daniel chigunwe
Business Writer
Zimbabwe has made significant strides in improving its public budget transparency and accountability, according to a statement released by the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Mthuli Ncube.
“Zimbabwe has made significant improvement in its rankings for budget transparency and inclusiveness, as announced by the Open Budget Survey (OBS) on May 29, 2024,” Minister Ncube stated.
This positive development is reflected in Zimbabwe’s new score of 63 out of 100 on the Open Budget Survey.
This score places the country in the 30th position globally, out of 125 assessed countries, and ranks Zimbabwe third in Sub-Saharan Africa, following South Africa and Benin.
“Notably, Zimbabwe is among the top performers that have consistently improved their budget transparency between 2017 and 2023,” Minister Ncube highlighted.
The Open Budget Survey, conducted by the International Budget Partnership (IPB) every two years, is the world’s only comparative assessment of public participation, legislative oversight, and transparency in national budget processes.
“This latest ranking reflects an improvement from 59 out of 100 recorded in 2021, and positions Zimbabwe 18 points above the global average of 45 out of 100,” the statement further noted.
The improvement in budget transparency signifies a commitment by the Zimbabwean Government to rebuild public trust and strengthen democratic engagement, as Minister Ncube emphasised: “This aligns with the engagement and re-engagement pillar of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) and contributes to attracting more funding for the country’s development from the international community, including Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).”
This achievement is a testament to collaborative efforts, according to the statement.
“Zimbabwe’s improvement is due in part to the collaboration through technical and financial assistance from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) that have continuously supported capacity building efforts to improve the comprehensiveness of budget documents and enhance citizen participation in the budgeting process,” the statement concluded.
Bongani Ndlovu