CoST is discussing infrastructure transparency with senior government officials and senior partners across civil society and the private sector during Open Government Partnership Africa and Middle East Regional Meeting 2025. 

Today on 24th March, CoST – Infrastructure Transparency Initiative – hosted our own event with the Association of Consulting Engineers Kenya around ‘Revitalising infrastructure transparency in Kenya’ where we discussed infrastructure sector challenges and how transparency can help.  

The points discussed were: 

• 64% of Kenya’s annual budget is spent on infrastructure. This investment requires safeguards to prevent against investment loss, by focusing on well-informed approaches to planning, budgeting and procurement process. This is a potential pathway to the delivery of quality infrastructure that meets the needs of citizens.
• Kenya’s stakeholders emphasized that adopting the CoST approach, tools and standards was a journey they are determined to take, including as part of Kenya’s OGP Action Plan. Civil Society Organisations are challenged and committed to the agenda, counties including Nandi, Kakamega, Elgeyo, Machakos in Kenya and Plateau state in Nigeria are interested in applying the CoST approach, tools and standards and delighted to further the conversation.

Later in the week CoST will also be participating at an invite-only event on open government with Kenya’s president, William Ruto; a roundtable on local-level innovation; a session on financial transparency and integrity; and other breakout sessions.

Participating from the CoST team is Olive Kabatwairwe, Africa Regional Manager; Jeremiah Tara, CoST Kaduna Manager; Isaac Aidoo, our CoST Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) Manager; CoST Board members James Mwangi and Rueben Lifuka; Evelyn Hernandez, our Head of Members and Hamish Goldie-Scot, our Technical Adviser.  

Olive Kabatwairwe, Africa Regional Manager said “Being involved in several events this week gives us the opportunity to share some of the expert knowledge from our membership and our Board, as well our work beyond our membership, such as in South Africa. We’ll be highlighting how our innovative tools and standards can be applied in different contexts to support open government and ultimately transform the lives of people who rely on vital infrastructure every day.”  

CoST members in the Africa region are Kaduna State, Nigeria; STMA, Ghana; Malawi; Mozambique; Ethiopia and Uganda.  

You can follow how the week unfolds on our LinkedIn, Instagram, X/Twitter and Facebook. Read more about the work of our members across the continent, including our new Malawi impact story, our previous impact stories and the recent work of CoST Uganda, CoST STMA, and CoST Kaduna. Our free tools and standards to promote infrastructure transparency are available for any local or national government to use.

You can find out more about the events CoST is involved in on the Open Government Partnership schedule.