The panel discussion aims to explore the role of sustainable budgeting in addressing Africa's interlinked challenges of debt, development, and environmental crises (see policy brief here). It builds on the endorsement of the Sustainable Budgeting Approach (SBA) by African Ministers of Finance, Economy, and Environment at the 2022 International Cooperation Forum and early discussions for a common position African position at the 11th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa.
The challenge of trade-offs in government spending and taxation policy is universal across economies. However, it is particularly pressing for vulnerable nations, for whom there is less margin for error. With limited fiscal space and continuing economic uncertainty, every dollar must be used productively. This is particularly important in the poly-crisis era of COVID-19, the Ukraine war, high inflation and debt vulnerabilities, when social care costs are inflated, taxation revenues dramatically reduced, and pathways to a normalized post-pandemic period are uncertain.
The Sustainable Budgeting Approach (SBA) is a framework for helping finance ministry officials make informed and high-impact budgetary decisions, particularly under constrained fiscal space. It is an easy-to-use, evidence-based, and country-contextualised decision-support tool, designed to help policymakers identify, track, and resource strategic policy opportunities (spending and taxation) that simultaneously bolster national economic development outcomes and address critical environmental and social objectives. The SBA is intended for use by a wide range of stakeholders, with meaningful applications for governments (finance ministries as well as line ministries), parliaments, oversight bodies like supreme auditing institutions, credit rating agencies, investors and businesses (including sovereign creditors), development partners, civil society, and researchers.