By TechBullion Editorial Team
November 2025 – Lagos / Oslo / Irvine, CA
In a world where governments lose billions to inefficiency, one Nigerian economist is proving that fiscal innovation can be as transformative as financial technology.
Tolulope Shokunbi, CEPA™, FGAFM, has spent the past decade bridging the gap between macroeconomic policy and digital governance—building tools that make public finance transparent, measurable, and accountable.
From Budget Rooms to Innovation Labs
Before his name became synonymous with fiscal reform, Shokunbi cut his teeth in the rigorous world of banking. At Sterling Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s oldest and most respected financial institutions, he served under the Chief Financial Officer as Head of Budget & Budgetary Control. His analytical systems reshaped how the bank forecasted performance, managed liquidity, and allocated resources.
“He transformed Sterling’s budgeting from a static spreadsheet process into a real-time decision-support system,” recalls a former executive director. “That leap prepared the bank for the digital-reporting era long before regulators demanded it.”
Those early years honed his instinct for data-driven reform—a discipline he would later bring to government.
Inventing the OpenBudget Performance & Savings Framework (OBPSF)
In 2016, Shokunbi designed what experts now call a “governance operating system” for state finance: the OpenBudget Performance & Savings Framework (OBPSF). The model introduces algorithmic variance analysis, vendor verification through national ID databases, and citizen-facing transparency dashboards.
Deployed in Ogun, Osun, and Oyo States, the framework produced about ≈ US $21 million in verified savings that were redirected into road and power projects. Tracka, Nigeria’s foremost civic-tech organizations, describe it as “a replicable fiscal-accountability model for emerging markets.”
“We built OBPSF to close the loop between policy, expenditure, and public value,” says Shokunbi. “If taxpayers can’t see the outcome of each naira, the system hasn’t served its purpose.”
A Global Perspective
Educated at Babcock University and the, with graduate studies at University of Ibadan, the University of Oslo and currently on a doctoral program at Westcliff University (USA), Shokunbi merges academic precision with field pragmatism. His experience in Norway exposed him to the Nordic model of open governance where he ties fiscal transparency to digital transformation and SME inclusion.
He is a Chartered Economic Policy Analyst™ (CEPA) and Fellow of the Global Academy of Finance and Management (GAFM)—credentials that place him among a global network of policy innovators and financial strategists.
The Future of Fiscal Intelligence
As global institutions push for data transparency and ESG-aligned governance, Shokunbi’s frameworks are attracting interest from development banks and regional finance ministries.
His next goal: integrating AI-driven performance analytics into public-sector dashboards to forecast policy outcomes before budgets are even approved.
“Technology should make accountability effortless,” he says. “When citizens can verify government performance in real time, you’ve redefined democracy itself.”
About Tolulope Shokunbi
Tolulope Shokunbi (CEPA™, FGAFM) is an economist, financial strategist, and governance reformer recognized for developing the OpenBudget Performance & Savings Framework (OBPSF)—a model credited with improving budget discipline and transparency in multiple Nigerian states. He has served in senior financial and business-development roles across Africa, Europe, and the United States, and continues to advocate for data-driven economic policy.
