Fiscal Transparency Innovation Fund

The Department of State Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs operates the Fiscal Transparency Innovation Fund (CFDA 19.662), a foreign assistance program that funds projects to help governments improve budget transparency and support civil society organizations promoting fiscal transparency, with the most recent grant award dated October 1, 2024.

The program funds concrete transparency and public financial management initiatives across developing countries, including operationalization of digital platforms for extractive industry revenue reporting, training for government officials and civil society on budget processes, development of open-access debt and fiscal data platforms, and strengthening of budget auditing and publication procedures. Projects address budget transparency, public debt disclosure, natural resource extraction licensing and contracting transparency, and beneficial ownership reporting aligned with Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative standards. To date, the program has awarded more than $50 million across approximately 70 countries.

Recent activity is active and consistent. Eight grants have been awarded since August 2023, with five awards in 2024 and three in 2023. Combined federal dollars obligated total $2.3 million, with a combined total obligated of $2.6 million including non-federal cost-share. Assistance is entirely Project Grants. The Department of State Bureau of African Affairs dominates funding concentration, accounting for four awards worth $1.3 million federal dollars obligated (57 percent of awards), followed by the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs with two awards worth $677 thousand federal dollars obligated. The Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs each contributed one award.

Representative recent awards include a $485 thousand grant to strengthen Mozambique's extractive industry supervision through an e-reporting platform (October 1, 2024), an $864 thousand award to amplify awareness and access to mining and oil community funds in Mauritania (September 30, 2024), and a $308 thousand grant to strengthen fiscal transparency and public participation in budget processes in Sri Lanka (September 30, 2024).

Multiple grant opportunities are currently posted or recently closed. A solicitation for Mauritania (PGO-FY2024-FTIF-01) posted August 6, 2025, with a due date of September 8, 2025, seeks a Cooperative Agreement to promote transparency in natural gas, mining, and fisheries revenues and government debt through centralized platforms and stakeholder training. Two notices for Malawi (DOS-AF-MWI-FY24-01 and OFOP0002208) posted July 25, 2025, with a due date of August 25, 2025, offer up to $781 thousand to eligible nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3) organizations following recent amendment) to enhance transparency in the extractive sector and public debt management. A broader public competition (DFOP0017006) posted December 27, 2024, by the Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor, with a due date of January 22, 2025 (extended from January 13), solicits fiscal transparency projects in countries assessed in the Department's annual Fiscal Transparency Report, limited to grant-eligible applicants. The program notes that foreign governments are not eligible to apply and records must be retained for three years from award expiration.