Transparency in public finance management is progressing in Africa, particularly in Senegal, thanks to budgetary reforms, strengthening international credibility and accountability. However, the observation is undeniable: limitations persist. Effective accountability remains limited in Senegal despite institutional progress noted in public finance governance.

For several years, profound reforms have indeed led to the adoption of program-based budgeting, and recently to the enactment of laws relating to access to information, the protection of whistleblowers, and the expansion of those subject to asset declarations. This legal framework has been strengthened by the National Office for the Fight Against Fraud and Corruption (OFNAC), whose powers have been reinforced, as have those of institutions such as the Court of Auditors and the National Assembly.

These reforms reflect a desire to modernize public financial law and establish a budgetary management system based more on citizen participation, performance, and shared accountability. However, they often encounter problems related to: difficult access to information for citizens, the lack of clarity in reports (which are too technical), insufficient management of budgetary risks, and limited monitoring of extrabudgetary funds.

Accountability: an obligation, not an option

Moreover, the findings of a study conducted last November by Cicodev Africa (The Pan-African Institute for Citizenship, Consumers and Development) with the support of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), presented this Thursday during a National Dialogue on the issue, highlight several limitations.

"The weak coordination between actors in the budget chain (Government, National Assembly, Court of Auditors, civil society, Media); the limited legislative control during budget execution (score of 33/100 according to the Open Budget Survey 2023); the almost non-existent public participation in the budget process (score of 0/100 according to the Open Budget Survey 2023); the persistent difficulties in accessing budget data for civil society organizations and the media; the absence or lethargy of institutionalized frameworks for consultation between actors," lists Amadou Kanouté, Executive Director of Cicodev Africa, who also welcomed the publication of documents on budget risks as well as those relating to the green budget and the gender budget.

This national dialogue, initiated between various stakeholders (executive, legislative, judicial, civil society, and media), aims, according to him, to address the challenges that lie throughout the entire budgetary process, from formulation to accountability, including implementation. "The objective is to identify these challenges and, together, through a consensus-based approach, make recommendations," Mr. Kanouté emphasizes.

"The era of increasingly complex public financial information is over."

Representing the Minister of Finance and Budget at this high-level meeting, Mor Diouf (technical advisor and coordinator of Budgetary Reforms) declares: "accountability is not an option but an obligation", as evidenced by all the efforts made by the public authorities in this direction.

In his address, the technical advisor to the Minister of Finance, aware of the need to make public financial information accessible to all citizens, declared that "the era of over-complication is over." "Depending on the target audience, we will try to tailor the message. It's true that the documents will remain technical because that's the nature of the subject matter. But we will try to make them easier to understand. What citizens are interested in is knowing what the taxes they pay have been used for. This allows us to avoid esoteric language," he explained.