{Finance ministers, policy makers and public finance experts from 17 Francophone African countries joined international partners and accounting professionals at the Public Financial Management conference. The meeting was held on 29th October, 2015 in Dakar, Senegal to take stock of progress in Public Financial Management (PFM) reform, with the objective of agreeing on a call to action to tackle persistent challenges.}
The conference is organized jointly by the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the Fédération International Des Experts-Comptables Francophones (FIDEF), Pan-African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) and (Ordre National des Experts Comptables et Comptables Agréés du Sénégal (ONECCA).
Africa ranked among the fastest growing regions in the world, boasting 6 of the 10 fastest-growing economies over the last decade, bolstered by favorable commodity prices. However, the now more subdued global and African economic outlook calls for governments in Africa and other parts of the world to improve their management of public resources through more efficient PFM processes and systems.
Talking at the summit, Samia Msadek, Practice Director, Public Resource Mobilization and Management Governance at the World Bank Group(WBG) said:
“The recently announced Sustainable Development Goals reflect our dream for a World in which all citizens can reach their full potential. In order to achieve these goals, we need to accelerate the transformation of public financial management systems in Francophone countries in Africa. This will involve strengthening tax collection systems, increasing the quality and timeliness of Government financial reporting and fostering independent, professional external audit.”
“..The WBG is a key partner in this agenda which will contribute to achieving the goal of reducing extreme poverty to 3% by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity, by focusing on the bottom 40% of the population”. He added.
Alta Prinsloo, Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer of the International Federation of Accountants said that the improvement of PFM starts with high-quality financial information that policymakers can use to make informed decisions in regards to budgeting, resource mobilization and allocation, audit and control.
He also highlighted that campaign for enhanced public reporting helps global accountable decision making in the accountancy profession which has a value adding role in the journey towards public financial management reform in the region.
The conference is designed to culminate in the adoption of a Call to Action by Ministers of Finance from francophone African countries, building momentum for a collaborative and proactive approach to PFM reforms.
Mamour Fall, President of FIDEF argues that the Francophone African region has made progress in terms of facility to do business going in hand with investment attraction. However calls for well organized management of public resources to improve public service quality.
“One of our inputs into the improvement of Public Financial Management consists of building the capacity of our members to be able to meet the accountancy needs of their respective public sectors.” He said
Alain Nna Ebono,the representative of AfDB in Senegal commended transparency and accountability in the resource mobilization to ensure economic development. “To achieve sustainable development there must be strong accountability at micro and macro levels. Due to the complexity and multidimensional nature of the challenge particularly for African countries strong and strategic partnerships are required.” He requested.
As Asmâa Resmouki, President of PAFA (Pan African Federation of Accountants) said ,the conference engages in dialogue Professional accountants from Francophone African countries with government officials to discuss their expectations and needs with regards to Public Financial Management.
The recent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) presents a renewed opportunity to offer better lives to people and ensure more inclusive economic growth.
Public financial management (PFM) commitments envisage to meet the SDG commitment by 2030. In this regard, governments of Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa have already committed to transformative change by adopting ambitious PFM reforms toward sustainable use of their respective country’s resources and to spur better service delivery to their citizens.
The implementation of directives will include dissemination and transposition into national regulations as well as training civil servants among others in each country .The organization expect to have public sector standards implemented by 2017.
The meeting outlined priorities involving commitment to learn from the experiences of other countries on the same journey to bring sustainable change.
Another priority implies that public resources invested through the reformed PFM systems truly contribute to saving more lives, creating more job opportunities, increasing access to education and, ultimately, expanding the life expectancy and well-being of people and environment in Francophone Africa.
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