and collection performance
  • Public sector comparator assumptions and limitations in PPP decisions
  • PPP contract monitoring for service standards, deductions and handback

Participants can create an implementation plan with measurable delivery controls.

  • Critical path method schedules linking activities, dependencies and milestones
  • Work breakdown structures assigning scope, responsibility and deliverables
  • Earned value management for cost, schedule and physical progress
  • Change control procedures for scope revisions and budget reallocations
  • Readiness reviews before tender, contract award and construction mobilisation
  • Escalation protocols for delays, disputes and material cost increases

Participants can monitor delivery, hand over assets and track intended benefits.

  • Results frameworks connecting outputs, outcomes, indicators and baselines
  • Benefits realisation plans assigning benefit owners and review dates
  • Physical progress verification through site reports, certificates and inspections
  • Asset handover records covering warranties, manuals and maintenance schedules
  • Operations readiness checks for staffing, utilities, supplies and budgets
  • Ex-post evaluation comparing realised costs, outputs and outcomes

Participants can build, review and present a complete public investment business case for approval.

  • Complete business case integrating strategic, economic, financial and management evidence
  • Appraisal model documenting assumptions, discounting, sensitivity and switching values
  • Risk register covering delivery, fiscal, climate and stakeholder exposures
  • Implementation plan with procurement milestones, controls and accountable owners
  • Investment committee review using defined approval and challenge criteria
  • Executive presentation defending recommendation, trade-offs and next decisions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Public investment concept note template
  2. Project pipeline screening matrix
  3. Life-cycle cost and appraisal model
  4. Fiscal risk register template
  5. Five-case business case template
  6. Benefits realisation and ex-post review checklist

Who should attend

  • Ministry of Finance officials — assess capital proposals, fiscal space and project risks
  • Public investment planners — build credible pipelines linked to sector priorities
  • Infrastructure project managers — strengthen delivery controls, reporting and handover arrangements
  • Budget officers — integrate capital costs and recurrent commitments into medium-term budgets
  • Procurement and PPP specialists — select delivery approaches and manage contractual risks
  • Development programme advisers — appraise and monitor publicly funded investment projects

Skills and tools covered

Project appraisalCapital budgetingFiscal risk analysisInvestment governanceProcurement planningBenefits realisation

Tools and standards

IMF Public Investment Management Assessment, PEFA Framework, Green Book five-case model, Reference class forecasting

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short technical briefings followed by worked cases drawn from public infrastructure and service investments. Participants assess project concepts, build appraisal assumptions, compare options, review risk registers and make simulated investment committee decisions. Small-group work examines the choices faced by finance, planning, procurement and delivery functions. Individual application planning helps participants transfer methods to a current or planned project. Facilitators provide structured feedback against decision criteria, public financial management controls and business-case requirements.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand basic public budgeting, government planning processes and the purpose of capital expenditure. Experience preparing, reviewing, financing, procuring or implementing public projects is helpful, whether in central government, local government, a state-owned enterprise or a development programme. Participants should be comfortable interpreting tables, costs and simple financial calculations. Prior training in economics, engineering, accounting or project management is not required. The course explains appraisal methods from first principles, but it is not an introductory course on public financial management or a specialist financial modelling programme.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand basic public budgeting and have some exposure to public projects or capital planning. No economics degree, engineering qualification or advanced spreadsheet modelling experience is required.

Participants should bring a laptop for appraisal and planning work, plus a non-confidential current or proposed project where possible. They may also bring relevant project documents, such as a concept note, budget estimate or sector plan.

It suits officials and advisers involved in planning, finance, budgeting, procurement, infrastructure delivery and project oversight. It is also suitable for development programme staff reviewing government investment proposals.

This course starts before delivery, with project selection, appraisal, fiscal affordability and approval decisions. It also covers procurement and implementation controls, but does not replace specialist training in construction management, tender law or contract administration.

Participants build decision documents using their own project context where appropriate. The templates can be adapted for project pipelines, budget submissions, appraisal reviews, investment committees and implementation reporting.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The first week develops project identification, appraisal and affordability work; the second week covers risks, delivery, monitoring and the final business-case capstone.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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