The panel discussion was moderated by Manuela Francisco, Global Director, Economic Policy, World Bank and saw the participation of Jonah Wala, Accountant General, National Treasury, Kenya and Richard Allen, International PFM expert and former IMF
We were invited at The World Bank's conference on "Reimagining public finance. Making public resources work for development outcomes" in Washington DC from September 29-30, 2025.
On September 29, Dr Kay Brown, Executive Secretary of CABRI served as one of the panelists for a session that presented examples and examined the practical implications of an outcome-led approach for those leading and managing public financial management (PFM) reform. She was joined by Richard Allen, International PFM expert and former IMF and Jonah Wala, Accountant General, National Treasury, Kenya.
The panel discussion was an opportunity for Dr Kay Brown to highlight how CABRI supports building public finance capabilities (BPFC) through problem-driven reform. The problem-driven iterative adaptation (PDIA) approach is at the core of our flagship BPFC programme. Since 2017, through various cohorts of the BPFC in Africa programme, over 30 country-teams have been supported and over 1000 officials from Ministries of Finance and line ministries trained.
The conversation that ensued after the presentation of Richard Allen where he addressed what he perceives as key challenges with the problem-driven approach and whether it can help reimagine public finance, was extremely insightful.
We remain however, resolute. PFM can feel abstract - charts, forecasts, commitment controls - but when we solve multiple small bottlenecks in the cycle, we can unlock real outcomes. And if we are serious about reimagining public finance, we should reimagine reform as a sequence of solved problems.
This is what the BPFC programme and PDIA enable, and why CABRI will keep backing them.
The conference brought together leading government reformers, practitioners, researchers, and development partners to share insights and discuss the future direction of public finance reforms. The ‘Reimagining Public Finance’ initiative aims to rethink public financial management reforms to ensure that they are designed and implemented in a way that best supports governments’ fiscal and public policy objectives and the achievement of development outcomes.