The Executive Secretary of CABRI, Dr Kay Brown was on an official visit in CABRI member country Benin, from 16-18 March 2026.

On 16 March, Dr Brown, participated in a high-level meeting with various officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Chaired by the Secretary General, Mr Alban Bessan Bienvenu, the meeting took place in the presence of Mr Rodrigues Chaou, Director of Budget of the Republic of Benin and former participant in CABRI's flagship programme, "Building Public Finance Capabilities" (BPFC) and CABRI Management Committee member.

The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the benefits that Benin has derived from CABRI's support since joining in 2018.

Benin has made considerable progress since then. From programme-based budgeting and digitalisation to citizen participation in the budget process, thanks to CABRI's support, the country has seen significant advancements. Discussions also focused on areas where the Ministry would like CABRI's support including gender-responsive budgeting and disaster-resilient and resilient public financial management.

We were very honored to receive a message from the Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. Romuald Wadagni, delivered to Dr Brown, congratulating CABRI on being a privileged platform for African countries and highlighting the support provided by the organization during the various phases of public financial management reforms in Benin.

In the afternoon, Dr Brown, accompanied by Mr Benjamin MBERIO, elected member of CABRI's Management Committee for 2025/2027, and Financial Controller at the Ministry of Finance of the Central African Republic, met with representatives from sectoral ministries.

This meeting allowed CABRI to meet with participants from the 2019 and 2023 cohorts of the BPFC programme and to review the work that the teams are continuing well beyond their participation in the program. The Adjalalazin team in 2019 focused on the issue of unsustainable and inefficient municipal spending relative to local revenue, while the Assouka team in 2023 addressed improving the implementation rate of locally financed infrastructure projects in Benin's agricultural sector. Joana Bento, Programme Manager at CABRI, who coached the Adjalalazin team in 2019, joined us online for the team presentations.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to take note of the challenges Benin faces in the areas of health, decentralisation, and procurement, for which CABRI expressed its support.

On 17 March, Dr Brown, accompanied by Mr Benjamin Mberio, had the opportunity to take stock of the reforms that the Beninese Budget Office has successfully implemented in budget transparency. It should be noted that Benin ranks second in Africa and first in the global Francophone community in budget transparency.

This meeting also provided an opportunity to acknowledge the success of the programme-based budgeting, but more importantly, the initiatives undertaken by the Office of the Director General of the Budget to improve and even perfect the budget cycle, placing the citizen at the heart of this new process. This meticulous work unfolds in several stages, culminating in the development of digital platforms such as the ‘’Boussole du processus budgétaire (BousProB)’’ - an application conceived and designed by the Office of the Director General of Budget to facilitate citizens' monitoring of the stages of the State budget preparation and access to budget documents.