Smarter SADC public spending talks begin

More than 140 officials from across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will meet at Hotel Sky Sandton, South Africa, from 15 to 17 July for a specialised training programme aimed at helping governments deliver better results with limited resources.

Hosted by the Copenhagen Consensus Center, the three-day seminar will equip government officials with practical tools to apply cost-benefit analysis in policymaking, an approach that compares the full costs and benefits of public investments to identify the most effective solutions.

With many SADC member states facing tight budgets and growing demands in health, education, infrastructure and economic development, the training focuses on how governments can prioritise policies that deliver the greatest social and economic returns.

"Every government faces tough choices. The key question is not just how much we spend, but how wisely we spend it," said Bjorn Lomborg, president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center. "Cost-benefit analysis helps identify where limited resources can achieve the greatest possible impact for citizens."

The programme combines lectures, hands-on workshops and case studies tailored to the Southern African context. Participants will work through real policy challenges, ranging from vaccination programmes and early childhood education to infrastructure and climate resilience, and assess which interventions deliver the highest returns.

The training will also introduce participants to internationally recognised prioritisation methods, including ranking policies by their benefit-cost ratios to support transparent and evidence-based decision-making.

Participants include officials from several prime ministers' and presidents' offices, ministries of planning, finance, health, education and infrastructure, as well as policy analysts and advisers involved in budgeting and project evaluation, including at central banks.

By the end of the seminar, participants are expected to strengthen their ability to evaluate public investments, improve prioritisation in government spending and contribute to integrating evidence-based analysis into

national planning processes.

"Better decisions are possible, even without bigger budgets," said Ralph Nordjo, head of the Africa

directorate at Copenhagen Consensus. "By focusing on what works best, governments can significantly improve outcomes in areas that matter most to people's lives."