Internalising effectiveness and accountability for the public good: strategic choices for public sector bureaucracies in Africa

Public sector bureaucracies in Africa play important roles in the management of socio‐economic development and change. These tasks impose a number of imperatives on these institutions: they must be effective, efficient, transparent, and results‐oriented. In recent times, public bureaucracies in Africa have come under scathing criticisms for not living up to these imperatives; a situation which undermines good governance and engenders corruption. Public affairs stakeholders in the continent believe that for public bureaucracies in Africa to perform and enhance good governance, old ineffective structures and processes used in the administration of public business, must yield place to more results‐oriented management philosophies, processes, and practices. This paper, accordingly, proffers some strategic choices in the areas itemized, to public sector bureaucratic actors in Africa, for internalising effectiveness and accountability for the common good in public sector organizations.