On 26 September, country-teams from Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Kenya and Mauritius gathered virtually to present on their progress and lessons learnt from the action-learning approach to tackling their complex public finance problems. The workshop also provided an opportunity for peer-countries and local stakeholders with influence and insights over the problems to provide valuable feedback to the teams.
The table below highlights the teams’ locally nominated problems and progress to date.
| Country-team and Problem | Guinea : Accumulation of internal payment arrears |
|---|---|
| Progress | • The team composition was expanded in order to ensure greater mandate over the problem : During the initial framing workshop, the team had several gaps in understanding treasury mechanisms because they did not have a member from Treasury. After the workshop, they successfully reinforced the team with a member from Treasury and held several meetings with the department which helped them understand their challenge and expand their scope of influence. • Through various consultations and engagements, the team also identified issues within the management and follow-up of supplier debt files, which leads to accumulation of outstanding payments. Furthermore, they also unpacked the reasons for loss of administrative revenue from ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), which are often not budgeted for. |
| Country-team and Problem | Côte d'Ivoire : Weakness of revenues compared to the elevated debt service costs, constraining much needed fiscal space towards funding investments |
| Progress | • Through interviews with the tax department, the team has gained valuable insights into the challenges of managing fiscal exemptions, particularly for mid-sized companies. A key issue identified is the lack of effective tools for tracking and managing exemptions, which results in oversight gaps and missed revenue opportunities. The team is now working to determine how best to contribute to the design and implementation of a new digital monitoring system currently under development. • The team refined actionable entry-points: Initially, the team prioritised procurement procedures as a key entry-point for action. However, further analysis revealed that this area is overly complex and lacks sufficient data for effective intervention. After discussions with authorisers, the team has shifted its focus to other alternatives and is currently pursuing to unpack the rise of Euribor/Libor rates and currency fluctuations. • The team has maintained active dialogue with stakeholders and authorisers, continuously adapting their problem formulation around debt management based on feedback. These consultations have helped secure greater buy-in and ensure that the problem statement aligns more closely with stakeholder priorities. The team is now working on further refining the problem to develop a more targeted and effective strategy to address the root causes and challenges. |
| Country-team and Problem | Kenya : Inefficient Cash Management Practices leading to Unsustainable Domestic Debt Service Costs |
| Progress | • The team built their understanding of the cash management pain points in Kenya through interviews with the cash management unit in the National Treasury, and with a senior accountant in the State Department for Education. This allowed them to gain different perspectives of the cash management functions and processes. These conversations helped to identify ongoing reform plans for cash management processes that they may leverage or align with through the BPFC programme. • The team also collected 3 years of data on surpluses and remittance amounts from State Owned Enterprises. This data analysis, alongside meeting with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), responsible for collecting remittances, and the Department for Government Investment and Public Enterprises (GIPE), helped to build a picture of what is feasible with regard to increasing the frequency of remittances, and also the potential impact this will have to alleviate reliance on T-bills. • Finally, the team conducted a stakeholder mapping exercise that helped to identify the specific stakeholder involved in their entry points, and what pain points existed within the processes for each stakeholder. This helped to frame the engagements and identify where the team needed to build more evidence and authorisation. |
| Country-team and Problem | Mauritius : Under-expenditure and low Implementation rate of Capital Projects with half of Major Capital Projects delayed |
| Progress | • The team gained acceptance from different stakeholders namely authorisers, Sector Ministry Support Teams, Procurement Policy Office, Public Investment Management Unit (PIMU) and Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) and forged partnerships to work in a coordinated manner and understand issues from different perspectives. • The team identified that current implementing agencies are insufficiently investing time in project preparation activities such as feasibility studies and planning. The PIMU is working on a 5-case model for project appraisal, which includes Strategic, Business, Financial, Economic, and Management aspects. The team participated in a 3-day training on this model in July 2024 and expressed interest in joining the team developing it. Additionally, a new manual is being created to guide project assessments tailored to local needs. • Finally, the team also identified areas of focus/entry points when tackling their problem: the causes of delays in capital projects vary between the different Ministries and Departments. The team will focus on some major Ministries/Departments with major under-spending and low implementation rates and try to tackle specific issues e:g: water and drain projects. |
What transpired during the workshop was that all the teams have managed to gain a deeper understanding of their problem and its root causes rather than just the symptoms – this implies understanding of the problem beyond the technical issues, but also different stakeholder incentives, capabilities, amongst others. Importantly, it was also critical for the teams to take an iterative and adaptive approach and be open to revisiting their initial assumptions about their understanding of the problem and envisaged solutions.
Furthermore, through these stakeholder engagements and consultations, the teams were also able to build important coalitions within government. These collaborations not only deepened the understanding of existing constraints but also facilitated the development of mutually beneficial solutions for the future, thereby minimizing resistance to change.
Finally, all team members emphasized that they are enhancing their capabilities through this process. They highlighted that, alongside gaining insights into their own challenges and local contexts, they have developed new skills and competencies, including critical thinking, teamwork, communication, and presentation skills, among others.
The teams will now continue working on specific aspects of the problem where they have scope for change and start testing small scale solutions that they will iterate and adapt as they test their efficacy. Throughout this process they will be supported by CABRI coaches, who will focus on enabling a culture of learning, adaptability and resilience within the team - in ways that empower these local teams to lead on these important public finance reforms.