As CABRI’s Executive Secretary Dr Kay Brown states in her message for this issue of CABRI’s Notes on PFM in Africa: public trust has become a hot topic. Reports suggest that levels of the public’s trust in Government are worsening among many countries of the world. In the last few months, we witnessed South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) party lose its political majority for the first time since the end of apartheid. Almost the same week, Kenya’s youth took to the streets to protest a controversial Finance Bill and perceived mis-use of existing government funding.

Over the past three months, we were invited to share our thoughts on trust, transparency and public engagement in three separate events. At a World Bank conference, Dr Brown discussed improving trust as a member of a bureaucracy. Joana Bento, Programme Manager and Acting Head of the Public Finance Division, spoke to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) South Africa staff on the role of PFM reforms in engendering trust. Finally, I sat on a panel at the African Development Bank (AfdB) Annual Conference in Kenya, Nairobi, to explore how development financing can support building trust and civil society organisations (CSO) engagement. Below is a summary of some of what was discussed.

Trust and transparency often appear as two sides of the same coin. Global assessments, such as the Open Budget Survey (OBS) and Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA), highlight the importance of publishing budgeting data, and establishing legislation and institutionalized practices for public participation. This is for a good reason. One does not have to look far to find a list of reasons as to why a more transparent and inclusive budgeting process represents an improvement to our Public Financing systems.

For example, public participation is a cornerstone of democracy – allowing citizens to influence policies and spending between election cycles. It creates opportunities to reduce corruption, and strengthen accountability in government spending. Increased transparency is linked to lower costs for borrowing, as it builds creditors’ trust in the financial position of a government – making it easier for governments to access funds for the needs of their citizens. Ultimately, each of these points has the potential to ensure better resource allocation of public funds towards the priorities of the people.

That said, building trust is more than publishing a budget or carrying out public consultations. There is a long history of the international community promoting transparency and participation, without these reforms necessarily translating into a meaningful improvement in trust in government or strengthened public spending. This is where we, CABRI, emphasize the distinction between nominal transparency and active transparency. In the former, governments may simply publish the budget or hold a public consultation meeting. For active transparency to emerge, there needs to be more consideration of what information is needed, by whom, how often, and how it should be presented. Additionally, the institutions receiving this information, such as CSOs, Legislatures or Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), need to have the opportunity and capacity to engage with and react to this information.

Building active transparency is one option available to governments to restore public trust. However, the focus must shift from specific tools or processes, towards building a relationship between parts of government and the citizens or Legislatures they mean to engage. This process is not easy. It requires governments to identify where CSOs and citizen perspectives improve PFM systems, and ultimately, take the time to understand how these groups want to engage. This is not the role of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) alone, but can also leverage sub-national governments and line ministries who have different opportunities to hear the perspectives of the citizens.

While there is no silver bullet for improving trust, using a context-driven and adaptive approach remains central to how CABRI believes active transparency can be built. Countries should understand the perspectives and needs of CSOs and citizens, and be willing to test approaches to engagement – and, ultimately, adapt these approaches based on what works, and what could improve.

We look forward to the day when a CABRI member country will take advantage of the Building Public Finance Capabilities (BPFC) programme to strengthen active transparency and build public trust.