In public sector reform, the true challenge isn’t just the plan itself—it’s how you adapt it to fit the local context as you implement it . This is precisely what CABRI’s practice notes aim to do: document the realities of public finance challenges across African countries and illustrate how officials navigate the delicate balance between technical goals and political economy constraints.

These practice notes serve as a body of evidence documenting various reforms initiated by country teams participating in CABRI’s Building Public Finance Capabilities (BPFC) programme. Recently, two practice notes from the 2024/2025 cohort - Mauritius and Côte d’Ivoire - have been published.

The first explores how a team from Mauritius’s Ministry of Finance is addressing delays in project implementation, which are driven by administrative bottlenecks, unrealistic budgets, and procurement inefficiencies. The second report from Côte d’Ivoire details how their Ministry of Finance is tackling rising debt pressures resulting from a high level of tax exemptions, non-compliance by businesses, and an overreliance on borrowing to finance infrastructure projects.

The recent Practice Notes highlight that effective PFM reforms fundamentally depend on a core set of principles that are rooted in a problem-driven iterative adaptation (PDIA) approach. This approach, which teams actively apply through CABRI’s Building Public Finance Capabilities (BPFC) programme, emphasizes flexibility, local ownership, and continuous learning as essential to designing sustainable reforms.

While each country’s context is unique, common lessons emerge:

Reforms must be grounded in local realities and contexts. Global frameworks and best practices provide valuable guidance, but their success depends heavily on adaptation to local incentives and trade-offs. International experience underscores that rigid, one-size-fits-all solutions often lead to resistance or limited impact. Research by the Andrews (2013) notes that countries may not fully realize the benefits of international best practice because they fail to sufficiently tailor these standards to their country problems, institutional capacities and economic realities. He emphasizes that institutional reforms must be flexible and deeply rooted in an understanding of local political, social, and administrative contexts. This evidence reinforces that context-sensitive adaptation is essential for translating best practices into tangible, sustainable improvements.

Mauritius’ Practice Notes and reform approach illustrates the importance of contextualization. The team developed targeted solutions, such as a standardised Schedule of Rates that reflects the realities of its small market economy to prevent over-inflated cost estimates that were ultimately contributing to low levels of capital project implementation. They also promoted the adaptation of UK’s Five Case Model for project appraisal, recognising that it required significant adaption to Mauritius’s smaller project scale and limited market capacity. In fact, enforcing the Five Case model too rigidly could restrict local competition, crowd out technical capacity, and undermine the feasibility of local assessments.

In Côte d’Ivoire, while tax policies aim to align with WAEMU’s regional directives, tax exemptions are often used strategically to navigate complex political and social trade-offs. Rationalising tax exemptions requires more than just a strategy, but a nuanced understanding of the local political economy, stakeholder incentives, and social dynamics. Implementing reform in this context demands careful sequencing, phased approaches, and ongoing stakeholder engagement to build consensual solutions and mitigate resistance.

Ultimately, effective reforms are those that are not only technically sound but also deeply rooted in the realities of the local environment, ensuring they are practical, accepted, and sustainable in the long term.

Stakeholder incentives, motivations, and constraints ultimately dictate the sequencing and viability of reforms. Reform initiatives often involve a diverse array of actors, including civil servants, political leaders, civil society, and development partners, each with their own interests and priorities. When reforms (are perceived to) threaten stakeholders’ vested interests, challenge existing power dynamics, or impose significant constraints—such as increased workload, loss of influence, or uncertain career prospects—resistance or passive opposition can undermine progress.

Mauritius’s efforts to introduce a new Schedule of Rates exemplifies this. In particular, some stakeholders had expressed concerns that adopting an updated Schedule of Rates might limit contractors’ ability to submit competitive bids, potentially resulting in reduced profit margins or higher bid prices. The team recognized that implementing a revised Schedule of Rates required targeted advocacy and stakeholder alignment. Addressing these concerns was crucial to ensuring broad acceptance and successful implementation.

In Côte d’Ivoire, understanding that a phased implementation of tax exemption rationalization would better navigate political and social trade-offs, the team prioritized strengthening data governance, enhancing inter-agency information sharing, and improving the understanding and monitoring of exemptions across various government agencies. These strategies, more attuned to local sensitivities, ultimately aim to building a stronger political and social case for rationalising tax exemptions by aligning opposing incentives.

Ultimately, reforms that consider and align with stakeholder incentives are more likely to be embraced, institutionalized, and maintained.

Engagement and ownership by stakeholders at all levels helps ground reforms to local contexts, incentives and builds commitment. Research demonstrates that stakeholder buy-in and ownership are critical for reform success. This engagement not only builds trust but also ensures reforms are aligned with on-ground realities, increasing their likelihood of enduring success.

Mauritius’s experience exemplifies this principle: by involving contractors, engineers, and procurement officers throughout the infrastructure project value chain, allowed a deeper understanding of local market conditions and project realities. This approach helped develop more practical, consensus-based solutions.

Similarly, in Côte d’Ivoire, involving agencies responsible for taxation, customs, and investment fostered shared understanding and commitment—both of which are critical for improving data quality and managing tax exemptions effectively.

Both countries illustrate that proactive stakeholder engagement and adaptive problem diagnosis—grounded in recognizing diverse perspectives—are essential for achieving sustainable and effective reforms.

Sustainable reforms require a culture of continuous improvement, not one-off technical fixes. In a constantly evolving public finance landscape, institutions must recognize that even their most effective practices yesterday may no longer be suitable for tomorrow. Andrews (2013) underscores that reforms are not one-time events but ongoing processes that require patience, persistence, and a commitment to continuous learning. More recently, research by Williams (2025) calls for viewing reform as an ongoing process of behavioural and cultural transformation.

Cognisant of this, the team from Mauritius is institutionalising regular project oversight meetings and site visits to foster a culture of continuous learning and improve project governance. In Côte d’Ivoire the team proposed establishing a dedicated committee to improved data sharing, management and oversight over tax exemptions, recognizing that deep reforms take time and sustained effort.

These initiatives will need to be refined over multiple budget cycles, allowing the reforms to adapt to local capacity and realities, ultimately leading to more contextualised solutions. Recognizing the nonlinear, continuous nature of reform also helps manage expectations, sustain momentum, and adapt strategies as circumstances evolve.

Conclusion

In essence, the experiences of Mauritius and Côte d’Ivoire underscore that public financial management reforms gain traction when rooted in real problems and an understanding of local context, stakeholder engagement, and a commitment to continuous improvement. The insights from these case studies can serve as valuable guides for policymakers committed to fostering resilient, adaptable, and people-centered reforms in an ever-evolving fiscal landscape.

Read the Mauritius and the Côte d’Ivoire Practice Notes.