The core courses are those that focus primarily on the fundamentals of economic policy-making, economic management, and development planning that are at the heart of the IDEP mandate. They are organised on a continuing basis and constitute an abiding feature of the work of the Institute at all times. They comprise of modules that are central to the business of economic management, policy analyses and development planning and which, therefore, by their very nature would be essential for any policy maker, professional in the public service, and development practitioner to master in order either successfully to perform their roles or enhance their achievements. The courses are open to all development practitioners wishing to build/renew their technical and non-technical capacities but particularly target the younger generation of public sector policy officials in the economic and development ministries. The Core Short Courses aims to contribute to the building of a critical mass of professionals primarily in the public sector but also drawn from the organised private sector and civil society with a high level of competence and proficiency in the core issues of economic governance and development planning. Professionals working in legislative support roles in the parliaments of African countries will also be considered for participation in the courses. A strategic component of the short courses are the Institute’s training of trainers sessions, which are convened on a pan-African basis and devoted to dedicated to training trainers who can use the skills and knowledge they acquire from IDEP to train their colleagues on the job