Promoting Transparent and Responsible use of Public Finances in Africa

Context

The State’s ability to provide better public services such as education, healthcare, sanitation and security, depends on the transparent and efficient management of public finances. Many African countries face challenges in effectively managing their financial resources and some governments are unable to mobilise adequate revenue and budget execution, which remains difficult as there are shortcomings in transparency and accountability. Good financial governance involves the promotion of transparency and accountability in the management of public resources. It represents a significant contribution to the delivery of services by governments to citizens. Public contributions to the treasury through taxes, should be accounted for to provide efficient public services by the State.

Objective

Decision-makers in African public finance use region-specific services, products and education offers to improve good financial governance.

Approach

GIZ implements the Good Financial Governance (GFG) in Africa programme on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).  The programme cooperates with regional public financial management networks and provides technical advice, training and support for peer learning in order to strengthen the knowledge and skills of decision-makers, in the below areas:

Tax policy and administration: To foster effective tax administrations in Africa, the programme supports the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) in: Organisational development of its Secretariat; the review and development of products as well as services for its members that respond to their needs and demands.

Budget reform: This component works with the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI) to develop and implement reforms that lead to more functional Public Financial Management (PFM) systems. The support encompasses peer learning and exchange, using the Problem-Driven and Iterative Approaches (PDIA) to solve context-specific PFM challenges in member countries.

External Audit: African Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI), is an Africa-wide network that promotes the exchange of ideas and experiences between member Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in public financial control and auditing of public organisations. GIZ supports AFROSAI and its linguistic subgroups AFROSAI-E (English speaking) and CREFIAF (French speaking) in developing solutions to strengthen the institutional capacity of members as well as promoting women equality at SAIs.

Legislative Oversight: The main institutions responsible for exercising legislative oversight are specialised committees such as finance, budget and public accounts committees (PACs). GFG in Africa programme aims at strengthening capacities of such institutions to fulfil their constitutional role by supporting technical expertise, networking and peer learning.

African Voice on good financial governance/liaison with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Africa Regional Technical Assistance Centers (AFRITACs): GFG in Africa programme supports technical discussions with relevant public finance stakeholders. It facilitates collaboration between ATAF, CABRI, AFROSAI and AFROPAC. It also participates in Steering Committee Meetings of the IMF AFRITACs to strengthen synergies between GIZ bilateral programmes and regional organisations.

Support in Combatting Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs): Within the African Voice on Good Financial Governance, GFG in Africa programme aims to strengthen dialogue among its partner networks on IFFs. The four Networks (ATAF, AFROPAC, AFROSAI and CABRI) agreed to reinforce their collaboration in combating IFFs and pilot the Country Risk Profile (CRP) Assessment Tool in four African countries.