BudgIT at 15: Civic-Tech Group Tracks N8.5tn Projects, Reaches 22 Million Across Africa

The BudgIT Foundation has marked its 15th anniversary, celebrating a decade and a half of simplifying government budgets, tracking public spending and promoting fiscal transparency across Nigeria and other African countries.

Speaking at a press conference, BudgIT Country Director, Mr. Vahyala Kwaga, said the organisation, founded in Lagos in 2011, had evolved from a small Nigerian initiative into a continental civic-tech organisation operating in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Senegal, with a United States office in Washington, D.C.

Over the past 15 years, BudgIT said it had developed several civic-tech platforms, including Tracka, GovSpend, Me.BudgIT, Open States and the Federal Government Budget Dashboard. According to the organisation, its initiatives have reached more than 22 million people, particularly young Nigerians and local communities.

With support from more than 18 donors, BudgIT said its digital platforms had built one of the largest followings among Nigerian non-profit organisations, with over 300,000 social media followers and more than 20 million annual impressions on governance-related content.

At the sub-national level, the organisation said its advocacy contributed to significant improvements in budget transparency. With support from the World Bank, BudgIT said the number of Nigerian states publishing their budgets increased from just three in 2014 to all 36 states, creating what it described as the country’s largest archive of sub-national fiscal data.

It has also published 10 editions of its State of States Fiscal Report and introduced the States Fiscal Transparency League Table to encourage states to improve fiscal disclosure. The organisation added that it had hosted X Spaces dialogues across all 36 states to deepen citizens’ understanding and participation in public finance matters.

On service delivery, BudgIT said it had tracked 19,644 government projects valued at N8.5 trillion across 7,589 communities and facilitated 7,612 town hall meetings nationwide.

According to the organisation, the monitoring contributed to the completion of 11,800 projects valued at N3.5 trillion across the health, education and infrastructure sectors, benefiting more than 11.5 million Nigerians.

In 2023, BudgIT launched its Primary Healthcare Centre Accountability Tracker, which gathered feedback from 20,677 citizens across 75 health facilities in five states. The initiative generated 232 community engagements and 132 impact actions, with institutions resolving 132 reported issues.

The organisation also said it activated Ward Development Committees in 72 of the 75 targeted primary healthcare centres and supported 20 community-based organisations, including 12 led by women.

On public finance accountability, BudgIT said its GovSpend platform had supported more than 60 media reports examining over N250 billion in potentially wasteful government spending.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisation led a Pan-African initiative that tracked more than $12 billion in aid across six countries. It also partnered with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a N220 billion petition, which it said contributed to the recovery of ambulances and other public assets.

Through its 2017 OpenNASS campaign, BudgIT said it successfully advocated for the publication of the National Assembly’s budget after seven years of limited disclosure. Its advocacy also contributed to the removal of 270 allegedly padded projects valued at N175 billion from the federal budget.

Through its innovation hub, Civic Hive, BudgIT said it had incubated 12 civic-tech startups, including PLSI, PROMAD and Citizen’s Gavel. Citizen’s Gavel, it noted, had expanded access to justice for more than 12,000 underserved people.

The organisation further disclosed that it had disbursed more than $3 million in subgrants on behalf of organisations including USAID, the Skoll Foundation and Hilton Foundation to support civic groups across Africa.

Beyond Nigeria, BudgIT said it had conducted simplified budget analyses in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Senegal, reaching millions of citizens, while also hosting radio programmes, establishing university youth clubs and training civil society organisations.

In the United States, the organisation said it had provided budget simplification services for the City of Chicago and developed a fiscal education module for Maryland.

BudgIT also highlighted its technical support to government institutions, including pro bono consulting for the 2024 Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee and collaboration with the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy to strengthen the capacity of civil society organisations.

Reflecting on the organisation’s journey, BudgIT said, “Fifteen years ago, BudgIT set out to make Africa’s public budgets accessible to everyday citizens. Today, this mission has become a movement.”

As part of its 15th anniversary activities, BudgIT said it would hold a series of reflections and community engagements throughout the month, culminating in a grand celebration on September 13, 2026.