Decentralization and Reform in Africa

I woke up at 3:30 on a steamy December morning at my hotel at McCarthy Hill, Accra, to prepare to take the early morning Vanef-STC bus operating on the Accra-Kumasi line. At 4am, the front desk called to inform me that I had requested a 3:45am wake-up time the night before. I figured a IS-minute tardiness is still within acceptable limits in Africa. Surprisingly, my bus left on time. Though it was filled to capacity (I could only find a seat in the middle row), the ride on "state transport" as it is called, was as smooth as it could be, given the dismal conditions of portions of the Accra-Kumasi road and the very loud local music emanating from the bus' speakers. As we drove through the lush forests of the Eastern Region, many thoughts crossed my mind regarding the effects of the current economic and democratic reforms (including decentralization) under way in the country, on the average person in Ghana. The bus company that I was patronizing, Vanef-STC, was itself a product of government divestiture from and privatization - an economic decentralization - of the previous State Transport Cooperation. I was informed that the perception by the users of "state transport" is that ever since the take-over by Vanef-STC, the quality of service has declined. This in tum was due to prolonged litigation by workers who felt that they had been wronged in the process of state divestiture.

Klappentext

PThis book examines the impact of fiscal decentralization on subnational resource mobilization capacity, and on macroeconomic stability, in four African countries. Field research conducted in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mali, constituted the basis for a rigorous and detailed examination of the decentralization process in each country./P POne of the intriguing findings is that increased subnational tax autonomy significantly reduces the size of the central government and improves the central government budget balance in the sample countries./P PRecommendations are: (a) the design and implementation of decentralization mechanisms must be based on the principles of stability, transparency, accountability, and equity; (b) frequent dialogue between the central and sub-national governments, and an active association and cooperation of local and regional levels of government in the formulation of macroeconomic objectives will improve the chances of successful decentralization programs; (c) authorities must heighten their campaigns to educate local populations on decentralization reforms. Full and educated participation of all citizens at the grassroots level is critical to the success of decentralization programs./P PIn all, the book focuses its analysis on the capacity of local communities in Africa for autonomous development and self-governance, and that, is a refreshing addition to the literature. /P

Inhalt

1. Decentralization: definitions, theories and debate.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Types of Decentralization.- 3. The Theoretical Debate on Decentralization.- 4. Can Decentralization Destabilize Economic Reform?.- 2. The General Structure of Decentralization in Mali and Ghana.- 1. Overview.- 2. MALI.- 3. GHANA.- 3. The General Structure of Decentralization in Burkina Faso and Benin.- 1. BURKINA FASO.- 2. BENIN.- 4. The General Structure of Fiscal Decentralization in Four African Countries.- 1. General Considerations.- 2. Designing a Fiscal Decentralization Program.- 3. The Role and Impact of International Development Aid.- 4. The Structure of Fiscal Decentralization in Mali.- 5. The Structure of Fiscal Decentralization in Ghana.- 6. The Structure of Fiscal Decentralization in Burkina Faso.- 7 The Structure of Fiscal Decentralization in Benin.- 5. Empirical Evidence on Fiscal Decentralization in Four African Countries.- 1. Understanding the Data.- 2. Quality Indicators of Fiscal Decentralization.- 3. The Quantitative Indicators.- 6. The Macroeconomic Impacts of Fiscal Decentralization.- 1. General Considerations.- 2. Statistical Evidence on Intergovernmental Coordination Failures.- 3. Analyzing the Data.- 7. Conclusions and Recommendations.- 1 On the Fiscal Strength of Local Communities.- 2 Some Suggestions on Improving Intergovernmental Fiscal Coordination.- 3 On Local Government Borrowing Capabilities.- 4. The importance of Associating Local Governments to Central Government Decision-making Process.- 5. Final Remarks.- List of Abbreviations.- References.