Last quarter, CABRI’s membership outreach took a significant leap forward catalysed by a courtesy visit to H.E. Ambassador André Nzapayeké, Ambassador of Central African Republic to South Africa and Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps in South Africa. Recognising the critical role CABRI plays in the African context, H.E. Nzapayeké, graciously extended an invitation for us to present our work more formally to the diplomatic community in Pretoria. 

This initiated a sequence of high-level courtesy visits that have characterised our recent weeks.  We have since engaged with the Embassies of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan, and the High Commission of Namibia in South Africa. These courtesy visits provided strategic insights into how CABRI is able to bridge the gap between technical expertise and institutional action, with focus on four pillars:

1. Our Identity: The Pan-African Voice for PFM
2. Our Approach: Practice Over Theory
3. Our Engagement Level: Executive and Senior Government 
4. Our Strength: The Impact and Membership Value of CABRI

CABRI’s transition from an informal network in response to a need amongst county Heads of Budget for shared learning on public finance issues within an African-led forum to our current status as a formally established independent organisation reflects a simple but powerful reality: African experiences matter and African solutions work.

CABRI’s firm focus remains on its Vision to ensure an Africa where public resources are mobilised for public services delivery that sustainably progresses country development and well-being. 

Though, what makes CABRI unique, is its Mission, that is, to empower African governments whilst in the pursuit of effective public finance (PF): “what works, when and how” and the discovery of this through collaborative peer-learning and locally driven solutions. 

CABRI is an African institution built on a simple conviction: we may face different national circumstances, but many of our challenges are shared. CABRI exists with a single mandate and purpose. Our focus is solely on improving PF praxis, to serve our member countries. With no intentions of becoming an international regulator or rating body, nor an academic institution. 

To this end, CABRI has worked across a multitude of countries on the continent and across the full spectrum of PF - spanning policy planning to the finalisation of audit reporting, revenue mobilisation to capital investing. Over time, we have refined our key modalities utilised in making in-country work most effective, eliciting collaboration and peer learning for relevant and impactful capability strengthening capacitation of government officials. 

Our motto is: Connect. Share. Reform. 

The "magic" of CABRI lies in our peer-learning network. We do not subscribe to a “one-size-fits-all” or a "theoretical model." Instead, we value country experiences in tackling challenges above all else. We  that a senior official in Kinshasa or Khartoum has more to learn from a peer in Nairobi or Pretoria than from a textbook. 

As the CABRI Secretariat looks forward to the next quarter and beyond, our focus remains on formalising our new and rekindled relationships, nurturing our primary existing ones with our member countries and on building new ones. We are not just building a list of member countries. We are building a functional, resilient, and transparent Africa. To the missions of the DRC, Sudan, Namibia and other African diplomatic missions in South Africa, we reiterate: the door of invitation is open. For and on behalf of our current members, we reiterate: our PF voice grows stronger. 

By working together, we can reduce duplicated and fragmented efforts, accelerate our learnings and strengthen the very institutions that manage public resources for African citizens.

This edition of our Notes on PFM in Africa highlights our latest peer-learning exchanges, from our country engagements with Ghana and Sierra Leone and the first in-person meeting of the Network of African Health and Finance Officials in Mauritius. 

We trust it provides meaningful perspectives on our shared PF journey and achievements. From a fiscal perspective, the imperative for PF praxis peer-learnings from knowledge collection and generation and expert knowledge creation to be most impactful towards development progression, remains paramount.

For enquiries on how to become a CABRI member country, please contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]. Enquiries can also be made through our PFM Knowledge Hub (website).