New solutions, enduring challenges - The case for public sector reform in Sub-Saharan Africa re-examined.

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Date

2007

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Abstract

The main purpose of any service globally, is to promote the general welfare of the citizens of that specific country. The assumption can therefore be made that in order to promote the general welfare of the citizens: the public sector should be managed effectively, efficiently and economically. Over the last few years we have seen significant changes taking place in public administration and management in Sub-Saharan African countries. The main factors leading to public sector refor can be traced back to the following criteria, namely, the redefinition of the role of the state within society, secondly, measures were introduced to enhance public management performance and lastly it is expected from governments to adhere to the principles of good governance. Besides the above mentioned factors, the reforming of the public sector can be triggered by political scandals, corruption scandals and economic crises. The last part of the paper briefly deals with the approaches and requirements to sustain reform. Two approaches can be used, namely, a "big bang" approach which focus on massive changes at once, or an incremental strategy in which the steps are carefully designed to build support over time.

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Public sector reform - Southern Africa

Citation

Keyter, C. (2007). New solutions, enduring challenges - The case for public sector reform in Sub-Saharan Africa re-examined. African Journal of Public Administration and Management, XVIII(2), 1-10