The Association of African Accountants-General has expressed commitment to champion integrity and ethical leadership at all levels of public finance.
The association said it also recognised accountability as a catalyst for economic growth and had, therefore, resolved to strengthen accountability and trust in public financial management.
The members expressed their commitment at the end of the third Association of African Accountants-General (AAAG) conference in Accra on November 26.
The three-day conference was on the theme: “Africa of tomorrow: Positioning public financial management for economic prosperity.”
Among the over 2,000 delegates who attended the conference from across Africa were Accountants-General, public financial management leaders, policymakers, technical experts, civil society representatives, private sector partners, and development institutions.
The next conference, which would be the fourth edition, would be hosted by Eswatini next year.
Resolution
The Chairman of the Association and the Accountant-General of Nigeria, Dr Shamseldeen B. Ogunjimi, reading the draft resolution, said the group would strengthen internal control mechanisms in all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and ensure that internal auditors were empowered, independent, and able to prevent misappropriation.
He said it would reinforce the Accountant-General’s role as a frontline detector of corruption and ensure independence, protection, and appropriate resourcing.
In that regard, he said, the AAG would institutionalise Value for Money (VfM) practices across all procurement processes, including mandatory VfM audits for high-value contracts, to reduce leakages and improve spending efficiency.
While it worked to promote trust-building measures such as open budgeting, public disclosure of audit findings, and transparent procurement frameworks, to enhance citizen confidence in government, Dr Ogunjimi said, the group would advance digital transformation and Artificial Intelligence (AI)- enabled public finance systems.
“We will accelerate the digitalisation of PFM systems, including treasury operations, payments, audits, asset management, and reporting, to eliminate manual processes and reduce fraud and adopt AI and data-driven tools to enhance forecasting, revenue administration, expenditure control, and real-time risk detection,” he added.
The AAAG Chairman said the group would develop a continental AI-in-PFM framework, coordinated by AAAG, to guide responsible adoption, ethical use, and regulatory safeguards.
He said it would mandate the integration of all government payments into digital platforms, as exemplified by Ghana’s upcoming EFT system to eliminate manual cheques.
Innovation
Describing public financial management as the nervous system of government which must be strengthened by innovation, ethics, and collaboration, Dr Ogunjimi indicated that no country could achieve sustainable reform alone and stressed that partnership was essential.
He, therefore, stressed the association's commitment to working collectively and individually within the respective countries to implement the resolutions.
In his closing remarks, the Controller and Accountant-General, Kwasi Adjei, expressed appreciation to all stakeholders including participating countries, security agencies, facilitators, resource persons and development partners for a successful gathering, saying: “Your contributions have enriched our conversations and strengthened this association.”
