Public finance reforms are most effective when a problem is identified locally, and solutions emerge from a process that considers countries’ administrative, political, and economic contexts. This is at the core of the Building Public Finance Capabilities (BPFC) programme and the Problem-driven Iterative Adaption (PDIA) approach.

Following the five-week online course, country-teams participating in the BPFC 2024 programme – Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Kenya and Mauritius attended a Framing Workshop in South Africa from 10-13 June, 2024. It was the first time that the country-teams were meeting their peers as well as their coaches in person. The focus of the four-day workshop were on: (i) framing and constructing the public finance problem; (ii) identifying the main causes and sub-causes of the problem; (iii) agreeing on the immediate actions to be taken; and (iv) designating specific responsibilities to team members.

This year, two country-teams are participating in the BPFC for the first time : Kenya and Mauritius.

The problem statements on which the country-teams are busy working on are:

Côte d'Ivoire

Low tax revenues and the relatively high debt service reduce the budgetary space needed for investment financing

Guinea

The accumulation of arrears for trade payables

Kenya

Inefficient Cash Management Practices leading to Unsustainable Domestic Debt Service Costs

Mauritius

Under-expenditure and low Implementation rate of Capital Projects with half of Major Capital Projects delayed

The country-teams will reconvene virtually in September for the mid-term Review Workshop. The Framing Workshop checked, they now move on to the next step of the programme which is the Action-learning period. Spanned over 40 weeks, country-teams engage in regular learning iterations focused on practically solving the problem. This includes: (i) gathering and analysing data; (ii) consulting key stakeholders to gain new perspectives on the problem and political and administrative support for the team’s work and (iii) holding regular team meetings to share progress, challenges, insights, clarify objectives and agree on next steps. 

The BPFC is a 12-month action-learning programme that aims to build capabilities to solve local public finance problems using the PDIA approach. It takes the view that Public Financial Management (PFM) reforms require a careful understanding of the local context within an adaptive and iterative approach to change. As such, the BPFC puts teams of government practitioners - who have a deep understanding of their local context - at the center of PFM reforms.