E-Government Readiness in East and Southern Africa

2011 ◽  
pp. 571-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Mutula
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Records Management ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Structural Adjustment Programmes ◽  
Developed World

Governments in East and Southern Africa, like their counterparts in developing and developed world, are under increasing pressure from donor agencies and non-governmental organizations to improve service delivery to citizens and at the same time be able to demonstrate accountability and transparency in the management of public resources (International Records Management Trust, 2004). Most countries in East and Southern Africa, largely began to appreciate the importance of sound public record management practices during the 1980s and 1990s. This period experienced increased donor pressure especially from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through their structural adjustment programmes (SAPS) that was exerted on the recipients of global donor funding in an attempt to remedy the economic hardships that characterise most developing countries including those in Africa. Structural Adjustment Programmes were meant to provide the best opportunity to implement public sector reforms in order to promote better use of public resources and enhance accountability by governments to their citizens (Wamukoya, 2000). To meet the accountability and transparency demands of the global donor agencies and also the need to meet the increasing demands by citizens for efficient delivery of services, governments worldwide are now taking advantage of the revolution that is taking place in information and communications technologies especially the Internet, the personal computer, the mobile phone, and other modern communication devices. The concept of e-government in its simplest form is now the catchword that is increasingly being used to imply the delivery of government services online. Heeks (2002) defines e-government as the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve the activities of public sector organisations. E-government is claimed as an efficient means to streamline public sector functions and increase citizen participation in the running of public affairs (Wamukoya, 2000). Governments in East and Southern Africa like their counterpart in a developed world, are increasingly turning to e-government to streamline public sector functions and increase citizen participation in the running of public affairs (Wamukoya, 2000). However, in an attempt to implement e-government projects, countries in East and Southern Africa face numerous challenges such as lack of requisite skills and competencies in e-records management; lack of enabling policy and legislative framework; lack of standards and formal methodologies for managing e-record; and inadequate infrastructure.

E-Government Readiness in East and Southern Africa

2011 ◽  
pp. 1870-1881
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Mutula ◽  
Justus Wamukoya
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Records Management ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Structural Adjustment Programmes ◽  
Developed World

Governments in East and Southern Africa, like their counterparts in developing and developed world, are under increasing pressure from donor agencies and non-governmental organizations to improve service delivery to citizens and at the same time be able to demonstrate accountability and transparency in the management of public resources (International Records Management Trust, 2004). Most countries in East and Southern Africa, largely began to appreciate the importance of sound public record management practices during the 1980s and 1990s. This period experienced increased donor pressure especially from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through their structural adjustment programmes (SAPS) that was exerted on the recipients of global donor funding in an attempt to remedy the economic hardships that characterise most developing countries including those in Africa. Structural Adjustment Programmes were meant to provide the best opportunity to implement public sector reforms in order to promote better use of public resources and enhance accountability by governments to their citizens (Wamukoya, 2000). To meet the accountability and transparency demands of the global donor agencies and also the need to meet the increasing demands by citizens for efficient delivery of services, governments worldwide are now taking advantage of the revolution that is taking place in information and communications technologies especially the Internet, the personal computer, the mobile phone, and other modern communication devices. The concept of e-government in its simplest form is now the catchword that is increasingly being used to imply the delivery of government services online. Heeks (2002) defines e-government as the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve the activities of public sector organisations. E-government is claimed as an efficient means to streamline public sector functions and increase citizen participation in the running of public affairs (Wamukoya, 2000). Governments in East and Southern Africa like their counterpart in a developed world, are increasingly turning to e-government to streamline public sector functions and increase citizen participation in the running of public affairs (Wamukoya, 2000). However, in an attempt to implement e-government projects, countries in East and Southern Africa face numerous challenges such as lack of requisite skills and competencies in e-records management; lack of enabling policy and legislative framework; lack of standards and formal methodologies for managing e-record; and inadequate infrastructure.

Saps and Female Reproductive Health in Kenya

1997 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-19
Author(s):  
Eunice K. Kamara
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Trade Deficit ◽  
Public Expenditures ◽  
Trade Surplus ◽  
Female Reproductive Health ◽  
Economic Collapse ◽  
Structural Adjustment Programmes ◽  
Developed World

Since the 1980s, the world has experienced a number of economic recessions. As would be expected, developing countries have borne the brunt of the resultant economic crisis. It is estimated, for example, that the total debt of the developing world rose from $562 billion in 1982 to $1,020 billion in 1988.’ Many of the developing countries are still on the verge of economic collapse, unable to service accumulated foreign debts. Various measures were taken by the developed world in an attempt to revive the fallen global economy. These measures included the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) which aimed at (among other targets) reducing national public expenditures and effecting a shift “from a trade deficit to a trade surplus or at least, a reduction of the size of the trade deficit, at least in part to service the debt.”

scholarly journals The Urban Informal Sector in an Adjusting Economy: The Case of Pakistan

1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (4II) ◽  
pp. 977-994
Author(s):  
Muhammad Arif Sargana
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Informal Sector ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
International Labour Organisation ◽  
Services Sector ◽  
The Government ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Structural Adjustment Programmes ◽  
Urban Informal Sector

