African Nations Cut Public Spending and Boost Digital Administration

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a budget monitoring report released on 10 July shows that personnel expenditures were executed at 91.4 % of the linear forecast, while overall budget execution reached only 45.8 % by the end of April 2026. Investment spending lagged far behind, with equipment spending at 0.7 % and construction at 16.6 % of forecasts. Execution rates varied by sector, reaching 81.3 % for education but only 22.6 % for health and 16.7 % for economic affairs.

Benin’s government issued a circular on 24 July 2026 mandating the progressive digitisation of administrative documents across all state services. The decree, presented by Budget Minister Rodrigues S. Chaou and backed by President Romuald Wadagni, aims to cut operating costs and reduce the public sector’s carbon footprint by limiting paper use and moving to electronic archiving.