Civil society, NGOs, governments, and multilateral institutions all repeatedly call for improved or ‘good’ governance – yet they seem to speak past one another. Governance is in danger of losing all meaning precisely because it means many things to different people in varied locations This is especially true in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, the postcolony takes many forms, reflecting the imperial project with painful accuracy. Offering a set of multidisciplinary analyses of governance in different sectors (crisis management, water, food security, universities), in different locales across sub-Saharan Africa, and from different theoretical approaches (network to adversarial network governance); this volume makes a useful addition to the growing debates on ‘how to govern’. It steers away from offering a ‘correct’ definition of governance, or from promoting a particular position on postcoloniality. It gives no neat conclusion, but invites readers to draw their own conclusions based on these differing approaches to and analyses of governance in the postcolony. As a robust, critical assessment of power and accountability in the sub-Saharan context, Governance and the Postcolony: Views from Africa brings together topical case studies that will be a valuable resource for those working in the field of African international relations, public policy, public management and administration.

This book brings together leading African scholars and researchers from various academic disciplines, cultures, religions, and generations. It examines how to better mobilise and influence the actions, behaviour and attitudes of citizens towards accountability, transparency, and probity, in order to strengthen Africaâ (TM)s integrity, equity, and sustainable development. It serves to deepen and strategically add to current efforts to combat corruption, and clearly advocates that fighting corruption is the business of everyone. The role of ethics in society and the presence of leaders who ideally should be ethical, effective, and empathic are also important. This volume shows that corruption robs the poor, and will serve to enrich the readerâ (TM)s philosophy of life.

This 4th edition of the African Governance Report provides a critique of perception-based measurements of corruption as well as an assessment of existing alternative, mostly mixed, measures of corruption. It highlights that pure perception-based measurements are highly subjective and do not provide insights into the institutional and policy reforms needed to combat corruption and improve economic governance. They also fail to take into account the international dimension of corruption. The report argues that the problem of corruption has to be assessed and addressed in the context of overall economic governance, taking into consideration both its domestic and international dimensions. It also presents policy recommendations related to improving transparency and accountability, enhancing ownership and participation in the fight against corruption, building credible national economic governance institutions, and improving the regional and global economic governance architecture.

This volume analyzes the corruption phenomenon in Africa and how to combat it from a governance perspective with illustrated case studies from three of the most corrupt of those nations covering, respectively, the Southern Africa region (Swaziland); the Eastern Africa region (Kenya); and the Western Africa region (Nigeria). Drawing on the available data, research literature, and field practice experience, the nature and extent of corruption are identified; the factors influencing the causes and determining the consequences of corruption are delineated; measures that have been put in place to control corruption are outlined and discussed; and new policy solutions are proposed and advocated to more effectively control the corruption menace in Africa.

Studies of African economic development frequently focus on the daunting challenges the continent faces. From recurrent crises to ethnic conflicts and long-standing corruption, a raft of deep-rooted problems has led many to regard the continent as facing many hurdles to raise living standards. Yet Africa has made considerable progress in the past decade, with a GDP growth rate exceeding five percent in some regions. The African Successes series looks at recent improvements in living standards and other measures of development in many African countries with an eye toward identifying what shaped them and the extent to which lessons learned are transferable and can guide policy in other nations and at the international level. The fourth volume in the series, African Successes: Sustainable Growth combines informative case studies with careful empirical analysis to consider the prospects for future African growth.