The concept of the informal sector has gained popularity since the well-known study by International Labour Organisation [ILO] in 1972 Kenya. Since then it has become a centre stage in policy discussion regarding unemployment and poverty alleviation. Though economists are still not able to give an authentic and unanimous definition of the informal sector, it is commonly known as the non-regulated sector of the economy. Despite the fact that the informal sector provides a large chunk of GDP and employment in the national economy, this sector is very much neglected in Pakistan. A few studies have been conducted to measure the size and the role of urban informal sector in past. However, the employment estimates provided by these studies have always been controversial. In addition, in all of these studies attention has been focused mainly to the manufacturing sector. Though the importance of the manufacturing sector cannot be denied, the services sector is also of significant importance as well, however it has received relatively less attention in the past. In this study, sufficient attention has been given to this neglected sector and focus is given to its role in employment in the urban informal sector. As Pakistan is a signatory of the World Bank and IMF’s stabilisation and structural adjustment programmes, which aim to reduce the budget deficit and restructuring of public sector employment, in the compliance with these programmes, retrenchment policies have been adopted in the government jobs by the respective governments. It is estimated that employment in the public sector has declined by about 10.6 per cent in period 1990 to 1992 only [Kemal.1995]. All of these measures have exacerbated the employment situation in Pakistan. In the light of above mentioned facts, it may be viewed that the urban informal sector has become more important in absorbing this surplus labour.

scholarly journals Globalisation, Liberalisation, and Equitable Growth: Lessons from Contemporary Asian Experience

1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (4II) ◽  
pp. 915-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azizur Rahman Khan
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Oil Shocks ◽  
Trade Regimes ◽  
Declining Demand ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Structural Adjustment Programmes ◽  
The International Monetary Fund ◽  
Trade And Investment

Since the beginning of the 1980s the less developed countries (LDCs) have been getting integrated with the global economy at a rapidly accelerating rate. The impetus for the process came from the need to make adjustment in the unsustainable imbalance in the external account that most of these countries experienced in the aftermath of the oil shocks of the 1970s and the declining demand for their exports due to the recession in the OECD countries during the 1980s. Many of these countries had to subject themselves to structural adjustment programmes at the behest of the multilateral donor agencies, led by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, who emphasised the urgency of reforming the protectionist trade regimes of these countries. Simultaneously, these countries came to realise the inefficiency of resource use fostered by their past strategy of import-substituting industrialisation (ISI) characterised by a trade and investment regime that enshrined overvalued exchange rates, quantitative import controls, high and non-uniform rates of effective protection, discrimination against export and strong impediments to foreign direct investment.

scholarly journals Macroeconomic Effects of Adjustment Lending in Pakistan

1994 ◽  
Vol 33 (4II) ◽  
pp. 1011-1031 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zafar Iqbal
Keyword(s):  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Weak Institutions ◽  
Inflation Rates ◽  
Domestic Savings ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Lending Institutions ◽  
Economic Growth Rates ◽  
Structural Adjustment Programmes

During the 1970s and early 1980s, many developing countries faced macroeconomic problems, notably large fiscal deficits, vulnerable balance of payments positions, increasing inflation rates, lower rates of domestic savings, and as a consequence lower capital formation and economic growth rates. The major financial lending institutions, preeminently the W orId Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), argue that the present macroeconomic problems in less developed countries (LDCs) are due to structural maladjustments-poor economic policies and weak institutions. Therefore, since 1980, these donor agencies have been proposing Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) and Sectoral Adjustment Programmes (SECAPs) associated with Structural Adjustment Lending (SALs) and Sectoral Adjustment Lending (SECALs), respectively. These programmes focus on broader macroeconomic adjustment policies. The disbursement of SALs and SECALs are, how~ver, conditional upon the recipient countries adopting economic policies specified by the staff of the World Bank and the IMF.

Exploring the Uncharted Territory of Devolution in Zimbabwe

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jephias Mapuva ◽  
George P Miti
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Participatory Governance ◽  
Enabling Environment ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Local Levels

Devolution, which was incorporated into the Constitution of Zimbabwe through section 264, is a new phenomenon in Zimbabwe. This incorporation came about because of the need for participatory governance and the devolution of power away from the centre. Over the years, local governance has been informed by a plethora of pieces of legislation that do not provide an enabling environment for citizen participation, giving Zimbabwe’s local government a chequered history that excludes citizens from participating in public affairs that affect their lives. An analysis of section 264 of the Constitution revealed that devolution has the propensity to enhance transparency, efficiency and effectiveness as well as the fulfilment of central government’s responsibilities at provincial and local levels. This article argues that the belated implementation of the devolution of power has delayed improved service delivery, effectiveness, efficiency and accountability within local governance. This article further seeks to explain how the implementation of section 264 of the Constitution can bring about good local governance.

Fragmented Responses towards Global Governance: The Indian Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-84
Author(s):  
Sheila Rai
Keyword(s):  
Global Governance ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Global Institutions ◽  
Southern States ◽  
International Donor ◽  
Service Sectors ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
The Masses

The liberalisation dice of the globalisation game has been loaded in favour of developed countries. The recipe of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) prescribed by the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international economic institutions has proved detrimental to developing countries like India where poverty is pervasive and scarcity of basic amenities crippling. 1 The SAP syndrome has manifested in lockouts, industrial takeovers, closures, massive retrenchments and weakening/diluting of labour laws, etc. Service sectors such as hospitals and schools have also been adversely affected under pressures from international donor agencies. The unsavoury social and economic consequences on the marginal sections have therefore led to a series of protests and demonstrations. The struggle in all its complexities is both ideological and practical. Pressure to alter the pace and intensity of liberalisation, and change ‘scorecards’ of growth, security and redistribution have gained momentum. The propensity of the elite to coalesce with the predominant forces of globalisation and ignore the basic urges of the masses further adds to the complexities. Evidently, the cataclysmic change augured by global governance on the society, politics and economics is multifaceted. The response of the southern states, namely, India, to this crossfire between the dictates of the global institutions vis-à-vis the complexities of the protests and demands of the classes and masses has been critically analysed in this article. The ongoing attempts to assuage the brutal edges of poverty and provide security and protection are also scrutinised.

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