Strengthening Cash (“Caixa”) Management through Lusophone Peer Learning

In March 2026, treasury officials from Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea‑Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe gathered in Mauritius for a regional workshop on treasury management tailored to Africa’s Lusophone countries. This event marked the third edition of the Lusophone public financial management (PFM) workshop series, and the second delivered with support from the Global Public Finance Partnership (GPFP)—an initiative that began in 2023 and has proven highly effective in generating momentum for peer learning, regional integration, and sustained progress in PFM reforms within the Lusophone community.

Convened by the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department in collaboration with the regional capacity development center (RCDC) network—including AFRITAC South (AFS), AFRITAC Central (AFC), AFRITAC West (AFW), AFRITAC West 2 (AFW2)—and the African Training Institute (ATI), the workshop reflected a growing recognition that strong treasury and cash management practices are essential to support fiscal credibility in an environment of heightened uncertainty, volatile revenues, and constrained financing conditions. Delivering the event in Portuguese and framing discussions around shared institutional traditions allowed for candid exchanges grounded in country experience and practical reform challenges. 

Across Lusophone African countries, PFM systems share common institutional traditions, often shaped by similar legal frameworks and administrative practices. While the Treasury Single Account (TSA) is widely recognized in law and policy as a cornerstone of sound cash management, its effective implementation has typically been gradual and uneven. Cash management responsibilities are frequently fragmented across treasury, budget, and debt management functions, with coordination mechanisms still evolving. Central banks generally play a key role as fiscal agents and TSA account holders, but operational coordination—particularly on short‑term liquidity forecasting and information sharing—remains a challenge. These institutional features, combined with revenue volatility and limited forward‑looking cash planning, have historically constrained treasuries’ ability to anticipate liquidity pressures, prioritize payments, and actively manage cash balances. Strengthening cash (“caixa”) management therefore requires not only better tools, but also improvements in governance, coordination, and the practical use of information across institutions.

The workshop focused on concrete solutions to common issues faced by Lusophone African treasuries—payment delays, weak cash‑flow forecasting, fragmented cash balances, and limited coordination across fiscal institutions. Discussions emphasized how effective cash management, anchored in credible cash‑flow forecasts and supported by well‑designed TSAs, can help governments reduce idle balances, lower borrowing costs, avoid arrears, and improve budget execution. Hands‑on sessions using the IMF’s Cash Flow Forecasting and Analysis Tool (CFAT) highlighted how forecasting can serve not merely as a technical exercise, but as a core decision‑support tool linking the budget, financing plans, and day‑to‑day treasury operations. 

A defining feature of the Lusophone workshop series has been its strong peer‑learning dimension. Country presentations illustrated reform trajectories at different stages of maturity—ranging from early efforts to consolidate government cash to more advanced frameworks integrating forecasting, treasury planning, and debt management. Despite these differences, participants identified common priorities: expanding TSA coverage, strengthening coordination among treasury, debt, budget, and central banks, and embedding forward‑looking cash‑flow analysis into routine fiscal decision‑making. Exchanges with Brazil further enriched the dialogue, offering insights into how institutionalized financial programming and automated forecasting can support strategic liquidity management in more complex systems. 

Since its launch in 2023, the Lusophone workshop initiative has become a trusted platform for dialogue and collective problem‑solving, helping countries move beyond isolated reforms toward more coherent and coordinated PFM modernization. Its success lies not only in technical content, but in fostering a sustained community of practice—one where countries learn from one another’s setbacks and breakthroughs, and where reform momentum is reinforced through regional solidarity.

The workshop was made possible through the support of the Global Public Finance Partnership (GPFP), particularly the dedicated GPFP Lusophone project, which has provided a stable and flexible funding vehicle for sustained, Portuguese‑language capacity development. By combining IMF headquarters expertise with the RCDC network, GPFP support helps ensure continuity across workshop editions and enables follow‑up engagement to translate knowledge into implementation. 

Looking ahead, participants expressed strong interest in maintaining this Lusophone peer‑learning format and expanding future editions to cover additional core PFM areas, including liquidity buffer policies, automation and systems integration, and advanced treasury‑debt coordination. Future editions of the Lusophone PFM workshop could be hosted by participating countries, providing an opportunity to further deepen ownership, peer learning, and regional integration across the Lusophone community.

As fiscal pressures continue to test public finances, strengthening cash (“caixa”) management remains a critical anchor for fiscal discipline and service delivery. The experience in Mauritius confirms that when capacity development is regionally tailored, practical, and sustained over time, it can play a catalytic role in advancing PFM reforms across the Lusophone African community.