CLGF was delighted to continue its partnership with the African School of Decentralisation for the fifth year, with this year’s event taking place in Cape Town from 13 to 25 October 2025 under the theme of Decentralisation and Finances.

CLGF was responsible for bringing together a mayors’ roundtable to allow the two-week course to open with an overview of the experiences of local leaders from the Southern African region. In addition to this, CLGF sponsored two delegates to take part in this important event, and we have caught up with them to find out how they benefited from the event.

Delegate from Zambia

Pauline Chand is a town planner from Zambia with almost ten years’ experience. She is employed by the national government of Zambia, to work within local government. Her career began as a town planner, and she was then promoted to district planning officer, where she has gained experience of various councils, including rural and district, providing her with a good overview of local government. Taking part in the ASD has changed her view of local government in terms of decentralisation. She explained: “Previously, I looked at the theoretical aspects of decentralisation in relation to service delivery, but now my views have expanded to look at the physical, administrative and political aspects. Local government is seen as a service provider but, in order to do this well, it needs more autonomy, particularly with finances.”

Automony in funding

With a focus on finances and decentralisation, we asked Pauline how much she knew about this, and whether it had changed her view on its importance. She told us that, as part of the budgeting team – Pauline’s department also manages the government’s major funding programme – which has given her a good general knowledge of budgeting and planning funding, but not so much in relation to decentralisation. The ASD had made her realise how important having autonomy in funding is: the ability to decide how to collect funds, and how to provide services. She explained: “In Zambia there are lots of restrictions on finance and this can really hinder progress. I really appreciated this topic and having an audience of local and central government delegates was a good way of making these points and increasing understanding.”

She said that policy is needed to look at easing these restrictions and her appreciation for the importance of improving decentralisation funding has increased no end. “I now see that we can do so much better if there is more support for decentralisation, especially financial,” she said.

CLGF’s Mayors’ Roundtable looked specifically at how decentralisation governance in Africa is financed, and the systems and rules for the use of public finances in sub-national governments. We were interested to understand what our delegates had gained from this session. Pauline told us that, as one of the Mayors was from Zambia, it was good to hear and reaffirm much of what she believed about local government in Zambia and the need for more authority.

Digitalising revenue software systems

With a second mayor from Zimbabwe, Pauline was interested to learn more about three particular aspects that she described. Firstly, the digitalisation of revenue systems, which meant services could be provided more effectively and efficiently. She suggested that the digitalisation of revenue collection should be expanded to Zambia and thought the Otimisation Planning software used in Zimbabwe could really help. This had been deployed to increase two waste sites to 13, making huge improvements for the communities.

Pauline praised the use of PPP – Public Private Partnerships – using the example of a project in Zambia, working with a private company on waste services, which is progressing really well.

Quotas for women

The Mayor from Zimbabwe also spoke about women's representation, as there is a quota system, which ensures women are represented in all councils. Pauline said: “In my council in Zambia, unfortunately there are no women politicians. There is a good ratio in Zimbabwe and we need to look at this example, especially when decisions are being made about services for women, particularly those who are deemed to be vulnerable.”

Pauline felt it was important to look at different scenarios and situations when considering funding. In 2021, the CFD? was 1.6 million Kwacha and the new government has increased this to 25 million Kwacha. It is really beneficial for the people to decide how the CFD is spent; this has resulted in lots of good changes in rural communities. But the same funding formula cannot be used for every municipality without taking into account their diverse nature, for example, population size, the progress of communities with regard to development, etc.

Sharing experiences

We asked Pauline what she thought the most interesting aspects of the event had been and what she would be taking away. “This is twofold” she replied. “Firstly, it was great to hear about the experiences of other countries. For example, in South Africa, where local government is a completely separate entity to the central government ministry. The event really emphasised the importance of fiscal autonomy as a major aspect of service provision but highlights the issue with most districts not having autonomy.” She also cited an interesting lecture by an expert in tax that explained how local authorities can exploit taxation in so many different ways to get more revenue and new revenue streams.

