The nine countries represented in the 2004 post-seminar resource book are at the forefront of the African budget reform experience. This introductory article draws on these case studies to view the milestones achieved and some of the lessons learnt, both on the content of reforms and on how they could be sequenced and managed. It also draws on the proceedings of the three-day seminar on budget reform in Africa held in December 2004 that not only offer a wider experience base, but also provide a summary of the more significant lessons learnt from the combined experience. These lessons are the core of this article: they are presented as ten key budget reform principles which emerged from the seminar discussions, and are highlighted with examples from the case studies and further discussion of key seminar concepts.