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Institutional and Governance Weaknesses and African Transformation

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Governance for Structural Transformation in Africa

Abstract

This paper examines the role of institutions and governance in the economic transformation of African economies. The basic proposition is that institutions and governance matter in economic growth and transformation, but poor crafting of institutions and bad governance have truncated the economic development and thus the transformation of African economies. The paper asserts that recent growth in African economies has been principally based on the exploitation and export of minerals and natural resources. The volatile nature of these commodities markets warrants a value added through economic transformation. However, poor crafting of weak institutions coupled with bad governance have hindered the transformation of African economies. To overcome this the paper recommends self-transformation in the African mindset, together with the transformation of the educational system, a return to the periodic planning system and an incentive system to solve the principal-agency problem in the delivery of public goods and services.

Tafah Edokat is a Professor of Economics and former Vice-Chancellor of The University of Bamenda.

Aloysius Njong is Associate Professor of Economics and Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences at The University of Bamenda. His contribution to the Principal–Agent Problem Model has enhanced the article.

The authors greatly acknowledge the contribution of our research student Badjo Martial in sourcing some of the literature, relevant to the topic and some of the 2017 Ph.D students in the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) collaborative Ph.D economic programme (JFE 2017), Nairobi.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Our experience at The University of Bamenda in this direction has borne a lot of fruits. In opening the School of Transport and Logistic we associate all stakeholders in the transport sector in curriculum design and teaching. The students alternate between the classroom (theory) and the world of work (internship). Some of the lecturers from the private and public sectors handle the students on internship.

  2. 2.

    This point is supported by experience during the construction of the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project where professional welders were imported from Asia. The Cameroonian tertiary education system failed to produce this quality of human resources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Bamenda, Bamenda, Cameroon

    Tafah Edokat & Aloysius Njong

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  1. Tafah Edokat
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  2. Aloysius Njong
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Adam B. Elhiraika

  2. Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Gamal Ibrahim

  3. Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    William Davis

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Edokat, T., Njong, A. (2019). Institutional and Governance Weaknesses and African Transformation. In: Elhiraika, A., Ibrahim, G., Davis, W. (eds) Governance for Structural Transformation in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03964-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03964-6_2

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