This week, while on mission in CABRI member country, Nigeria, we held a high-level interactive session with officials of the Nigerian Ministry of Budget and Planning, Office of the Budget Office of the Federation.

The meeting was attended by the Executive Secretary of CABRI, Dr Kay Brown, the Executive for Operations, Mrs Soonsyra Lowe Nicolas and PFM Specialist, Olaniyi Olaleye, along with ten officials from various departments of the Budget Office, all of whom are alumni of CABRI’s Building Public Finance Capabilities (BPFC) programme from the 2017 - the origins - 2018, and 2023 cohorts.

Dr Brown presented CABRI’s vision, mission, and strategic plan, outlining the organisation’s journey from inception to its current phase of expansion. Mr Olaleye discussed CABRI’s knowledge products, including Budgets in Africa and the Budget Practices and Procedures Survey, explaining how these initiatives align with CABRI’s expansion phase.

During the session, budget officials shared their experiences as alumni of the BPFC programme.

Mr Boniface Abali from the Expenditure Department (2017 cohort) reflected on how the problem-Driven iterative adaptation (PDIA) approach which is at the core of our BPFC programme, and fishbone analysis approaches helped the department address root causes of budget challenges, leading to more collaborative and inclusive budgeting processes.

Ms Ugbolue France from the Social Expenditure Department (2018 cohort) described how CABRI’s approach contributed to an increase in health budget allocations to 7% of the total national budget. She highlighted the continued collaboration among her cohort, which has strengthened accountability and peer-learning.