Rwanda will host the 7th Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI) on August 17 at Serena Hotel.
The seminar will bring together senior budget officials from across Africa to share knowledge on common challenges of budget implementation on the continent.
Elias Bayingana, the Director of National Budget in the ministry of finance and economic planning noted that Rwanda was chosen as the host country due to its progress in the implementation of budget.
“The big change has been due to the implementation of the public finance management reform in 2006 which mainstreams gender and ensures that programs are at the grass root level are also financed,” said.
And even though Rwanda has achieved remarkable progress in public finance management in a relatively short period, there are still a number of challenges and this seminar will provide an opportunity for experience sharing among the peers, especially in addressing the difficulties.
“We have a problem of lacking professional personnel but we do our best to improve delivery through conducting capacity building trainings” the director stressed.
Other challenges on the implementation of budget reforms and execution are that: “African public financial management (PFM) systems generally suffer from an implementation deficit; laws and processes may be in place but seldom affect actual behavior,” Matt Andrews had said in last year’s conference in Tunis.
The 7th CABRI Annual Seminar will explore the reasons and identify possible solutions for the implementation deficit.
The focus will be on three implementation challenges in particular, how to create organizational structures that are most conducive to help pubic financial management.
CABRI events provide an opportunity for senior budget officials to connect and exchange experiences and knowledge with their African peers. More than 32 African countries participate regularly in CABRI events.
Rwanda is one of the CABRI founding members and sits on the Management Committee.
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