Compared to other continents, Africa has the lowest tele-density and internet connectivity, the highest rate of people living below the poverty line (by 2002, 44 per cent of the people in sub-Saharan Africa live below the poverty level of $1 dollar a day), the highest rate of HIV-AIDS infections, the highest rate of infant mortality and maternal death rates, the highest level of unemployment and t. [...] The state was seen as central to the process of socio-economic engineering that the newly independent countries required, hence the establishment of the SOEs, among a range of institutional innovations intended to enhance the capacity of the state. [...] The cognizance of the dictatorship of the donor community and the consequent lack of African ownership of some of the key reform agendas, including the public sector reforms, led to the Paris Declaration of 2005 as a new aid architecture for Africa. [...] Ngowi highlights some of the challenges of privatisation, which include the infancy of the Tanzanian private sector, which has not enabled it to benefit from the privatisation process; the local private sector's lack of capacity and finance to take advantage of the process; and a lack of understanding by the public of privatisation, and its consequent resistance to it. [...] Another problem of the public sector reforms which Ngowi correctly identifies, with respect to agentification in Tanzania (which is also applicable to the private- public partnership), is the ability of the state to monitor the performance of the private partner/agent.

Reforming the African Public Sector: Retrospect and Prospectsis an in-depth and wide-ranging review of the available literature on African public sector reforms. It illustrates several differing country experiences to buttress the main observations and conclusions. It adopts a structural/institutional approach which underpins most of the reform efforts on the continent. To contextualize reform of the public sector and understand its processes, dynamics and intricacies, the book examines the state and state capacity building in Africa, especially when there can be no state without an efficient public sector. In addition, the book addresses a number of theories such as the new institutional economics, public choice and new public management, which have in one way or another influenced most of the initiatives implemented under public sector reform in Africa. There is also a survey of the three phases of public sector reform which have emerged and the balance sheet of reform strategies, namely, decentralization, privatization, deregulation, agencification, co-production and public-private partnerships. It concludes by identifying possible alternative approaches such as developing a vigorous public sector ethos and sustained capacity building to promote and enhance the renewal and reconstruction of the African public sector within the context of the New Partnerships for Africa's Development (NEPAD), good governance and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

With contributions from leading regional scholars, Public Administration in Africa: Performance and Challenges examines the complexities of the art of governance from the unique African perspective. The editors bring together a cohesive study of the major issues and regions by taking an analytic approach with the strong problem-solution application. Regions addressed range from South Africa, Congo, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritius, and Botswana. Themes include colonialism, reform, poverty, economy, decentralization, financing, media, political structures, and more. Beginning with an analysis of the relationship of policy design and its destination, service delivery, the book discusses the historical development of a state that has gone through upheavals in government and explores a decayed political economy that ultimately results in a need for sweeping measures. The text examines the issues emerging policy-makers in Africa must tackle, namely poverty and the denial or lack of resources to keep a dignified human life. It highlights how the media can be a catalyst for good governance and provides analytical aspects of implementing good governance reforms. The book concludes with an examination of the concepts of decentralization and devolution in measuring service delivery performance and an exploration of Africa’s economic success story. It also details the African Peer Review Mechanisms in selected African countries and provides a holistic analysis of local government functioning in Africa. These features and more make it an interdisciplinary reference for diverse social, economic, political, and administrative issues.

This book analyses and evaluates the accomplishments, challenges, and approaches associated with the New Public Management (NPM) in Africa towards establishing context-specific interventions for public sector institutions' performance. Taking the reader through various business and management approaches, including leadership in the public sector, digitalisation, market orientation and trust building, this book provides an understanding of the key issues facing public sector organisations in Africa and offers novel ways of approaching public management in a changing socio-economic landscape to drive improved performance of public institutions. The book offers students, practitioners and researchers important insights on NPM and public sector institutions in Africa. The recommendations of the book will help government and policymakers implement appropriate public sector management policies for strengthening public sector service delivery in Africa.

There is not a single African country that did not attempt public sector reforms in the 1990s. Governments no longer see themselves as sole suppliers of social services, frequently opting for partnerships with the private sector. Efficiency and choice have entered the language of the planning and implementation units of Africa's line ministries, while privatization is no longer the controversial subject it was a decade ago. There have also been moves towards more open and democratic governments. Reforming Africa's Institutions looks at the extent to which reforms undertaken in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years have enhanced institutional capacities across the breadth of government. To what extent have reforms been internalized and defended by governments? The authors also look specifically at the impact of public sector reforms on these economies and pose the question whether 'ownership can be attained when countries continue to be heavily dependent on external support. The volume is presented in three parts. The first focuses on the issue of reform ownership; on the issues of governance, the political economy of reform ownership, and the contradictions inherent in using aid as an instrument for enhancing domestic reform ownership. Part two examines the nature of incentives in the African civil service and the reforms undertaken in recent years to raise public sector efficiency in Africa. The third part discusses issues related to institutional capabilities in Africa and how they have been affected by the reforms undertaken in the 1990s, including privatization and movement towards political pluralism.

* Written by prominent scholars and practitioners of African development policy * Describes recent governance changes in Africa * Analyzes consequences of these changes for institutional reform * Highlights challenges of capacity building for economic liberalization and democratization This is an ideal volume for both students and scholars of African development, as well as anyone interested in the current issues of African governance. Published in association with the African Capacity Building Foundation, this book answers such questions as: What is the relationship between governance and institutional reforms? What is the impact of these reforms on public policy processes? And, what is the link between economic governance and policy research?

This book gives a comprehensive overview of the literature on development in Sub-Saharan Africa, and challenges the notions of African public officials presented there. It focuses on public audit institutions and offers rich empirical research results, which contradicts many assumptions made in the literature on development in Sub-Saharan Africa.