BudgIT continues to make strides in tackling budget illiteracy and sparking civic participation in underserved communities across Ghana and Senegal. With the support of the Hewlett Foundation, BudgIT’s civic participation project reinforces BudgIT’s mission of improving budget literacy through simplified budget data analysis. It empowers them to analyse and track community initiatives in the budget. This project is primed to strengthen community leadership and civic participation in underserved communities in Ghana and Senegal. Over the next two years, we will raise awareness about citizens’ rights to demand effective service delivery. Our approach will pique civic interest and promote inclusive governance by targeting youth and women with budget provisions that directly impact them. 

Visualising the Budget 

Launched in April 2024, this initiative is enhancing budget accessibility for citizens in Ghana and Senegal by simplifying complex budget data using infographics, visually appealing citizen budgets, and explanatory videos in local languages. After analysing 154 pages of the 2024 budget document, BudgIT Senegal produced a 20-page simplified version available in French and English. Our simplified analysis of the national budgets in Ghana and Senegal is used online and offline to engage young people and local communities in both countries to deepen civic engagement, encourage government accountability, and drive development through service delivery.

BudgIT offices in Ghana and Senegal also developed explanatory videos on the 2024 budget review, the critical components of the fiscal plans, and government priorities for the year. BudgIT produced these videos in English, French, Wolof, and Twi to increase accessibility and ensure more citizens can understand their government spending plans.

We are driving discussions about public budgets through engaging videos, radio shows, and social media campaigns to spark interest and discussions about government spending priorities. Every two weeks, BudgIT Senegal hosts a radio program that informs the public about pertinent information regarding Senegal’s budget priorities. BudgIT Ghana and Norvan Report consistently host biweekly X-Spaces to actively engage on matters of national interest and encourage civic participation. We collaborated with major media outlets, including Senenews, Afia FM, West Africa Democracy Radio, Seneneweb, ChannelOne TV, Norvan Report and GhanaWeb to address critical issues in the country’s fiscal and sociopolitical climate.

 Early Wins and Valuable Lessons

So far, we have observed the increasing importance of simplifying complex fiscal policies for average citizens. Our interest in engaging young men and women is igniting discussions at local levels and entrenching democratic principles across both countries.

We also noticed a need for synergy between budget transparency and service delivery. There is a pressing need for public service delivery tracking to ensure public funds are efficiently utilised. Public access to budget data must be combined with service delivery monitoring to ensure resources translate into tangible benefits for citizens, and we are excited to launch BudgIT’s project service delivery platform in Ghana and Senegal in August 2024. 

Next Steps

BudgIT offices in Senegal and Ghana will launch TRACKA, a service delivery tracking platform, to promote civic action and citizen participation by combining cross-citizen engagement with institutional improvement to improve government transparency and accountability. Having already facilitated the execution of more than 10,000 public projects in Nigeria, we are confident that the Tracka platform will support local development and enable people to hold their government responsible in Ghana and Senegal.  

In addition, we will train 150 youth and women from both countries in service delivery tracking to monitor and report on project progress in their communities. These community champions will be change agents who advocate for accountability, development, and the efficient use of public resources.

Please email us at [email protected] if you would like to learn more about becoming a Tracka Community Champion in Ghana and Senegal.

Abiola Afolabi, the International Growth Lead at BudgIT, writes from Chicago, IL.