CABRI - Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative

08/10/2026

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

Between 6 and 8 October 2026, CABRI, represented by Winnie Mageto, Programme Manager and lead on our work on digital public financial management (PFM), participated in the AFROSAI-E Technical Conference on Strategic Intelligence for Stronger Governance in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The conference brought together Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), ministries of Finance, development partners, academic Institutions and governance practitioners from across Africa to reflect on how strategic intelligence can strengthen accountability, improve decision-making, and enhance governance outcomes.

A central theme of the discussions was the recognition that governments and oversight institutions already possess a wealth of data, information, audit findings, financial records, and performance reports. The challenge is often not the production of more documents, reports, or data, but rather how institutions collaborate to effectively use the information that already exists to inform action, improve decision-making, and drive meaningful reforms.

21/09/2026

Today, Dr Kay Brown, Executive Secretary of CABRI, held a highly productive introductory meeting with H.E. Nangula Frieda Ethete, High Commissioner of Namibia to South Africa.

The meeting which was held in presence of Aino Humphrey, Counsellor at the Namibian High Commission, provided a platform to share CABRI’s mission as the Pan-African voice for Public Financial Management (PFM). Dr Brown officially invited Namibia to join CABRI as a member state, a proposal that was met with significant enthusiasm. We discussed our commitment to supporting senior finance officials through practical, peer-learning models that focus on the "how" of budget reform.

We look forward to the prospect of Namibia joining our community of practice to further strengthen regional fiscal governance.

Dr Brown was accompanied by Elsy Onoya, Executive Office Manager and Priya Beegun, Marketing and Communications Manager at CABRI.

16/09/2026

As part of our ongoing membership outreach, yesterday, CABRI led by Dr Kay Brown, Executive Secretary and Mrs Soonsyra Lowe Nicolas, Executive : Operations of CABRI paid a courtesy visit to H.E. Osman Mohammed, Ambassador of Sudan to South Africa. The introductory meeting was joined by Dr Nawal Ahmed Mukhtar Mohamed, Minister Plenipotentiary and Mr Samir Elrasheed Adeldaim Mohamed, Consul at the Embassy.

The meeting provided a platform to share CABRI’s mission and discuss the benefits of formal membership. The Sudanese mission expressed strong interest in our work, marking a positive start to a potential partnership aimed at enhancing fiscal transparency and budget reform in Sudan.

15/09/2026

L'Initiative africaine concertée sur la réforme budgétaire (CABRI) a tenu hier une réunion préliminaire fructueuse avec l'ambassadeur de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC) en Afrique du Sud, S.E. Nyakeru Kalunga.

Cette rencontre, à laquelle était présent, M. René Sola Lufungula, Responsable financier à l’ambassade de la RDC à Pretoria, a permis de présenter officiellement la mission de CABRI, qui consiste à renforcer la gestion des finances publiques à travers le continent. La Secrétaire exécutive de CABRI, Dr Kay Brown, a officiellement invité la RDC à rejoindre CABRI en tant qu'État membre ; cette proposition a été accueillie avec beaucoup d'enthousiasme et a suscité un engagement commun en faveur de réformes budgétaires transparentes et efficaces. Nous nous réjouissons à la perspective d'approfondir notre partenariat avec la RDC tout en œuvrant ensemble pour une gouvernance économique durable en Afrique.

Dr Brown était accompagnée de Elsy Onoya, Assistante personnelle de direction, laquelle soit dit, est originaire de la RDC, et Priya Beegun, Responsable du marketing et des communications à CABRI.

11/09/2026

Yesterday, we met with Dr Kawakita Hirofumi, Senior Advisor (Public Administration / Public Financial Management) at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), who is leading a Study on DX and GovTech in South Africa. His study explores how development partners can provide support while also learning themselves a theme that resonates strongly with CABRI’s Digital PFM journey.

The meeting was an opportunity to reflect on the 2024 International Conference on Public Finance in the Digital Era, which was held in collaboration with ODI Global. This conference led to the documentation of Digital PFM reform stories in Rwanda, Liberia, and Kenya. These stories showed how home grown solutions and digital tools piloted in one country were adopted and adapted in others.

We also discussed the regional engagement in Rwanda earlier this year, where shared learning of these reform stories reinforced how innovation is being embedded at different levels and across diverse contexts.

Left to right : Dr Kawakita Hirofumi, Dr Kay Brown, Executive Secretary, CABRI and Winnie Mageto, Programme Manager and Lead on digital PFM, CABRI.

