Rwanda is set to host the 7th annual seminar of the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI) beginning tomorrow.

The two-day seminar will be held under the theme "Making Budgets Work - the Implementation Challenge”.

The meeting will bring together senior budget officials from across Africa to share knowledge on common challenges of budget implementation on the continent.

In an interview with The New Times, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, John Rwangombwa said that the meeting will bring together budget officials from various African countries to share experiences and best practices.

"We expect to share experiences and good practices and how we can work together to build capacities,” Rwangombwa said.

"We will look at ways our countries can continue to work together to make budgets work by jointly tackling challenges that affect budget implementation.”

"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,” a joint statement released by CABRI and the Ministry of Finance reads.

CABRI is a professional network of senior budget officials of African Ministries of Finance and/or Planning. Rwanda is one of the CABRI founding members and also sits on its Management Committee.

"Rwanda has achieved remarkable progress in public finance management in a relatively short period,” the communiqué reads.

"Nonetheless, a number of challenges still remain, and this seminar will provide an opportunity to share experiences with peers on how such challenges can be better managed.”

In the past two decades, many African countries have initiated comprehensive reforms to modernise their budget systems. Effective and transparent budgeting is the cornerstone for implementing a country’s economic and social policies.

While budget preparation has improved considerably, challenges persist around the implementation of budget reforms and execution. 

According to research, Africa’s Public Financial Management (PFM) systems generally suffer from an implementation deficit. Laws and processes may be in place but seldom affect actual behaviour.

The 7th CABRI Annual Seminar will explore the reasons and identify possible solutions for the implementation deficit.

According to organisers, the focus will be on three implementation challenges, particularly how to create organisational structures that are most conducive to improved pubic financial management.

The seminar will also explore how to enforce legal frameworks and also how to improve fiscal decentralisation to improve local budgeting and service delivery.

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