Effective states, economic growth and sustainable development is associated with states’ ability to raise taxes, borrow prudently and manage other revenue flows effectively; to plan and manage the spending of public money effectively and efficiently; and to account for the use of funds and the results achieved. The management of public funds in states that achieve these outcomes commonly are characterised by elements of transparency, participation, responsiveness, oversight, accountability and predictability and by the rule of law. Together these features are constituent elements of good financial governance, the subject of a key work stream for CABRI in 2010/11.

Programme budgeting is always a topical issue within the CABRI fora. Many countries are currently grappling with how to design and implement programme-based budgets. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Empowerment in Mauritius (MoFEE) has taken important steps, by learning from their neighbours in order to navigate through the complex terrain of programme budgeting. CABRI has seized the opportunity to gain an understanding of Mauritius’ successes, challenges and lessons learned by conducting a Joint Country Case Study.

A CABRI expert group consisting of senior budget officials from Ethiopia (Mr Melaku), Kenya (Mr Kiiru), Rwanda (Mr Baingana and Mr Karakye) and South Africa (Dr Brown) spent a week in February 2010 reviewing the implementation of programme-based budgeting in Mauritius. The review involved an intense schedule of meetings, interviews with Mauritian officials and late night discussions amongst the team. The team was supported by the CABRI secretariat and a short-term consultant.

This is an excerpt of the press release.

"Africa's Infrastructure: A Time for Transformation", a study recently conducted in 24 African countries, shows that the poor state of infrastructure in Sub Saharan Africa – its electricity, water, roads, and information and communications technology (ICT) – cuts national economic growth by 2 percentage points every year and reduces business productivity by as much as 40 percent. This study argues that well functioning infrastructure is essential to Africa’s economic performance and that improving inefficiencies and reducing waste could result in major improvements in African’s lives.

The 2008 Open Budget Index (OBI) has been released by the International Budget Partnership on 1 February 2008. The OBI has been constructed in 2006 and “evaluates the quantity and type of information available to the public in a country’s budget documents” according to generally accepted good practice criteria for public sector management.