Going forward, Pauline explained that there are many things she will take back, including feeding into new project proposals. Pauline said: “If we are to improve services and communities, local government must be given the resources and be allowed to decide how to use them.”

Delegate from Tanzania

Prisca Kowa is a dedicated development practitioner with a strong commitment to advancing good governance, community empowerment, and accountable public service delivery. She currently works at the Policy Forum as a Senior Officer for Strategic Partnership and Compliance in Tanzania. Prior to that, she worked as a Programme Officer for Capacity Enhancement and later for Local Governance. Prisca’s work involves advocating for good governance and ensuring that local governments involve their citizens in budgetary planning and engage them in the process, and this is where she has acquired her knowledge of finances and decentralisation.

Participation in the African School on Decentralisation (ASD) widened Prisca’s knowledge about the importance of local government in bringing development closer to the people. Exposure to comparative country experiences from different ASD participants demonstrated that local government is the most direct interface between the government and citizens. When authority resides closer to communities, service delivery becomes more efficient and responsive, as it shortens the accountability routes and avoids the long and often ineffective bureaucratic routes associated with centralised systems. 

Meaningful grassroot participation

Beyond efficiency, local governance strengthens democratic practice by enabling meaningful participation at the grassroots level, thereby fostering ownership of the development process. Prisca also underscored that financial decentralisation is not optional but fundamental; without adequate fiscal autonomy, local authorities remain constrained in their ability to respond to the needs of their constituencies.

While finance and decentralisation were familiar concepts prior to the ASD, the programme elevated their importance and clarified their practical implications. Prisca now views fiscal decentralisation as a cornerstone of public sector efficiency, particularly in promoting local governments' autonomy in facilitating responsiveness to citizens’ developmental needs.

She further highlighted its role in democratic governance, resilient and inclusive development, and political legitimacy. A critical insight from the programme was the political economy of fiscal decentralisation. She said that, in practice, decentralisation reforms are often less about technical efficiency and more about negotiating power-sharing arrangements. Managing these political dynamics, while maintaining a balance between autonomy and cohesion, is essential for sustainable development.

Best performing models

One of the most engaging moments of the ASD was the Mayors’ Round Table held on 13 October. Prisca found the discussion on Zambia’s Constituency Development Fund very interesting, as it is considered as one of the best performing models of the equalisation fund in Zambia. The Zimbabwean Mayor shared the progress made in digitalising revenue collection systems which could potentially result in service delivery improvements. Furthermore, the dialogue on urban waste management shared from Zimbabwe, again, illustrated how active community participation can transform cities. The role of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum in supporting these initiatives was also appreciated.

Theory and practice

The ASD stood out for its balance between theory and practice. A visit to the provincial parliament offered firsthand insight into how legislative oversight and executive accountability function in practice. Comparative analysis of constitutional frameworks deepened Prisca's understanding of how fiscal decentralisation is embedded across different countries, while discussions on local government structures clarified how institutional design can either facilitate or hinder decentralisation.

Prisca was particularly impressed by the work of the South African Auditor General in holding public officials to account, as well as by Kenya’s Donor Decentralisation Group, an approach she believes a country like Tanzania could adopt. Sessions on borrowing frameworks and innovative revenue-generation mechanisms, such as land value capture, provided practical tools for strengthening local government finance; this could also be explored by the local government authorities in Tanzania. The exploration of public–private partnership modalities, including the example of Tanga Municipality in Tanzania, further demonstrated how collaboration can foster development.

Prisca’s experience at the ASD reaffirmed a central truth to her: local government financing is, in essence, development financing. Strengthening fiscal decentralisation is critical if governments are to address real community needs and deliver meaningful service outcomes. Therefore, the government must have the will to enact laws that provide local government fiscal autonomy. For her, the ASD was not only an academic experience but a practical lens through which the future of responsive and inclusive local governance can be shaped.

Both delegates finished by thanking CLGF for selecting them for this programme and expressing how much they had enjoyed the opportunity to look at local government and decentralisation through a range of mediums: academic study, round tables and the physical aspect of games and social interaction. CLGF was equally as pleased to be represented by such competent local government professionals.