Don Urges ECOWAS Parliament To Ensure Effective Budget Monitoring, Implementation.

Prof. May Nwoye, Dean of the Faculty of Management Sciences at Nile University in Nigeria, has urged the ECOWAS parliament to ensure that community budgeting for subregional development is effectively formulated, monitored, and implemented.

Speaking on the sub-theme “Improving the Effectiveness and Efficiency of the ECOWAS Parliament in Considering and Monitoring the Community Budget,” at the event with the main theme “The Role of the ECOWAS Parliament in Community Budget Formulation and Monitoring.” Nwoye said:
Parliamentarians should be committed to ensuring that the budget is always effective and efficient in achieving the long-term goal of ECOWAS integration Vision 2050.

Nwoye defined a budget as a financial plan that requires an institution to map out its goals, control spending, and track progress to make its vision a reality.

According to the Management Science expert, effective budget formulation, monitoring, and implementation are critical for achieving financial stability while also ensuring efficient resource allocation.

“To me, ethical budgeting is the foundation of financial management.

“Effective budget formulation is critical for maintaining economic stability, promoting economic growth, and ensuring efficient resource allocation.

“We should work together to decolonise our region through ethical budgeting that is goal-oriented, effective, and efficient to recover our ecosystem.

“To ensure that Africans benefit from their resources, we must address old impediments and face new challenges.”

The academic noted that the subregion was plagued by economic problems and was currently grappling with the challenge of developing an impeccable system capable of providing socioeconomic services to its citizens.

She told the parliamentarians that bringing financial management issues to the event demonstrated how important the parliament saw the goals and programs for pursuing regional economic development.

Nwoye emphasised the importance of strategic planning and an intentional approach in promoting ECOWAS’ economic integration vision across the region, as it requires significant resources.

“The purpose of this event is to encourage parliamentarians to improve their understanding of community budget formulation and implementation.”

“The event also aims to provide participants with a better understanding of how to address the challenges associated with considering and balancing community budgets.

“Knowledge of financial management will play an important role in the strategic and operational functions of the majority of your activities.”

To implement the 2016 Supplementary Act, the expert emphasised that parliament must maintain a positive working relationship with the ECOWAS Commission and the Administration and Finance Committee (AFC).

She stated that various sectors were competing for the same limited and scarce resources, so they were expected to negotiate for adequate funding allocation by justifying why they needed it.

“ECOWAS Parliament should promote collaboration and coordination among ECOWAS institutions and community bodies to improve budget formulation, monitoring, and implementation.”

“Implementing effective budget monitoring and control measures is critical for ensuring budget accuracy and reducing budget variances.

“By closely monitoring and controlling the budget, the ECOWAS Parliament can identify potential issues and address them in a timely manner,” she stated.

Nwoye urged parliament to use ICT to deploy budgeting software or tools, which could significantly improve the effectiveness of budget monitoring and control.

“These tools give you real-time visibility into budget performance, automate data collection and analysis, and generate reports and alerts to keep stakeholders informed,” she said.

She suggested that to ensure accountability and transparency, the parliament establish a budget oversight committee to oversee the monitoring and control process, as well as make concerted efforts to track and review budget performance regularly.