From 7th to 9th October, the President of the Economics Association of Malawi (ECAMA), Dr. Bertha Bangara Chikadza, attended the Open Government Partnerships (OGP) Global Summit in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The summit brought together more than 2,000 high-level representatives of governments, civil society leaders, and policy makers from around the world to exchange experiences, best practices, and progress on open government initiatives and implementation on key issues.

She was invited to sit on aside event specifically focused on Open Budget Multilateralism. The sessionaimed to explore how budget transparency and participatory budgeting cantransform the management of public finances by promoting greater citizeninclusion, borrowing lessons from Benin.

The session highlighted thatthrough dialogue among various economic actors, it becomes easier to identifyopportunities, challenges, and innovative avenues in budgeting, therebystrengthening citizen participation in resource allocation and decision-makingprocesses.

Drawing lessons from Kenyaon “Budgeted Corruption,” the ECAMA President emphasised that it is high timeinstitutions focusing on fiscal openness take a greater role in the country’sbudgeting processes, including the decision-making of pre-budget allocationsand the determination of extra-budgetary resources. She further noted theimportance of scrutinising allowable discrepancies or variances in procurementto reduce inflated invoicing and safeguard the nation’s resources.

Above all, she stressed theneed to enhance participation by involving everyone more broadly, includingstudents and villagers whose concerns tend to be less represented when they areexcluded from pre-budget consultations.

A key lesson from the summit was thatgovernment budgeting should be introduced in schools by embedding it into thecurriculum, enabling the next generation to develop a better understanding andknowledge of public budgeting processes.

In the 2025–2028 OpenGovernment Partnership (OGP) National Action Plan for Malawi, ECAMA serves as aco-lead institution, alongside the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning andDevelopment, to advance fiscal openness by enhancing transparency,accountability, and oversight in Malawi’s domestic debt management.

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