What Governments Need from IATI Publishers: Insights from Francophone West Africa

Organisations that publish data to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) are part of a global community working to make development and humanitarian cooperation more transparent. Yet transparency alone does not guarantee impact. As governments and other users of IATI data continue to highlight, publishing is just the beginning.

To make data truly useful, publishers need to plan how to regularly assess the quality of their data and engage with data users to respond to country-level and thematic needs.

What data do governments need?

In June 2025, IATI and the African Development Bank convened a regional workshop with representatives from Francophone West Africa governments (Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal, and Togo). They were joined by development partners including Agence Française de Développement, the Islamic Development Bank, the West African Development Bank (BOAD), and the World Bank.

The event provided a valuable opportunity to better understand how IATI data is used, and where improvements are needed.

Government participants emphasised the importance of timely, complete, and forward-looking information:

• 67% of respondents stated that monthly data updates are essential
• 100% rated 1-year forward-looking budgets as essential or important
• Key data identified as most valuable included dates, disbursements, implementing organisations, results, locations, and documents

Governments discussed the use cases of IATI data and noted that good data supports key national functions: planning, coordination, budgeting, and dialogue with development partners.

Improving Data Quality

It is well documented across previous regional workshops, research and ongoing engagement with users that high-quality data drives data use. The 2025 Francophone West Africa workshop echoed this finding. During discussions, government representatives cited data quality as the second highest barrier to using IATI data.

In response, the IATI Secretariat conducted a detailed assessment of the data published by prominent development partners in the region. The analysis highlighted persistent issues that continue to limit the value of IATI data at the country level, including:

• Gaps in core fields, such as disbursements and budgets
• Aggregated or infrequent reporting
• Incomplete results or sector classifications
• Limited responsiveness to data users

The findings are presented in the Post-Workshop Report: IATI–AfDB West Africa Regional Workshop, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire | 3–5 June 2025, which includes practical recommendations for improving data quality.

The importance of regional engagement

One of the strongest messages from the workshop was the value of sustained, context-specific engagement by development partners in the regions where they operate. In Abidjan, government representatives welcomed the chance to work directly with major development partners. The African Development Bank (AfDB) stood out as a strong example of this approach. In addition to co-hosting the workshop, AfDB has been an active champion of regional engagement—they held a session on data usability at the 2024 IATI Members’ Assembly in Bogotá.

Supporting publishers to improve data

The IATI Secretariat offers support to organisations that want to improve the quality of their data. Recognising that publishing to IATI is a journey, tools and personalised support are offered to organisations to strengthen their practices.

This includes:

• IATI Dashboard - helps publishers identify improvements to be made in, such as in the timeliness of data. Updates to the Dashboard in 2025 will provide more practical insights to help publishers improve.
• IATI Validator - checks whether IATI data files are structurally sound and aligned with the XML Standard. Publishers can receive instant feedback online, or integrate the checks directly into their internal publishing workflows (using the Validator’s API).
• IATI Support Team - offers one-to-one technical assistance, data reviews, and guidance tailored to each organisation’s publishing needs.

Publishing for impact – a shared call to action

Publishers can be assured that their commitment to IATI makes a real difference. Last year, 19 partner country governments said they used IATI data to inform national planning, budgeting, and coordination. This includes Nigeria, which uses IATI data to map resources to its National Development Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals.

These insights rely on high-quality, complete, up-to-date data, so IATI publishers are encouraged to keep making improvements to support better development outcomes.