By: Aminata Sesay
The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED), in collaboration with the IMF-supported AFRITAC West 2, has concluded a ten-day Technical Assistance Mission aimed at addressing persistent gaps between national development planning, public investment, and the annual budget.
The mission, held from 12-21 January 2026, focused on enhancing coordination between MoPED and the Ministry of Finance to ensure that national development priorities are consistently reflected in budget decisions and implemented effectively.
Welcoming the engagement, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Madam Kenyeh Barlay, noted that weak links between planning and budgeting have historically constrained development outcomes. She cited challenges including delays in project costing, weak results frameworks, and limited technical capacity for project appraisal.
“The priority now is to ensure that planning drives implementation and delivers results,” the Minister said, emphasizing the need for stronger internal coordination, disciplined follow-through, and accelerated reforms within the planning and public investment systems.
As part of the mission, MoPED and the Ministry of Finance reviewed legal, institutional, and procedural arrangements for aligning national plans and public investments with the budget. Consultations with selected Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) highlighted challenges such as weak project preparation, fragmented management of externally funded projects, and inconsistent application of national planning frameworks at the sector level.
A key outcome of the engagement was agreement on practical reform actions to institutionalize planning-budget alignment. These include introducing a strategic phase in the budget preparation process, starting in March, jointly coordinated by MoPED and the Ministry of Finance, to clarify priorities early in the budget cycle.
The mission also recommended replacing the traditional Budget Call Circular with a Joint Planning and Budget Call Circular, linking development priorities directly to budget instructions issued to MDAs.
To strengthen oversight and investment quality, MoPED and AFRITAC West 2 agreed to enhance the Public Investment Plan to include comprehensive project information such as costs, financing sources, timelines, and future fiscal commitments. Annual project portfolio reviews will also be institutionalized to improve accountability and performance.
Another critical recommendation was to ensure that all public investment projects, including those financed by development partners, are processed through a single national Public Investment Management system aligned with the National Development Plan.
The mission further underscored the need to upgrade flagship projects to investment-ready status through feasibility studies supported by the Project Preparation Facility, alongside targeted capacity building in project appraisal and investment preparation across MDAs.
The Technical Assistance Mission was led by Ms. Rehemah Namutebi, AFRITAC West 2 Public Financial Management Regional Advisor, with support from IMF Fiscal Affairs Department short-term experts, Ms. Gertrude Aerone Basiima and Mr. Gerhard Steger, who shared international best practices, including lessons from Rwanda.
MoPED and AFRITAC West 2 reaffirmed their commitment to continued collaboration to strengthen institutional coordination, improve public investment management, and ensure that public resources are effectively aligned with national development priorities and delivered with impact.