04/09/2026

𝐀𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲! 🌍

Yesterday, CABRI had the pleasure of presenting to the African Diplomatic Corps in South Africa at a social gathering held at CT Hotel, Pretoria. Dr Kay Brown, Executive, shared the journey of CABRI—from an informal network to a Pan-African leader in public financial management. We extend our sincere appreciation to the Dean, H.E. Ambassador André Nzapayekeé, for his gracious invitation and leadership. We also express a special word of gratitude to H.E. Hon Dr. Fatoumata Jahumpa-Ceesay FIIM, Ambassador of The Gambia to South Africa for her instrumental role in facilitating this connection and making this valuable engagement with the Diplomatic Corps possible.

At CABRI, we believe that African-led solutions are the key to sustainable development. Dr Brown shared how our peer-learning model and the Building Public Finance Capabilities (BPFC) programme are empowering ministries of Finance across the continent to transform public financial management.

The challenges of today, from debt sustainability to climate pressures, require us to work closer than ever.

Together, we are building a more resilient and transparent Africa. 📈

04/09/2026

𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐜 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐳𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐨𝐫é-𝐘𝐨𝐧𝐢, 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐠é𝐧é𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐮 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭, 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐨

Brigitte Marie Suzanne Compaoré-Yoni, Directrice Générale du Budget au ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et de la Prospective du Burkina Faso est la représentante officielle des finances au sein du Réseau de CABRI des responsables africains de la santé et des finances mais aussi la représentante officielle au sein de l'Assemblée générale de CABRI. Mme. Compaoré-Yoni avait fait le déplacement à Maurice lors de la première réunion en présentiel du réseau du 18 au 20 août.

Dans cet entretien, elle aborde les thèmes clés qui ont été au cœur des discussions lors de la réunion de trois jours : la coordination, la gestion des réductions de l'aide et la résilience stratégique.

Brigitte Marie Suzanne Compaoré-Yoni, Directrice Générale du Budget...

02/09/2026

𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐜 𝐌𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐊𝐄𝐈𝐓𝐀, 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐩𝐫è𝐬 𝐝𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐢

M. Mohamed Amara KEITA, conseiller technique auprès du ministre des Finances du Mali, est le représentant officiel du ministère des Finances au sein du réseau de CABRI regroupant les responsables africains des secteurs de la santé et des finances.

Dans cet entretien avec le Dr Kay Brown, Secrétaire exécutive de CABRI, il parle de l'intégration de la Loi Organique d'août 2025 relative aux lois de finances qui a marqué un tournant majeur dans la gestion du système de santé au Mali. Cette loi offre une transparence accrue dans l'utilisation de la nouvelle enveloppe budgétaire, substantiellement augmentée pour le secteur de la santé, pour financer la gratuité des soins de base et la transformation des centres locaux en hôpitaux de district.

01/09/2026

Last week, Winnie Mageto, Programme Manager at CABRI, was in Dodoma, Tanzania, for her in-country visit, as part of the Building Public Finance Capabilities for Health (BPFCH) programme.

Tanzania is one of seven country teams participating in the BPFCH programme, which is implemented by CABRI with support from The Global Fund. The programme helps multidisciplinary country-teams from ministries of health and finance to tackle complex public finance challenges using the Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) approach, which is at the core of CABRI’s flagship Building Public Finance Capabilities (BPFC) programme.

Team Tanzania is addressing the challenge of counterpart financing, where disbursement rates have remained low and unpredictable. This has led to interruptions in HIV treatment, delays in immunizations, and malaria prevention measures not reaching households in time. These disruptions put vulnerable children, pregnant women, and low-income families at risk, while also leading to the inefficient use of scarce resources. As the country’s coach, Ms Mageto’s visit was to examine the team’s progress and provide support to address their shortcomings.

For Team Tanzania, success means predictable and protected health financing that ensures uninterrupted HIV treatment, timely immunizations, and malaria prevention for every household. Another key outcome for the team is effective coordination between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance, as well as Development Partners. Ultimately, the team aims to build trust, improve service delivery, and sustain economic growth for Tanzania.

We trust that the team will have made significant progress by the time we hold the progress review workshop in November 2026.

31/08/2026

𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 - 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡
𝐈𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐘𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐨, 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐭, 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐌𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐮𝐬

Ministries of finance and health need to coordinate effectively to develop stronger systems for health spending. Beyond running the budget process, which sets the volume of funding available, the ministry of finance is responsible for policy across a number of areas which substantially influence the quality of health spending such as procurement policy, fiscal decentralisation and the public financial management systems used by national, sub-national governments and potentially by hospitals and health centres as well.

This topic was at the core of the first in-person meeting of CABRI's Network of African Health and Finance Officials held in Mauritius from 18-20 August, 2026.

Danielle Serebro, Programme Manager at CABRI, speaks to Yashwant Fakoo, Lead Analyst at the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Mauritius.

Ministries of finance and health need to coordinate effectively to ...