From Secrecy to Transparency: Can Publicly Accessible Digital Budgets Deliver Better Value?

What the paper says

This article examines how publicly monitorable, accessible and integrated real-time online budget systems, supported by enforceable penalties, can reduce corruption and enhance government value creation. Using abductive reasoning and an in-depth case study of Nigeria, the study also compares selected African information and communications technology (ICT)-enabled budget initiatives. The findings indicate that secrecy remains a central mechanism sustaining budgetary corruption, whereas citizen monitoring and digital engagement with a fully open budget spanning federal, state and local government allocations can strengthen transparency and accountability. However, the value-creating potential of such systems is constrained by limited technical capacity, weak enforcement and political resistance. Drawing on marketing exchange and principal–agent theories, the article argues that secrecy in budgetary processes undermines the implied social contract between government and citizens. It conceptualizes publicly accessible budgeting as a multi-stakeholder value-creation process and proposes digitally enabled reforms aligned with Africa’s institutional and sociocultural contexts.