The State and its Failure in Sub-Saharan Africa

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan

scholarly journals The state of business sustainability reporting in sub-Saharan Africa: an agenda for policy and practice

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol A. Tilt ◽  
Wei Qian ◽  
Sanjaya Kuruppu ◽  
Dinithi Dissanayake
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
New Institutional Economics ◽  
The State ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Sub Saharan

Purpose Developing countries experience their own social, political and environmental issues, but surprisingly limited papers have examined sustainability reporting in these regions, notably in sub-Saharan Africa. To fill this gap and understand the state of sustainability reporting in sub-Saharan Africa, this paper aims to investigate the current state of reporting, identifies the major motivations and barriers for reporting and suggests an agenda of future issues that need to be considered by firms, policymakers and academics. Design/methodology/approach This paper includes analysis of reporting practices in 48 sub-Saharan African countries using the lens of New Institutional Economics. It comprises three phases of data collection and analysis: presentation of overall reporting data collected and provided by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). analysis of stand-alone sustainability reports using qualitative data analysis and interviews with key report producers. Findings The analysis identifies key issues that companies in selected sub-Saharan African countries are grappling within their contexts. There are significant barriers to reporting but institutional mechanisms, such as voluntary reporting frameworks, provide an important bridge between embedding informal norms and changes to regulatory requirements. These are important for the development of better governance and accountability mechanisms. Research limitations/implications Findings have important implications for policymakers and institutions such as GRI in terms of regulation, outreach and localised training. More broadly, global bodies such as GRI and IIRC in a developing country context may require more local knowledge and support. Limitations include limited data availability, particularly for interviews, which means that these results are preliminary and provide a basis for further work. Practical implications The findings of this paper contribute to the knowledge of sustainability reporting in this region, and provide some policy implications for firms, governments and regulators. Originality/value This paper is one of only a handful looking at the emerging phenomenon of sustainability reporting in sub-Saharan African countries.

Including chiefs, maintaining peace? Examining the effects of state–traditional governance interaction on civil peace in sub-Saharan Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katariina Mustasilta
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
The State ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
The Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Traditional Authorities ◽  
Traditional Governance

The continued influence of traditional governance in sub-Saharan Africa has sparked increasing attention among scholars exploring the role of non-state and quasi-state forms of governance in the modern state. However, little attention has been given to cross-country and over-time variation in the interaction between state and traditional governance structures, particularly in regard to its implications for intrastate peace. This study examines the conditions under which traditional governance contributes to state capacity to maintain peace. The article argues that the type of institutional interaction between the state and traditional authority structures influences a country’s overall governance dynamics and its capacity to maintain peace. By combining new data on state–traditional authorities’ interaction in sub-Saharan Africa from 1989 to 2012 with intrastate armed conflict data, I conduct a systematic comparative analysis of whether concordant state–traditional authorities’ interaction strengthens peace. The empirical results support the argument that integrating traditional authorities into the public administration lowers the risk of armed conflict in comparison to when they remain unrecognized by the state. Moreover, the analysis suggests that the added value of this type of interaction is conditional on the colonial history of a country.

Law Reform in a Developing Country: A New Code of Obligations for Senegal

1964 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-19
Author(s):  
E. Allan Farnsworth
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Private Law ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Republic

The Republic of Senegal has embarked upon a project to reform its private law. This fact, of itself, might not seem worthy of the attention of the legal profession in the United States, since Senegal is a country of only about 3,250,000 inhabitants, less than the population of the state of Alabama, covering only 76,000 square miles, less than the area of the state of Kansas, and having a total of exports and imports to the dollar zone of less than twelve million dollars in 1962. With twenty per cent of its population in its six largest cities of more than 30,000 inhabitants, it is the most urban, most literate, and most Europeanized of the francophonic countries of sub-Saharan Africa, but this alone would evoke little interest abroad in its attempts at law reform.

A Critical Examination of the State versus Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the Policy Sphere in the Global South: Will the State Die as the NGOs Thrive in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia?

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Sat Obiyan
Keyword(s):  
Service Provision ◽  
Market Failure ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
The State ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract This paper examines the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in service provision with a special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. First, it reviews the conceptual and taxonomic issues in NGOs. It then proceeds to examine the performance of NGOs in some countries. The paper notes the increased relevance of NGOs in many countries. It, however, argues that any expectation that the NGOs will supplant the state in service provision is likely to be utopian. It contends that just as we have government failure and market failure, we can also have third sector failure. The paper argues for an appropriate balance between the state and NGOs in meeting the needs of the poor. It concludes that while it may be necessary to continue to strengthen the private sector and the third sector, it would be useful to continue to inquire into how the state can be effective.

scholarly journals Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in sub-Saharan Africa and associations with undernutrition, and governance in children under five years of age: a systematic review

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Momberg ◽  
B. C. Ngandu ◽  
L. E. Voth-Gaeddert ◽  
K. Cardoso Ribeiro ◽  
J. May ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Water Source ◽  
The State ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Poor Child ◽  
Child Undernutrition ◽  
Sanitation And Hygiene ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Associations between different forms of malnutrition and environmental conditions, including water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), may contribute towards persistently poor child health, growth and cognitive development. Experiencing poor nutrition in utero or during early childhood is furthermore associated with chronic diseases later in life. The primary responsibility for provision of water and sanitation, as a basic service and human right, lies with the State; however, a number of stakeholders are involved. The situation is most critical in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where, in 2015, 311 million people lacked a safe water source, and >70% of SSA populations were living without adequate sanitation. The aim of this paper was to conduct a systematic review to investigate the state of literature concerned with WASH and its association with nutritional status, and governance in children from birth to 5 years of age in SSA. Articles were sourced from PubMed Central, Science Direct and ProQuest Social Science databases published between 1990 and 2017. The PRISMA Statement was utilised and this systematic review is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42017071700). The search terms returned 15,351 articles for screening, with 46 articles included. This is indicative of a limited body of knowledge; however, the number of publications on this topic has been increasing, suggesting burgeoning field of interest. Targeted research on the governance of WASH through the identification of the various role players and stakeholders at various levels, while understanding the policy environment in relation to particular health-related outcomes is imperative to address the burden of child undernutrition.

The State and the Market in Sub-Saharan Africa

World Economy ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Bartlett
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan

The work of conservation organisations in sub-Saharan Africa

2010 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Brockington ◽  
Katherine Scholfield
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Future Research ◽  
General Knowledge ◽  
Know How ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Development Ngos

ABSTRACTConservation non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have excited a great deal of comment and debate, generally quite divided, in diverse journals. Some advocate them as forces for good, others decry their clumsy dealings with rural peoples and the impoverishment their activities can cause. The debate suffers in two ways. First, it ignores a large parallel literature about the work of development NGOs. Second, there is a paucity of general knowledge about the state of the conservation NGO sector. We do not know where it works, what the main players are doing, or much at all about the extent or activities of the smaller conservation organisations. We do not know how much money the sector spends. In this paper we first briefly outline why work on development NGOs should be applied to conservation NGOs, and then offer an overview of the sector's activities based on a survey of over 280 organisations. We describe some of the basic contours of these activities, and reflect on the implications of our findings for existing writings about conservation NGOs and future research.

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