## Transparency, inclusivity and development needs take centre stage at the Seventh African Fiscal Forum (Nairobi, 14 and 15 February 2019)

_IMF News, February 15, 2019_

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: February 15, 2019

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### Event overview
- Press Release No. 19/48
- Date: February 15, 2019
- Organisers: IMF’s African and Fiscal Affairs Department, the Kenyan Treasury and the European Commission
- Location: Nairobi, Kenya
- Purpose: Annual event bringing together senior officials from ministries responsible for finance across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to discuss fiscal challenges facing the region, share experiences, and entrench a more effective fiscal policy for the region.
- Attendance: more than 80 participants, including officials from the finance ministries of about 30 countries and representatives from regional organisations.
- Theme: Leveraging Fiscal Policy to Manage Risks and Support Inclusive Growth.

### Opening messages and high-level priorities
- Abebe Selassie (director of the African Department) and Vitor Gaspar (director of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF) highlighted:
  - the need to build tax capacity; and
  - invest in human and physical capital in a context of still muted economic growth and rising debt burdens.
- Kenya’s Minister of Finance, Henry Rotich, stressed:
  - using fiscal policy more actively to manage risks and support inclusive growth must not compromise economic and fiscal sustainability.
- Félix Fernández-Shaw (director at the European Commission’s DG-DEVCO) stressed:
  - the importance of making best use of all financial resources; and
  - implementing reforms to improve policies and good governance.

### Developmental needs and financing the SDGs
- Key finding from IMF analysis cited at the Forum:
  - achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa would require on average extra annual spending of 20 percent of GDP by 2030 — more than in any other region.
- Solutions discussed:
  - raising government revenue by enhancing tax capacity;
  - strengthening international taxation;
  - limiting tax expenditures;
  - establishing strong governance frameworks for the much-needed scaling-up of public investment; and
  - attracting private investment.

### Inclusivity and spending
- Central discussion: how to gear government spending to promote inclusivity.
- Policy directions discussed:
  - reforming subsidies and social assistance to reach those in greatest need;
  - gender-responsive budgeting as a way for governments to promote equality between sexes and raise economic growth through fiscal and budgetary policies.

### Fiscal transparency and risk management
- Forum view: fiscal transparency is a core component of effective fiscal and risk management.
- Rationale: transparency in fiscal operations aids information flow and accountability, and by extension promotes good decision-making.
- Regional progress: many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are making a significant push on fiscal transparency, using means such as IMF-supported fiscal transparency evaluations.

*IMF Communications Department, Press Release No. 19/48 (February 15, 2019).*

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## References

- [Kenya and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/KEN/index.htm)
- [Fiscal Transparency](https://www.imf.org/external/np/fad/trans/index.htm)
- [Press Releases](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)
- [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2019/02/15/pr1948-transparency-inclusivity-development-needs-take-centre-stage_