CABRI health sector program looks at the planning, financing and expenditure management in the health sector. The programme looks at how strengthening the linkage between Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health can contribute to higher value for money. Understanding the complementary role of national and sector level in policy formulation and budget processes and making these processes more efficient and better integrated should foster the provision of quality services for better health outcomes.

CABRI first Health Dialogue

The two-day CABRI dialogue on value for money in the health sector: policy and budget planning brought together senior officials from the budget office and ministries of health. The dialogue was held in Nairobi on 4-5 April 2011. Participants discussed how policies could be designed to reduce inefficiencies along the result chain and what can be done to achieve value for money in the health sector through better planning. Two keynote papers were supported by two case studies.

In order to promote economic growth and sustainable development an effective state should be able to mobilise revenue, borrow prudently, plan and manage the spending of public money in an effective and efficient way and to account for the use of funds and the results achieved. Sound public finance management (PFM) contributes to these outcomes through its elements of transparency, participation, responsiveness, oversight, accountability and predictability. These are elements of good public financial governance (GPFG) - a prerequisite for a state’s economic and social development and a focal area of CABRI’s work.

In this regard, CABRI, the African Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI) and the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), have jointly produced  a research study on GPFG with the support from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GIZ GmBH), German Technical Cooperation.

CABRI's aims at achieving its main objective by organising activities that arm African countries with practical ways to undertake reforms in public finance management and deepen and transfer capacity in budgeting institutions across the contient.

In 2008, CABRI collaborated with the OECD to include African countries’ budgeting practices and procedures in the database. Twenty-six African countries have completed the 99-question survey, which encompasses the budget cycle and includes a section on aid management. The survey results have undergone a peer review process and have been analysed by the LSE and compiled in a joint publication with the African Development Bank.

7 September 2007
Durban, South Africa

The South African National Treasury and CABRI co-hosted the African Policy Seminar on Fiscal Elements of Growth and Development. The seminar brought together senior policy-makers and G-20 members to engage in debates on current thinking and to discuss future opportunities for fiscal policy in commodity based economies and for investing in economic infrastructure.

Using the Paris Declaration as a starting point, and notably the principle on alignment, CABRI has argued for aid to be aligned to countries' public finance management systems in order to:

• Improve budget transparency and comprehensiveness
• Improve governments' allocative efficiency and accountability
• Strengthen countries' financial systems.

Ensuring value for money in infrastructure projects is a challenge for African states if they want to bridge the infrastructure gap and deliver basic public services to their populations. In many African countries infrastructure projects are publicly-funded and represent a substantial portion of the annual budget. Weaknesses such as difficulties in appraising projects that have the highest returns, access to financing - including the rise of financing and delivery by the private sector- and low execution rates have plagued the management of public infrastructure projects.