Services

The public service (ministries, parastatals and extra-ministerial departments) has always been the tool available to African governments for the implementation of developmental goals and objectives. It is seen as a pivot for growth of African economics. It is responsible for the creation of an appropriate and conducive environment in which all sectors of the economy can perform optimally, and it is this catalytic role of the public service that propelled governments all over the world to search continuously for better ways to deliver their services.

However, the African state is said to be over-extended to the point that reductions, refocusing and reengineering of its activities are needed. Moreover, stronger incentives for performance need to be put in place to improve macro-economic stability as well as efficiency. Many of these initiatives are inspired by NPM concepts, the central feature of which is to introduce or simulate, within the sections of the public service that are not privatized, the performance incentives and the disciplines that exist in a market economy. The campaign for civil society forms part of a wider bundle of reforms in the public sector for the introduction of market-oriented public management methods (Economic Commission for Africa Report)