PRB

On August 6, Aïssata Fall, PRB’s Africa Director, hosted a high-level webinar with budget experts, parliamentarians, and national directors to discuss the importance of the Demographic Dividend Sensitive Budgeting (DDSB) approach in enhancing budgeting processes across Africa.

The event was part of a strategic alliance between PRB and the Regional Consortium for Research in Generational Economy (CREG), a nonprofit based in Senegal, to promote the use of demographic data and population research in policies, programs, and funding decisions in African nations. Over 300 people registered to attend, including ministerial officials, researchers, and nonprofit representatives.

CREG President and Coordinator Professor Latif Dramani elaborated on the creation of tools such as the Demographic Dividend Monitoring Index (DDMI) and National Transfer Accounts (NTA), which guide public spending to ensure equitable contributions for young people and women. Countries like Burkina Faso, Gambia, Senegal, and Togo are working to prioritize this type of budgeting by adopting DDSB approaches, Dramani said.

Dr. Larba Issa Kobyagda, Director General of Economy and Planning in Burkina Faso, said that since adopting DDSB in 2018, his country has witnessed significant improvements in health sector investments, though more efforts are still needed. While the share of the federal budget spent on  education and health care is still low compared to other categories, it has been improving year by year, he noted.

“The framework had influenced national strategies and opened dialogues between ministries, parliamentarians, and civil society,” said Astou Diouf, Director of Gender Equity in Senegal’s Ministry of Women, Family, Gender, and Child Protection.  “These studies have enabled us to make recommendations to decisionmakers before the budgeting, and point out priority for action.”

Despite these successes, challenges remain, participants noted. In the Gambia, for instance, the national budget continues to allocate insufficient funds—just 0.01%—toward youth empowerment and employment, said Mariama Fanneh, Director of the National Population Council of Gambia. “Not a good sign for a country where 79.2% of the population is below the age of 35 years,” Fanneh said.

The webinar concluded with a call for increased capacity building, technical assistance, and stronger advocacy efforts. Participants agreed that gender equity must be central to all future budgeting, given the essential role of women in the informal economy. “The gender dimension must play a crucial role in the budgeting process to ensure women benefit directly from the allocations made from their own good,” said Pr. Germaine Anate, a member of Togo’s National Assembly.