* Message of the Executive Secretary - Notes on PFM in Africa July 2024

Warm greetings from the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI).

As we conclude the first quarter of our 5-year new strategic phase - of Expansion (2024 to 2029) – we are reminded of how much we have accomplished. As you will see in this issue of our Notes on PFM in Africa, it has been an eventful year so far!

Much has happened in Africa. Countries went to the polls – others are gearing up for general elections before the end of the year. All will face new leadership within their Legislatures and Governments. Particularly in West Africa, political power dynamics are altering and leadership is being redefined. New leadership fundamentally adjusts the potential trajectories for countries: the allocative decisions regarding economic resources necessary for the livelihood of citizens as well as who has access to these resources. For these African countries, a new marque of political leadership is compounded with multidimensional crises – including armed conflicts and displaced populations - making the delivery of public services even more complex, physically and financially.

All things considered, public trust is sharply being questioned on our Continent and, across countries worldwide. More advocacy groups, including netizens, are voicing their opinions and are supporting each other in challenging public policy. The events that followed the presentation of the 2024-2025 Finance Bill in Kenya, attest to a rising citizen expression vis-à-vis political articulations that the population deems, fall short of safeguarding and bettering the citizen experience. The Media, Communities, Businesses, Civil Society Organisations, Faith Communities, Influencers and the average citizenry - all hold views and beliefs about the shortcomings of the delivery of publicly-provided goods and services and indeed, about the ways in which government revenue should be raised.

I was recently invited by the World Bank to represent CABRI on a panel discussion and share experiences for restoring trust in public administrations, at its Public Administration Global Forum : Transforming Governments for a Livable Planet, in Washington D.C.. I joined panelists from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Academia, Cambodia and CABRI member country Malawi. Discussants emphasised different aspects to public trust, mostly focused on the relationship between politicians/ politics and citizens. I specifically focused on public office, that is the interactions between bureaucrats, especially from ministries of Finance, and citizens. The public trust doctrine is rooted in ancient Roman Law, and generally these days, the Theory of Trust is considered to be a function of: competence (skills and knowledge), benevolence (altruism) and integrity (moral character). Trustworthy leadership requires the practice of these three. During the panel discussion, I drew attention to good Public Financial Management (PFM) praxis which contributes to public trust, in other words, how to practically build PFM and leadership capabilities within the public sector to effectively influence budget allocations for public services. I highlighted the approaches of CABRI member countries to deepen budget participation. The imperative is to create and sustain participation forums of collaboration and co-creation, to lead to a better understanding of the national budget and its local impact by all stakeholders, including Government. This perspective made the profile of CABRI clear – we are a unique membership-based organisation of PFM experts.

The Open Budget Survey (OBS) undertaken by the International Budget Partnership, was also released at this time, in late May. It compares data transparency, audit and legislature oversight as well as public participation across 125 countries, including the majority of African countries. The indicators of the OBS are a good measure of the form of country PFM systems and processes. However, generally worldwide, for budget public participation indicators, country scores are the lowest. What matters in the final instance, is PFM functionality. How successful are PFM systems and processes in building understanding of a country’s budget, promised public services and trade-offs, and ultimately, public trust? And how successful can PFM be at fostering consistent collaboration for better future budgets?

In general, public sector shortcomings are an open secret before public engagements begin. Given the quantum of PFM challenges in a world of poly-crisis, this is greatly amplified. At our meetings of the CABRI General Assembly and CABRI Management Committee in Accra, Ghana, mid-May, the need to make genuine developmental progress in tackling PFM challenges was re-iterated as a critical focus for more resilient PFM systems that have the agility to respond to such crisis. As an African membership-based organisation, we stand ready to discover and generate, as well as to interact with the body of knowledge emerging on good praxis for current circumstances. The focus of PFM advice is to go beyond the traditional understanding, and to concentrate on results in progress within local country contexts.

While improving public trust and public office when facing public finance crises is not a new dilemma; having to solve them in the modern context and modern era, is new. CABRI has introduced digital PFM as the newest PFM area of work, with the explicit intention of collecting an evidence-basis for designing the best future ways of assisting countries to leverage digital solutions for providing information. While evidence-based information is known to be the bedrock of budget allocation planning and PFM; in the digital age, more active stakeholders in both invited and invented spaces of public participation should greatly ease the building of longer-term relationships between government and citizens in ways that build trust.

CABRI’s ongoing collaborative work with member countries and more broadly on the Continent, is presently all focused on the most pressing PFM challenges : financing for providing good local health care, addressing country debt-crises, including re-assessing government spending areas and taxes, and the delivery of effective infrastructure projects, to name a few. CABRI’s innovative PFM reform mindset will grow and expand, particularly through its foundational programme, the Building Public Finance Capabilities (BPFC) programme and Policy Dialogues. Look out for new areas of PFM work during this Expansion phase, including in the very near future!

Achieving and maintaining the good-standing of public office and public trust is a key outcome of CABRI’s PFM work, as determined by the needs of our member countries. At our General Assembly meeting in Ghana, this intention was made clear, as was the directive to the CABRI Secretariat with respect to our Annual Workplan and the need to continually expand it. At CABRI, we believe that synergistic actions have the power to drive and advance transformation. By fostering collaboration, building capabilities, generating knowledge, and providing peer support, we create space for inclusive and impactful locally-driven PFM reforms on our Continent. Ultimately, the purposeful intention is to increase opportunities for collaboration with more African countries.

We are CABRI!

Membership to CABRI is open to all African countries. Visit our PFM Knowledge Hub for more information on becoming a CABRI member country or send us an email: info@cabri-sbo.org.  We also welcome engagements within the broader PFM community.