Something exciting is happening at CABRI. The Budgets in Africa (BiA) database has expanded significantly and now features over 3,000 budget documents from 52 African countries, up from the 42 countries previously available on our PFM Knowledge Hub.

Launched in June 2016, the BiA database, an initiative of the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI), provides access to publicly available budget documents from across the continent. These include Pre-Budget Statements, Executive Budget Proposals, Budget Speeches, Fiscal and Macro Policy Frameworks, Medium-Term Expenditure Frameworks (MTEFs), Estimates of National Expenditure, and other budget-related resources. This growth underscores CABRI’s ongoing effort to strengthen budget transparency, accountability, and evidence-informed decision-making in Africa.

Since 2010, CABRI has been collecting budget documentation from 54 African countries, creating a valuable repository that allows the public finance community, researchers, and practitioners to access, compare, and analyse budget information and policies. This growing pool of information also allows CABRI to build an evidence base of African budgets, facilitating deeper analysis of trends, patterns, and variations in budget transparency practices and fiscal policy across the continent.

While progress has been significant, limited public access to financial information still constrains accountability and limits the ability of citizens and practitioners to demand better service delivery. Recognizing these challenges and the need to improve the accessibility and usability of budget data, CABRI continues to strengthen the PFM Knowledge Hub and Budgets in Africa. These ongoing developments aim to make Africa’s budget information more accessible, interactive, and actionable, ensuring that governments and stakeholders are better equipped with the tools, resources, and data needed to strengthen PFM systems and sustain transparency gains across the continent.

While CABRI has already developed a great body of knowledge, efforts are currently underway to make this information more accessible and ready to use. This aligns with CABRI's mission to share and demonstrate the positive results of its work on the continent to all its stakeholders.

The BiA serves as a key instrument in this mission, serving as a tool through which CABRI is strengthening and informing public financial management across the continent by:

• Improving Fiscal Transparency: Leveraging digital tools and innovative systems, such as blockchain and real-time analytics, to improve public access to financial information. The aim is to assess the scalability and impact of these technologies in diverse African contexts, thereby enhancing citizen engagement and accountability in government fiscal operations.

• Enhancing Budget Credibility: Analysis of the root causes of discrepancies between approved budgets and actual expenditures will help develop mechanisms that promote adherence to budget plans and establish transparency protocols that effectively communicate deviations. This will inform strategies to reduce fiscal deficits and realign spending with policy priorities.

• Development of Best Practice Guidelines: Findings will formulate best practice guidelines that reflect the successful strategies and interventions observed across different African contexts. These guidelines will serve as a valuable resource for government practitioners, legislators, academics, and civil society organisations, helping them to benchmark and improve their budget practices and procedures.

These innovations include the integration of advanced data analytics and visualisation tools, enabling more detailed and insightful assessment of budget data. By presenting complex information in an accessible format, stakeholders will have a clearer understanding of financial policies and emerging trends. Real-time updates will ensure users have access to the latest budget information, making the platform effective for monitoring and evaluating government finances.

Through in-depth analysis of public spending patterns at the national government level in Africa, CABRI will be able to shed light on budget credibility challenges, including gaps in allocations, execution, and deviations, as well as understanding spending in sectors such as health and agriculture. The findings will help identify deviations between planned and actual spending, assess the credibility of the budget forecast, and generate evidence-based recommendations for improving budget formulation and execution, contributing to better service delivery in key sectors. The result will inform intervention strategies aimed at strengthening government capacity, promoting cross-country comparisons, and facilitating peer learning. In doing so, CABRI supports sustainable improvements in fiscal governance systems.

As CABRI continues to harness digital tools and innovative approaches, our goal remains to expand public access to financial information, evaluate the impact of these innovations in diverse African contexts, and foster citizen engagement and accountability in government fiscal operations.