Article by CABRI on the Use of Country PFM Systems in Africa

Posted by PFM Blog Administrator

A recent blog post by Neil Cole of CABRI discusses the use of country systems in Africa. The post outlines several cases where development objectives are being achieved using local country systems, and how to strengthen these systems to make more efficient use of aid resources. The increased use of country systems has raised the capacity of governments in areas such as PFM, cross-governmental organization, and the management of donor programs.

CABRI is the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative and a peer-learning and exchange network for senior budget officials working in African Ministries of Finance/Planning.

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Comments

[Anthony Higgins]

Thanks Neil. Very encouraging blog, and you identify a critical issue in the need to find the balance between longer term development risk and short term fiduciary risk. However, working with MoF and development partners can only go so far. I think aid effectiveness needs a much bigger focus on the political process (capital P). Development Partners must answer to an increasingly demanding home political constituency, and fiduciary risk failures and reputational risk failures carry far more weight at home than longer term development goals in a partner countries. Similarly, in the partner countries themselves, MoF and MoP officials largely know what the DP rules are how to navigate them. But the policy focus, the implementation focus, comes from above, their political masters. We need these politicians at the table with MoF and DPs, and we need these same politicians leading MoF in budget preparation.