Nigeria has joined a new African initiative aimed at improving public financial management by strengthening the leadership skills of senior government officials responsible for financial reforms.
The programme is being implemented by the African Capacity Building Foundation, with support from the Gates Foundation, to help public officials develop stronger leadership abilities while encouraging knowledge-sharing among financial management experts across Africa.
Nigeria and Tanzania are participants in the second cohort of the Leadership and Governance in Public Financial Management programme, while Ethiopia has joined the third cohort as the ninth participating country.
Speaking during a webinar recording obtained by our correspondent on Sunday, the Executive Secretary of the ACBF, Mamadou Biteye, said the programme was designed to go beyond conventional technical training.
According to him, participants undergo self-assessment and personal development planning, as well as individual and group coaching, peer learning, technical assistance and practical case studies based on real challenges confronting public financial management systems.
Biteye said the initiative was focused on ensuring that leadership development produces measurable behavioural changes and contributes to lasting institutional transformation.
He disclosed that more than 295 participants from eight African countries had enrolled in the programme since its launch in 2024.
The ACBF executive secretary said effective leadership was essential to turning policies, strategies and technical reforms into sustainable results, arguing that reforms could not succeed through systems and technical expertise alone.
He stressed that institutions were driven by people, noting that budgets, digital platforms, policies and systems could not independently deliver the changes governments seek.
“Systems do not reform themselves. Budgets do not implement themselves. Digital platforms do not transform institutions by themselves. Policies do not deliver results by themselves. People do,” Biteye said.
He added that properly equipped and motivated public officials could drive meaningful institutional change.
The programme’s emphasis on leadership comes as African governments face increasing pressure to improve the management of public resources and deliver better services to citizens.
Also speaking, Gates Foundation Senior Programme Officer Adil Abarabu said improving technical skills alone would not be enough to achieve sustainable public financial management reforms.
Abarabu identified leadership challenges, including resistance to change, coordination between government institutions and maintaining reforms in difficult political environments, as some of the major obstacles facing officials.
He noted that discussions around financial management often focused on areas such as budgeting, revenue administration, digital systems and expenditure control.
However, he argued that technical capacity must be complemented by strong leadership if reforms are to produce lasting results.
Abarabu further noted that the importance of government finance had grown amid global economic uncertainty and declining aid flows.
He said decisions taken by finance ministries, revenue agencies and treasuries directly affected governments’ ability to fund critical sectors, including education, healthcare and social protection.
The programme is therefore expected to help senior officials strengthen their leadership capacity while creating a network through which African public financial management leaders can share experiences, strategies and practical solutions to common institutional challenges.
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