A three-day workshop organised by USAID State2State for health sector MDAs in Kebbi State with the top echelon of Kebbi State Ministries of Budget and Economic Planning, Health, and Finance in attendance on the State 2024 health budget profiling and cash planning has ended in Sokoto State.
In his presentation, USAID State2State Team Lead, Usman Faleye, said the meeting focused attention on the health sector as its budget has been increased and more funds have been released to the health sector in the state.
According to him, “the training will help the state improve its budget allocation to the ministry as well as hasten the releases that will help in primary health care and other related health sectors.”
Faleye made presentations on budget profiling, illustration of the use of Excel budget profiling templates, presentation on cash management, consolidated MDAs expenditure profile in the consolidation template, and preparation of the revenue profile.
Hajia Aisha Usman, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in Kebbi State, acknowledged that the state had not had it so good before the training, which she described as an “eye-opener.”
“The three-day workshop on budget profiling and cash management procedures was very impactful as it gave the state an idea of the expenditures for each month and enabled the state to plan correctly before making such expenditures.
“This particular training, supported by USAID State2State, has exposed our staff to how the revenue and expenditure of each MDA can be ascertained and profiled every month.
“Kebbi state government will continue to collaborate with USAID State2State in order to ensure every other MDA will have such training to improve their skills so as to have better performance across all the sectors of the state,” she stated on the sidelines of the workshop.
Following the successful completion of the training, Hajiya Aisha Usman revealed that the ministry will collaborate with others to form a cash management committee, which will report to the governor on their findings to ensure more funds are released to the critical sectors of the economy, including the health sector.
On his part, Dr. Shehu Nuhu Koko, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, said the workshop is very important for the state as it will help in improving its budget process.
He said, “The new knowledge acquired at the workshop will help improve the skills of all concerned on budget preparation and how to track the releases of the budget.
“The training will definitely help in improving the budget preparation of the ministry going forward.”
Dr. Koko also assured that the outcome of the workshop will be a step to enable more staff in the ministry to benefit through training and retraining of staff.
Acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Sadiq Kaoje, stated that the workshop will help the state improve its performance.
He, however, assured that the state government, through his ministry, will ensure proper funding for all the MDAs, especially those with a direct impact on the citizenry.
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