Afolabi Adejumo, coach of country-team Nigeria for the Building Public Finance Capabilities for Health (BPFCH) programme was in Lagos last month to check on the progress that his team has made since they embarked on the action learning phase. This is a very important phase of the BPFC programme where country-teams focus on how to practically solve the problem that they have identified as part of their participation in the programme, through trial and learning - which we usually call, iterations. During this time, country-teams gather and analyse data, consult key stakeholders for administrative and political support and hold regular team meetings to share progress, troubleshoot setbacks and clarify objectives.

The BPFCH is funded by The Global Fund. It is an action-learning programme designed to build local capabilities in solving local public finance and health financing problems using the problem driven iterative adaptation (PDIA) approach. The programme recognises that public financial management (PFM) does not lend itself to a one-size-fitsall approach and that, beyond technical fixes, sustainable PFM solutions require an in-depth understanding and careful management of the political economy constraints. Throughout the programme, a dedicated CABRI coach provides support and expertise to the country-team.

Six country-teams, comprising of six (6) government officials are participating in the programme : Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania.