In December 2021, Kano State passed the Public Debt Management Office Law to enhance the state’s ability to effectively manage its debt, towards improved fiscal discipline. The Law passed to meet the World Bank States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability (SFTAS) program for results performance indicators will contribute to improving budget planning and improve attention to the state's debt profile.

In a session held on the 10^th - 12^th of May 2022 in Kano State, the Partnership to Engage Reform and Learn (PERL) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, sensitized stakeholders on the provisions of the 2021 Public Debt Management Office Law. The session also served to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Finance, the Office of the Head of Service and other stakeholders from key public financial management Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in developing an implementation plan for the Law.

Another key outcome of the session was the development of a strategy to sustain Public Finance Management (PFM) reform gains achieved as a result of the World Bank SFTAS program. To this end, the responsibilities of the SFTAS implementing committees were reviewed and expanded to cover broader PFM reforms including the fiscal transparency thematic area of the Open Government Partnership. A PFM State Steering Committee and Technical Working Group, incorporating non-state actors were established to enhance the coordination and guide activities that will ensure the sustainability of reforms that have emerged from years of support from PERL and through the World Bank SFTAS program. During the session, participants also reflected on how the state has learned and adapted from its performance throughout the SFTAS program and proposed a plan to maintain improvements sustainably over the next year.

The Commissioner of Finance, Alhaji Shehu Na’Allah Kura, ably represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Lawan Shehu Abdulwahab, noted in his opening remark that “it is imperative to contextualize the implementation plan for the Public Debt Management Law to suit the state, especially in the era of transformations of e-governance”. He added that “the benefits from SFTAS and PERL’s support have led to improvements that have come of age, guaranteed to be sustained beyond the programmes’ lifespan”.

Further, the Partnership Facilitation Manager of PERL-ARC in Kano, Auwalu Hamza, implored the Kano State Government to take good advantage of the partnership and leverage the vast information and e-resources available, to improve governance in the state.