While the recent global economic crisis has reignited the debate on state versus markets, there is broad consensus on the role public–private interface has played in the remarkable achievements of East Asian countries during the last 40 years. This chapter explores public–private interface in Africa. It notes that economic theory is yet to provide useful guides for understanding this complex relationship and the few disparate attempts in some African countries have not yielded remarkable achievements. On the basis of an evaluation of three archetype developing economies, the chapter outlines the conditions for effective public–private interface to include state capacity; insulation of technocratic policy making process depicted by a Weberian bureaucracy; and, embeddedness of the state vis-à-vis the non-state actors and agents. The chapter recommends a cooperative, complementary and collaborative public–private interface to take Africa to the next level of achieving convergence.
Multiparty government and economic policy-making
